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ACU Writing Exams

ACU English Essay (For new students only)

The ACU English Essay Examination is a two-hour exam (dictionary use permitted) offered during New Student Orientation before the beginning of the fall semester.

Students may qualify to write the English Essay to attempt to earn credit for ENGL 111 by one of the following methods:

  1. Scoring 29-31 on the ACT English test
  2. Scoring 740-760 on SAT (New) Writing & Language
  3. Scoring 710-740 on SAT (Old) Critical Reading
  4. Scoring 55 or higher on the College Composition Modular CLEP test, or
  5. Scoring a 4 on the IB English (HL) exam.

The cost for this test is $25. If credit is earned, there is a $50 fee per course to post the credit to the student’s transcript.

Special note: Any student receiving the Achievement Award for Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English will be awarded 3 hours credit for ENGL 111.

Note to international students: The ACU English department requires a writing sample of all international students before granting credit by examination in English. The writing sample normally consists of the ACU English Essay Examination.

ACU Researched Writing Exam (For new students only)

Students taking the ACU Researched Writing Exam will receive a reading packet several weeks before the exam and come for a two-hour exam during New Student Orientation before the beginning of the fall semester. Students will use information from the casebook sources to write a 600- to 700-word essay that responds to of three prompts. Students will receive the prompts at the beginning of the exam. Students may bring a dictionary and grammar handbook.

Students may qualify to write the ACU Researched Writing Exam to attempt to earn credit for ENGL 112 by one of the following methods:

  1. College Composition Modular CLEP Test – 64 or higher
  2. IB English (HL) Exam – 5
  3. ACT English – 32 or higher
  4. SAT Writing and Language – 770 or higher
  5. AP Language/Composition – 3
  6. AP Literature/Composition – 3
  7. Recipient of Achievement Award for Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English

The cost for this test is $25. If credit is earned, there is a $50 fee per course to post the credit to the student’s transcript.