Placement Testing (First Year Students)

The Center for First Year Students offers placement testing for all first year students. Placement testing is one of the most important steps is making sure that you are enrolled in courses that are academically challenging for your level of preparation.

All incoming freshmen are required to take the mathematics computer based placement test.  The test consists of three sections, Basic Algebra, Advance Algebra and Trigonometry, and will take approximately two hours to complete. The results of this test will be used to determine your first semester mathematics course. Upon receipt of your deposit, students are notified by mail of their placement test date and will need to confirm their attendance.

Please Note:  If you require accommodations for a disability during testing, it is essential that you contact Dr. Phyllis Bolling at (973) 596-3414 to submit the appropriate documentation of your disability and make arrangements for testing.

Register for placement testing here.

Course Placement

First year students are placed in courses based on High School academic performance, SAT/ACT scores, advance course credits and the math placement test results. This process has been carefully designed in accordance to departmental standards and major curriculum to assure that your initial course schedule corresponds with your level of preparation.

The Humanities/English department will utilize the writing, verbal and essay sections of the SAT or ACT composite to determine you first semester English course placement.  Please Note: Students who score 440 or below on the SAT Writing section need to submit a copy of their written SAT Essay to the Center for First Year Students so that the Humanities department can better assess their English course placement.

The Mathematics department will utilize the math placement test results to determine your first semester mathematics course. We strongly recommend that you do some review prior to testing. For sample and practice questions click here.

Students will be placed in other major and curriculum required courses (i.e. physics, chemistry, computer science, etc.) based on the aforementioned criteria.