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What is retesting?

Retesting is an opportunity for incoming students to retake their online placement tests. Retesting is available for all online placement testing and occurs in July. Students who improve their placements will have their fall course schedules changed by late July, so that they can purchase the books for their new courses prior to the start of classes in August.

Who should retest?

Retesting is available for incoming students who did not place as high as they expected they would when they took the original tests in the spring. It is a second chance. It is also available for incoming students who did not test in the spring, but after orientation, are considering a major that requires chemistry, language or math placement testing.

After speaking with many students and their families about retesting, we know it is likely that students in this situation were either distracted by their own real-life events during the original testing period or they had been away from formal studies for a year or more and were unable to recall information that they had mastered earlier in their high school career. 

How different are the retests from the original placement tests?

They are not very different at all. They have the same multiple-choice format. In addition, they include the same topics and have the same level of difficulty as the original online placement tests.

How should a student prepare for retesting?

Students in the first group (distracted by their own real-life events) should be ready to retest with little or no formal review. If they set aside enough time to take the tests in a focused way, their results will be more accurate.

Students who have been away from their studies for a while might consider a more structured review before retesting. They can use notes and/or texts from their high school courses, review texts that they purchase online or borrow from their public libraries.

For a structured review to prepare for the online math placement tests, RWU has arranged for a non-credit online study course offered through McGraw-Hill.

How do students know if their placement has changed as a result of their retesting?

All retesters should email the Placement Coordinator at  after they have completed their retesting. These emails should include the student’s name and a list of the retests that were taken. The Placement Coordinator will review the retest results, determine if placement has changed and respond to the retester via email. For retesters who improve their placement, she will change their fall course schedules to include the new course. Revised schedules can be reviewed by the students from home, using the schedule tab in the retester’s MyRWU account.

When are the retests available?

Students can retest from their home computers 24/7 from July 10, until July 12, at midnight (Eastern Time).

How does a student access the retests?

How can a student access the online math study course?

ALEKS is an online learning system offered through McGraw-Hill. This system has proven to be effective for many different learning styles. We have arranged for an online course that includes all of the topics of our tests. Students can purchase six weeks of access for approximately $30.

They will be given a pretest to determine which topics need to be reviewed and formal instruction (with practice and tests) will follow.  Students who have used these review courses feel that they were convenient (available 24/7 from home computer) and provided good instruction.

This online review course is only for the purpose of retest-prep. Students will not earn RWU course credits and successful completion of this course will not change a grade that was awarded for a math course.

The website for this course is . The course code is YPQTU 34V9M .

RWU does not follow a student’s progress in these courses. This is for a student’s private use. All fees are paid to McGraw-Hill. Technical questions should be addressed to the ALEKS help desk.