The department's freshman Latin test is offered online in a secure environment before the beginning of freshman year. It can only be taken one time in a student's career, and is not available once the semester begins. Freshmen who request testing after fall courses start (or in the spring semester of their freshman year) will be required to take the regular departmental Latin placement exam (which assesses the same skills, but in a different format).
Request access to the freshman Latin test by sending an email from your Catholic University email account to cua-greek-latin@cua.edu, with the words "Freshman Latin Test" in the subject line. You will receive a message back containing notice that you have been admitted to the online exam site, together with instructions and a password for taking the test. After your exam has been graded, you will receive an email message indicating your placement in Latin 101 or Latin 103, or your exemption from the language requirement. Please feel free to contact the department at cua-greek-latin@cua.edu if you have any questions that are not answered below.
FAQs
But what if I want to register for my courses before my freshman Latin test results are back?
You have two options in this situation:
- Register for four courses only and wait for the test results before going back into the system and registering for Latin.
- Register for all five of your courses, with one of those being LAT 101. Upon receiving placement results, if a different Latin course is needed, drop LAT 101 and add the other course.
If I wait on registration, will the classes I need fill up?
Quick answer: other Catholic University courses might, so you should always register for them as early as possible! But Latin will not leave you out.
This is because the department makes sure that there is enough room in our Latin courses for all of the students who might need them. If you are taking LAT 101, you might not always be able to select which time of day you take it, but there will be space for you in the course. If time of day is important to you, you should register for LAT 101 sooner rather than later and then change to a different course if your test results place you higher.
Some last pieces of very important advice...
The Department of Greek and Latin cannot contact you to invite you to take placement tests, or to "check" that your language placement process is completed and you are in the correct course. The department does not have information on what language you took in high school or have studied previously. New students must identify themselves and, if they need exams, contact the department in order to be tested and placed.
If you have not completed the placement process before the start of fall classes, you may miss meetings of the language class you actually belong in. It is your responsibility to settle your placement before fall classes begin. The department will of course assist you if unforeseen circumstances mean that you must complete placement during the first week of classes, but for the sake of your language development and your academic work, you should try to avoid this situation.
Please note that fall language placement may, however, be changed during the first week of class if you believe that you have been placed at the wrong level. If your assigned class feels far too easy or far too difficult for you, begin by consulting your current Latin or Greek instructor immediately. Your instructor will discuss the situation with you and refer you to the appropriate departmental advisor to consider changing courses or taking placement exams, if needed.