Online Placement Test & Preference Selection

Updated February 2023 for Fall 2023 Registration

1. Online Placement Exam (February 2023)

Students who have not yet taken French at Yale must take the departmental placement test which is offered 3 times per year  (March, July, October).
 
If you have absolutely no previous formal or informal exposure to French, you should register for L1. (PLEASE NOTE: FREN 110 is only offered in the Fall).
 
The Department strongly recommends that ALL STUDENTS take the placement exam – EVEN students who earned a score of 5 on the Advanced Placement exam, a 6 or 7 on the Advanced-Level International Baccalaureate (IB) exam, a Common European Framework rating of C1, or an A or B on the GCE A-Level exam.  This will ensure that you will be directed to the most appropriate course for your level.
 

Wednesday, March 1st at 9:00 a.m. (EST) — OPEN   

Monday, March 27th at 12:00 p.m. (EDT) — CLOSE

Friday, March 31st by 5:00 pm (EDT)  — RESULTS POSTED

Placement Tests for Fall 2023 Semester for all returning students :
  Wednesday, March 1st at 9:00 am (EST) through Monday, March 27th at 12:00 pm noon (EDT).   
 
 Placement Test Results (March 2023)
 

Placement results will be posted by Friday, March 31, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. , on Canvas, in “French Placement Test Site 23-24” Please visit the Center for Language Study French Placement Test Page  to access information about online testing. 

It is your responsibility to check your Placement results. They will NOT be emailed to you.

Placement exam results remain valid for one calendar year.

Please proceed to the CLS website (https://cls.yale.edu/students/placement-testing/french-placement-test) for more information – and to register for the test.

2. Preference Selection (April 2023)

You must complete online Preference Selection to secure a place in all courses FREN 110 to 160.

Students who have taken the French Department’s placement exam should preregister (via Preference Selection) for the course in which they were placed. 

Continuing students should complete Preference Selection, if required, for the next course in the sequence.

Preference Selection will be available from Monday, April 3rd at 8:00 a.m. until Wednesday, April 5th at 5:00 p.m.

You may check your preference selection results on Wednesday, April 12th by 5:00 p.m.

For L1 and L2, please note the following:

  • FREN 110 (L1) is offered only in the Fall term.
  • FREN 121 (L2) is offered only in the Fall term and open only to students who have placed into L2 through the Yale French placement test. 
  • FREN 120 is open only to students who have completed FREN 110 and is offered only in the Spring term.

FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS: you cannot access Preference Selection. Please contact the Language Program Director, Candace Skorupa, with your course section request at: candace.skorupa@yale.edu.  

***PLEASE NOTE:  These sites will NOT be active until Monday April 3, 2023 at 9:00am . ***

After entering your Yale NetID and Password, you should select the specified number of preferences from a list of available sections for your assigned level.  Try, if you can, to choose different time slots. The computer will assign places randomly, taking your preferences into account. 

*It is your responsibility to verify your section assignment.

To secure your place in the section, you must attend ALL class meetings, including during the Drop/ Add period.

If you missed Preference Selection or were not assigned a section, or if scheduling changes make it necessary for you to switch to a different section, you should contact the appropriate course chair. You should also continue to attend a section of that course until you are sure to have a place in another one.

Placement and Preregistration Contact (for NON-TECHNICAL issues):

Language Program Director:  Candace Skorupa (link sends e-mail)

Further information about placement testing and the use of placement scores at Yale can be found here.