Placement, Credit By Exam, Transfer Credit, and Waivers
If you are starting French at GW and wish to enroll in a level higher than FREN 001, you need to take our placement exam. This includes heritage speakers - those who speak the language at home but have no formal training - and students who have taken the AP or SAT II exams. For complete information about the placement exam please click here.
NOTE: You must take the placement exam prior to your registration, and only register for the course into which you place. Students without proper placement will be removed from their classes. Please also note that the PLACEMENT exam is for placement only. It cannot be used as a waiver or credit exam.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) EXAMS IN FRENCH LANGUAGE & FRENCH LITERATURE
The College Board offers two Advanced Placement exams, one in French Language and another in French Literature. Credit for AP exams is subject to change. Please see the GW Admissions website for the latest information.
COLLEGE-LEVEL EXAMINATION PROGRAM (CLEP) EXAM
The College Board offers two exams in French, one for second-semester French the other for fourth-semester French. Credit for CLEP exams is subject to change. Please see the GW Admissions website for the latest information.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB) EXAM
The International Baccalaureate Organization offers French exams at three levels (A1, B, and A2). Credit for IB exams is subject to change. Please see the GW Admissions website for the latest information.
The College Board offers a SAT II subject test in French language. The test can be taken with reading comprehension only or with a listening component. Waivers and placement for SAT II exams are subject to change. Please see the GW Admissions website for the latest information.
TRANSFER CREDIT FROM U.S. INSTITUTIONS:
The process for receiving transfer credit from other U.S. institutions is similar to receiving study abroad credit. You will need to bring a transfer credit approval form from your appropriate school (ESIA form can be downloaded here). Bring this form and the syllabus of the course you wish to take to your French advisor BEFORE you enroll. All transfer credit courses must be pre-approved. If you are not a major or minor, our transfer credit advisors are identical to the study abroad advisors found here.
NOTE: At this time RGSLL only accepts transfer credit from accredited 4-year institutions. Courses taken at community colleges will not be accepted.
Waiver exams are offered to exempt students from completing language or literature courses, provided they can demonstrate the required proficiency in the subject. However, students will not receive GW credit from waiver exams. The waiver exam consists of a written exam, which students have two hours to complete, followed by a short 10-15 minute oral exam.
Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) students can waive their required years of study in a modern foreign language requirement with our French waiver exam. This exam is ofference once each semester (in March and November). The next waiver exam will be offered in February 2010. You must register in advance to take the waiver exam by e-mailing the department at rgsll@gwu.edu.
For Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) students, a waiver exam will allow you to waive departmental language requirements, but it does not exempt you from the Foreign Language GCR. In other words, a waiver exam for FREN 002 would satisfy the first two prerequisite language courses for our French major, but you will still have to take an additional two semesters either here at GW or at another institution.
