The Department of Classics provides a placement exam for students who have had previous experience with the Latin language. This exam is not mandatory, but can help a student determine which course to register for.
Generally, we find that one year of high school Latin is roughly equivalent to one semester of college Latin. We find all too often that newly entering students with previous Latin experience are placed into beginning Latin (LAT 1120) by advisors; this leads to discouragement and boredom on the part of those students, and is unfair to other students who truly need the beginning levels. Remember that the Arts & Sciences classical & modern foreign language requirement is to achieve competency at the 2000-level and not necessarily to have 12 hours of the language. The placement exam ensures that students enter the appropriate level class; however, the exam does not provide college credit hours for previous Latin classes taken and is not in itself a means of "placing out" of language requirements.
The exam is in a standardized format, comprised of short answer responses and translation, and will take approximately 45 minutes or less to complete. A student may make an appointment with the Classics Department's Academic Program Specialist, Chris O'Neal, by phone at 644-4259 or by email at coneal@fsu.edu, to take the exam between the hours of 8am and 1pm, Monday-Friday. It is recommended that students plan to take the exam during the semester before they intend to take Latin coursework, preferably before or during the normal registration period.