Writing Composition Placement Test

Most students meet the university writing requirement by successfully completing two courses. The first of these is affiliated with a “Social Issues” course at the lower-division level and is normally taken in the freshman year. The second course, at the upper-division level, is taken during the student’s junior or senior year. First-time freshmen must complete both parts of the requirement at USC. Transfer students may satisfy the first part of this requirement with course work taken prior to enrolling at USC.

All entering freshman students with a score of less than 1100 on the Critical Reading and Writing sections of the SAT (or a score lower than 24 on the ACT English exam) should take the Writing Composition Placement Test.

Students who do not obtain a satisfactory score on the test are required to enroll in a preliminary writing course during their first semester at USC.

The Writing Composition Placement Test is offered at all on-campus summer and mid-year freshman sessions. For more information, contact the Writing Program at 213.740.1980.