Placement, Credit By Exam, Transfer Credit, and Waivers
If you are starting French at GW and wish to enroll in a level higher than GER 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) EXAM IN GERMAN LANGUAGE
The College Board offers an advanced placement exam in German Language. 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 German, one for second-semester German the other for fourth-semester German. 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 German exams at two levels (A1 and B). 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 German 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 either Prof. Margaret Gonglewski or Prof. Mary Beth Stein BEFORE you enroll. All transfer credit must be pre-approved.
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.
Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) students can waive their required years of study in a modern foreign language requirement with our German waiver exam. You must register in advance to take the waiver exam by e-mailing Prof. Margaret Gonglewski at margaret@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 GER 002 would satisfy the first two prerequisite language courses for our German major, but you will still have to take an additional two semesters either here at GW or at another institution.
