Haverford College Placement Questionnaire
Click here to fill out the placement questionnaire
More information:
Why do we ask you to fill out this questionnaire?
The Chemistry Department has several offerings available for incoming students whether they have had little high school chemistry, or AP (or other advanced chemistry courses) from high school. We want to help you to find the course that is at the right level for you.
Who should fill out the questionnaire?
Regardless of your high school preparation, we ask that you fill out the placement questionnaire if you are interested in taking any of our General or Organic Chemistry courses. These are the courses that are required for Chemistry and Biology majors and by medical and other health-related professional schools, so if you have interests in those areas, please fill out the questionnaire.
What questions are there, and when do I need to fill it out?
The questionnaire asks about your preparation from high school in the areas of math and science, and also includes a few math questions and several chemistry questions to help us gauge how much you remember from your high school math and chemistry (or physical science) courses. We do not recommend any special study before you fill out the questionnaire. You may fill out the questionnaire any time over the summer, or the first day you arrive at Haverford for Custom's Week; results will be posted on the second or third day of Customs Week.
Possible placement recommendations
Your placement recommendation will be for one or two of several courses. Most of you will be placed into a section of our two-semester General Chemistry course; Alex Norquist, Rob Scarrow and Fran Blase will each be teaching a section in the Fall of 2008. If you have strong high school chemistry background, we may advise you to wait until Spring 2009 and take a one-semester Advanced General Chemistry course taught by Joshua Shreir, or give you the option of starting right away with Organic Chemistry, taught by Karin Akerfeldt.
Non-majors courses do not require the questionnaire be filled out
Most semesters the Chemistry Department offers one or two courses designed for students not majoring in the natural sciences but who wish to learn more about Chemistry and how it applies to societal and personal decision-making. These courses, which do not have a laboratory component, do not give major credit nor do they help with medical school admissions requirements. For instance, in the Fall of 2008, Terry Newirth will be teaching Chem 151: Case Studies in Chemistry. You do not need to fill out our placement questionnaire to take such courses.
Questions?
If you have questions about Chemistry at Haverford, we encourage you to contact a member of the Chemistry Department by email or phone.