Placement Testing Waiver

Admissions Placement Criteria may exempt you from testing. Review the criteria below before you make an appointment to test.

TEST EXEMPTIONS

Gaston College has a placement policy called RISE that uses unweighted high school GPA to determine placement, instead of testing. Any student who graduated from a U.S. high school may be exempt from taking the RISE Placement Test and will be placed into college courses based on high school GPA.

Any student may still be exempt from taking the RISE Placement Test if meeting any of the criteria for exemption listed below:

ACT/SAT SCORES:

Applicants are exempt from placement testing by achieving acceptable ACT or SAT English, Reading, and Math scores from tests taken within ten (10) years prior to the date of enrollment. The college will evaluate subject-area ACT or SAT scores to determine if the student is college-ready in math and English using the following scores (based on national and state validation studies):

For anyone that has taken the ACT since March 2014:
Math: 20 or higher and
Reading: 20 or higher or English: 16 or Higher

For anyone that took the ACT between January 2012 and February 2014:
Math: 22 or higher and
Reading: 21 or higher or English: 18 or Higher

For anyone that took the ACT prior to January 2012:
Math: 22 or higher and
Reading: 22 or higher or English: 18 or Higher

For anyone that has taken the SAT since March 2016:
Math: 530 or higher
Evidence-based reading & writing: 530 or higher

For anyone that took the SAT between January 2012 and February 2016:
Math: 500 or higher
Critical Reading: 500 or higher or English: 500 or higher

For anyone that took the SAT prior to January 2012:
Math: 510 or higher
Reading: 510 or higher or Writing: 510 or Higher

TRANSFER CREDIT:

Students who have completed college-level math and/or English at another regionally accredited institution will be considered for a placement testing waiver. An official college-issued transcript (in a sealed envelope) from the institution is required for transfer credit to be awarded and a waiver to be issued.

TEST SCORES: (WITHIN LAST 10 years)

Appropriate Advanced Placement, College Level Exam Program (CLEP) exams, or the following placement test scores from another institution: ACCUPLACER, COMPASS, or ASSET. Official test scores are required for this waiver.

Questions

Students may also contact the Katherine Harper Testing Center in the Craig Arts & Science Building, Room 209, 704-922-2433, to schedule an appointment for the Accuplacer.

Students who apply for admission in person will receive information about placement testing dates/times upon receipt of their application. Children may not stay in the testing center while you are testing and may not be left unattended outside the center. Please make childcare arrangements for the day and time you plan to test. PHOTO IDENTIFICATION IS REQUIRED ON YOUR TEST DATE. Students are not allowed to test without photo identification.

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Placement Testing Waiver