The Fall 2025 Chinese Placement Test consists of two parts:
Part I (Online Test): Available on Canvas from Monday, June 9, 2025, through Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
Part II (Confirmation Test via Zoom): Held from Wednesday, August 20 to Friday, August 22.
Details about the test format and schedule will be available on the placement test site in Canvas starting June 9.
To enroll in a Chinese course at Georgetown University or to fulfill the CAS or SFS language requirement, students must complete both Part I and Part II of the placement test.
Students may register for a Chinese class in the summer before taking Part II, but they must complete Part II to confirm their placement.
Important Deadlines:
To register for a Chinese class in the summer, students should complete Part I by Friday, July 18.
To be scheduled for the Confirmation Test (Part II), students must complete Part I by Monday, August 18.
If you experience any technical difficulties, contact the Chinese Language Coordinator, Professor Fei Ren at fr94@georgetown.edu.
NOTE: Anyone who needs to take the online placement test is strongly encouraged to enroll in the test site as early as possible to read the test instructions, to check the compatibility of web browsers, and to take the sample placement test in order to familiarize themselves with the format of the test.
The placement test has two parts, including a preliminary online placement test (Part I) and an on-campus or online proctored confirmation test (Part II), given in the summer. All students, regardless of whether they are placed into fall or spring semester courses by the summer on-line placement test, must also take the confirmation test in late August to confirm their placement.
The Chinese placement exam has two versions. The simplified Chinese exam is for those who read simplified characters. The traditional Chinese exam is for those who read traditional characters.
Any student who has Mandarin Chinese learning experience outside of Georgetown University and wants to enroll in an appropriate Chinese language class at GU.
Current GU students who come back from a Chinese study abroad program AND plan to continue with Chinese at GU.
Students who want to place out of the College Language Requirement.
Students who want to transfer credits for language courses taken at another institution.
Students with no Mandarin Chinese learning experience (please enroll in CHIN 1011 First Level Chinese I)
Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese. (i.e., those who have graduated from a high school in a Chinese speaking country or region where Mandarin Chinese is the language of instruction.)
Students who seek an evaluation of their Chinese proficiency.
The online placement test (Part I) is made available from mid-June to late August in the summer, and from late December to early January in the winter. You must take the online placement test during the test period. No test can be given once the online test is closed. You will have 100 minutes to complete the online test.
The confirmation test (Part II) takes place right before or during New Student Orientation in late August. It may or may not be offered for the spring semester.
If you are a new or transfer student who wants to register for a Chinese course at GU, you must take the online placement test (Part I) before enrolling in a class, and then take the confirmation tests on campus to confirm your placement. Please note that taking a placement test does not guarantee a spot in a Chinese class.
A student can take the online test with a computer off-campus anytime during the test period, or on-campus if he encounters technical difficulties when taking it off-campus.
The confirmation test will take place on campus or on Zoom.
Except for those returning from a study abroad program, a student can take the placement test only once. To ensure proper placement in a Chinese course, students are strongly advised to take the test right before the semester when they plan to take Chinese.
Students returning from a study abroad program who need to take the placement test a second time to transfer credits or continue with Chinese at GU should contact the Chinese language coordinator at Fei.Ren@georgetown.edu to schedule a paper-based test.
Students taking the written confirmation test will receive their final placement results in Canvas, accessible in the “Grades” section. Those taking the oral confirmation test will receive their final placement results immediately.
The final placement test result of a student who meets the CAS/SFS language requirement will be sent to their Dean’s Office after the completion of the proctored confirmation test.
Upon completing the online test, a placement chart will show up. Students who plan to continue in Chinese should follow the recommendation in the chart to register for a course in the summer. All students, including those who seek to place out of the CAS/SFS/MSB language requirement, should take the confirmation test according to the confirmation test schedule to confirm their placement. A student may need to move up or down to a class at different level based on his/her confirmation test result.
A student’s placement is determined by the results of their online placement test AND confirmation test. All students must follow the placement recommendation made by language professors upon completion of the confirmation test. The placement recommendation can only be changed by a course instructor at the beginning of a semester. If a student believes he/she belongs in a class of a different level, the student should make a request to his/her language professor on the first class day. Only with the recommendation of a student’s language professor can the student switch to a class of a different level during the add-drop period at the beginning of a semester.
The Chinese placement test is designed to measure your current Chinese proficiency level in order to place you in an appropriate class. There is no need to do any special preparation for the test.
