Academic Area and Department Contact Information
Contact Us
For general information and questions, contact us at: placement-help@fas.harvard.edu
For questions specific to the Writing exam, contact: expos@fas.harvard.edu
For questions about submitting AP, IB, or SAT II tests, contact: placementexams@fas.harvard.edu
For technical issues, contact: ithelp@harvard.edu | (617) 495-9000
If your computer freezes or crashes while taking the exam, you can be reassured that the exams are designed to auto-save as you progress through the questions. It is likely that you will be able to reopen the exam. If you are unable to access the exams, please refer to Online Placement Exams Authorization information.
For questions about placement in a particular academic area you may reach out directly to the area or department. See below for a list of relavant advising contacts.
Life Sciences
For general information consult the Life Sciences Advising Booklet.
Advising Contacts:
Biology, Life Sciences--Monique Brewster mbrewst@fas.harvard.edu
Biology, Life Sciences--Dominic Mao dominicmao@fas.harvard.edu
Chemistry, Life Sciences--Gregg Tucci tucci@fas.harvard.edu
Mathematics
For general information consult the Department of Mathematics website.
Advising contacts:
Drop-in advising information can be found on the Placement Advising page of the Department of Mathematics website.
Music Theory
Students interested in studying music theory are recommended to take the placement exam.
This diagnostic will help identify your understanding of simple tonal material (scales, intervals, chords, basic roman numeral analysis, and ear-training). Keyboard skills are helpful but not required.
General information can be found on the Music Department website. The exam will be offered in-person, once a year in August. To register for the exam please complete this form and for questions be in touch with the department at musicdpt@fas.harvard.edu.
Writing
Advising Contact:
For general information consult the Writing Program's website.
Advising about Expos Studio 10 will be available starting in July and August and will continue through Orientation. Hours will be posted on the Studio 10 page in July and August. Students may also wish to visit the Writing Exam page on the Writing Program's website or email expos@fas.harvard.edu.
Resources:
African Languages
African Languages
The African Languages Department offers several languages such as: Afrikaans, Gullah, Haitian Creole, Shona, Somali, Sudanese Arabic, Swahili, Twi, Zulu and many more. For up to date exam information including dates and contact information visit the department's placement exam page. For general information consult the Department of African Languages website.
For information not available on the website or if interested in a placement exam contact the African Language Program Manager Dr. Bojana Coulibaly, bojana_coulibaly@fas.harvard.edu.
American Sign Language
For general information, consult the Department of Linguistics website.
For information not available on the website or if you are interested in a placement exam, please contact the Head of ASL courses, Kathryn Davidson, kathryndavidson@fas.harvard.edu.
Celtic Languages
For general information consult the Department of Celtic Languages website.
Contact Mary Violette, Department Administrator violette@fas.harvard.edu for information about placement exams and any information not found on the website.
The Classics
The Classics
Placement exams for Latin and ancient Greek will be available on Tuesday, August 9, from 10am until 10pm eastern.
Please visit the Department of Classics website for general information and how to access the exam.
The modern Greek placement exam will be available by request. Please contact Dr. Calliope Dourou at dourou@fas.harvard.edu to request an exam.
For questions about courses or placement exams contact the advisor listed below.
Advising contacts:
Greek (Ancient): Dr. Ivy Livingston livings@g.harvard.edu
Greek (Modern): Dr. Calliope Dourou dourou@fas.harvard.edu
Latin: Dr. Ivy Livingston livings@g.harvard.edu
East Asian Languages
For general information consult the Department of East Asian Languages website.
Advising contacts:
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese: Rebecca Mahoney eal@fas.harvard.edu
Literary/Classical Chinese: David Sena dsena@fas.harvard.edu
Germanic Languages
Near East Languages
Near East Languages and Civilizations (NELC)
Information on language placement exams in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian is forthcoming. Please check back here or contact the department.
For general information and for information about language exams not found on the NELC website contact nelc@fas.harvard.edu.
The Modern Hebrew language exam will take place on August 15, 12:00-3:00pm ET.
Email Irit Aharony (aharony@fas.harvard.edu) to sign up for the exam and receive the Zoom invitation.
Log on to Zoom at the start of the exam period to receive the exam and instructions.
For the exam you will need
Reliable high-speed internet
A Printer to complete a form
A scanner to return the completed form
The structure of the exam and the topics will be posted on the Center for Jewish Studies Website
Contact Irit Aharony with questions
NELC Advising contacts:
Arabic (Classical & Modern): Nader Uthman (beginning July 1) nelc@fas.harvard.edu
Turkish (Ottoman & Modern): Himmet Taskomur taskomur@fas.harvard.edu
Hebrew (Modern): Irit Aharony aharony@fas.harvard.edu
Romance Languages
Scandinavian Languages
Scandinavian Languages
For placement exams in Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, or Finnish contact Agnes Broomé agnesbroome@fas.harvard.edu.
For general information consult the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures website.
Slavic Languages
Slavic Languages
Placement exams will be available from June 21-August 24. Later dates will be available by request.
Standard exams are offered in: Russian, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Czech, Polish and Ukrainian. Students interested in scheduling an exam must contact Steven Clancy at sclancy@fas.harvard.edu.
For general information consult the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures website.
South Asian Languages
South Asian Languages
Standard exams are offered in; Hindi-Urdu, Indonesian, Napali, Punjabi, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, and Sanskrit. Placement exams in other South Asian languages may be offered contingent on finding a qualified examiner. To schedule a placement exam or for advising questions contact Richard Delacy at rdelacy@fas.harvard.edu.
For general information consult the Department of South Asian Studies website.