Placement Guidelines
The Spanish Language Placement Assessment is available online in Canvas.
Please refer to your welcome email sent to your personal email account for your login information. If you did not receive this, please contact the Office of Admission at admission@merrimack.edu or 978-837-5100.
Guide for Language Placement and New Numbering
Who Must Take the Assessment?
Every student interested in taking Spanish is required to log in to the assessment. Part I of the assessment will pose questions about your Spanish language history to help determine whether you are required to take Part II of the assessment.
If you took Spanish in high school and wish to continue your study of it, you will be prompted to move forward with Part II of the assessment.
If you have not taken Spanish, simply complete Part I of the assessment and follow the instructions to complete the assessment.
If you are interested in taking French or Italian at the introductory level, an assessment is not required.
You will need to designate the language that you wish to study on your Academic Interest Form.
About Your Score
The assessment results will not appear in a traditional fashion (a low grade does not equate to low proficiency, a high grade does not equate to high proficiency). We can then review your results in order for you to take an appropriate course. Not all students take language courses in their first semester. Your scores will be stored in MyMack so that you and your advisor can view them at any time.
For Transfer Students
Please refer to the Transfer Credit Evaluation Sheet sent to you by the Admission Office. This document lists those courses that we have already accepted in transfer as well as any that may still be under review. If transferred credits have already fulfilled your Merrimack language requirement.
Incoming students with questions about the assessment should contact the Academic Success Center at asc@merrimack.edu or 978-837-5278.
Troubleshooting the Assessment
The placement assessment is administered through Canvas. The tips below will help ensure you have a smooth experience.
- If you do not see the assessment on your dashboard when you log into Canvas, click on “Courses” in the left-hand sidebar, then click “All Courses” at the top of the menu that appears. You will be taken to a list of all of your Canvas courses. The assessment will appear in the list of Canvas courses.
- If the assessment is not on this list, email asc@merrimack.edu to request to be enrolled in the assessment.
- If you are unable to load the assessment from within the Canvas course, be sure to:
- Switch to “light” mode if your device is set to “dark” mode
- Use a computer rather than mobile device or tablet
- Open the assessment in Google Chrome rather than Safari or another browser
Note: You will not be able to access the assessments until you’ve completed your initial Merrimack.edu account creation. Visit the MackApps page and click “New User Login” at the top to get started.
