Academic Advising

Oxford requires first-year entering students to complete placement exams for specific courses in English, Foreign Languages, Mathematics and Lab Science courses. We want to make sure our students enroll in the right level of instruction to ensure their first year on campus is as successful as possible.

Please review the following information carefully. Each placement exam has specific information on how and where to access the exam, and when it is due. Placement exams are hosted on various platforms and have their own deadlines. Please contact the Advising Support Center if you have questions.

First-Year Writing Placement

Location: Emory Essentials, Canvas

Writing is an integral part of Oxford College’s liberal arts curriculum, both as a subject of study and as part of how learning happens across courses. An important step in your journey as a writer at Oxford will be to take a First-Year Writing (FYW) course sometime within your first year.

Your FYW course will introduce you to the range of writing and inquiry you are likely to encounter during your liberal arts education, and to practices that will help you engage effectively with these in your courses. As part of this, you will engage with writing across disciplines, genres, and purposes, as well as intensive practice in academic reading, writing, and research.

Directed Self-Placement. We believe that with adequate information and guidance, you are in the best position to choose the FYW course that best meets your learning needs or whether to apply any exemption credit you may have. We will give you the “direction” (information and guidance) and you will “place” yourself. As part of this guidance, we require that all students, regardless of AP or IB credit, complete the FYW Directed-Self Placement (DSP).

The DSP consists of a reflective questionnaire about your prior reading, writing, and research experiences and provides you with our recommendation on which FYW course(s) will meet your learning needs. You will also have the option of uploading an example of your writing that best represents your academic writing. The questionnaire will be available on Canvas  starting June 1^st.

You are ultimately in charge of how you will meet your FYW requirement and so we encourage you to be proactive in learning about your options and reflecting on your learning needs. In conjunction with the DSP questionnaire, we recommend that you:

• Plan on discussing your FYW placement with your advisor, who will receive your placement recommendation, your answers to the reflective questions, and your optional writing sample.
• Explore the Inside Oxford First-Year Writing page to read about English 185 and 186 and to learn about the themes available.
• Attend the optional FYW placement information session during orientation, when you can meet FYW faculty.
• Contact the Director of the Writing Program, if you have questions or need additional support: Dr. Gwendolynne Reid, reid@emory.edu.
• For technology questions, contact ox-academictech@mscloud.emory.net or call 770-312-6766. Note: Emory students can download Microsoft Office (including MS Word) for free.

Chemistry Placement

Location: ALEKS

Chemistry 150 is the first chemistry course for science majors, pre-med, pre-nursing, and pre-health students. The Oxford College Chemistry Preparation online module is designed to get you ready to succeed in Chemistry 150. Students who are interested in taking Chemistry 150 during their first academic year at Oxford should complete the OCCP, as achieving 100% completion (Not mastery) by the deadline counts as 3% of your course grade in Chemistry 150. Students with chemistry AP or IB credit may take Chemistry 150, or they may exempt Chemistry 150 and start with Chemistry 202; if they start with Chemistry 202 they do not need to complete the OCCP but if they start in Chemistry 150, they must complete the OCCP to get the 3 percent of their course grade. Any student considering taking Chemistry 150 is strongly advised to complete the OCCP before the first day of classes so you can complete it in time. 

Once you complete the OCCP, the results are good for Chemistry 150 any time at Oxford; you do not have to retake it.

Accessing ALEKS

The OCCP is administered through the artificial intelligence-based teaching tool called ALEKS. ALEKS is an adaptive, artificially intelligent learning system that provides students with an individualized learning experience tailored to each student's strengths and weaknesses.

STEP 1: REGISTER TO TAKE THE OCCP ON ALEKS 1. Log in to ALEKS.

2. Click on the "SIGN UP NOW!" link located under the login box on the left of the page.

3. Enter the Course Code: Oxford College Chemistry Preparation: W4W34-DHH3R in the box labeled "Using ALEKS with a Class?" and click on "Continue."

4. Verify that you are registering for the correct course and click on "Continue."

5. On the next page you will create an account. Please provide all the information requested. Remember, your Emory student number is NOT

your social security number. You must enter your seven-digit Emory student number (you can find this information on your OPUS account).

6. After you complete your account set up you will be logged into ALEKS and can immediately begin working in the course.

STEP 2: INITIAL ASSESSMENT

Students will be asked to complete an initial assessment to determine their knowledge level. This initial assessment is VERY important because it will determine the level a student will begin their learning modules. Key tips and reminders for the initial assessment:

· Take the assessment carefully and honestly- ALEKS will force you to work through material you already know if you are not careful and honest in taking your assessment

· Never click "I don't know " unless you really have no idea how to do the problem

· Assessment should take 60-90 minutes

STEP 3: WORKING THROUGH YOUR PIE

After you take the initial assessment, you will see a pie graph of your achievement. Look below the pie chart to see how many topics you've mastered out of the total number possible. The goal is to have 100% mastery at the OCCP deadline. You will want to follow the onscreen directions to work in the ALEKS pie. The system will help you learn the things you need to understand so that you can earn 100% on the assessment. Depending on your chemistry background, this could take from a couple of hours to a much longer time, which is why you should start the OCCP well before the deadline.

Note: It is important that you try to complete the OCCP within three months – before your OCCP subscription expires. If your subscription expires you should contact ALEKS support and request a Higher Ed subscription extension.

If you have questions about the OCCP or Chemistry 150, please contact:

· Dr. Lloyd Parker   lparker@emory.edu 

· Dr. Nichole Powell  nichole.powell@emory.edu 

If you experience technical issues accessing your ALEKS account, please contact ALEKS support: (714) 619-7090. Do not contact Dr. Parker or Dr. Powell for technical issues.

Biology Placement

Placement recommendation for Biology is determined by the Oxford College science division based on high school GPA and AP/IB scores (if submitted). Biology AP or IB scores must be submitted to the college by August 1st in order for scores to be factored into the placement evaluation. An AP score of 4 or 5, or IB scores of 5,6,7, may be used to exempt out of the Biology 141 LECTURE only (BIOL 141). Students who choose to take the AP/IB credit for the Biology 141 Lecture will be required to take BIOLOGY 141 LAB (BIOL 141L/BIOL_OX 141L), a two credit hour lab course (offered only in the fall semester at Oxford College for first-year students and in summer school at Emory College) to complete the requirement for the Biology major or for pre-health requirements. In many cases, students with an AP score of 4 or IB score of 5 are encouraged to take the integrated Biology 141 lecture and lab course at Oxford (BIOL_OX 141) which best prepares students for the expectations that have to be met in upper level courses.