ALEKS is an adaptive system that will quickly determine your current knowledge in areas necessary to be successful in general chemistry courses. Review college-specific chemistry placement requirements, click here.
- The initial assessment will consist of up to 30 questions, depending on your current knowledge.
- The exam is not timed, but you should plan for around 90 minutes to answer these initial questions.
- You may log out and log back in again, which means you can take breaks.
- We recommend you have a calculator and scratch paper available.
Once you complete the initial assessment, ALEKS provides a "score" that represents the percentage of topics you have mastered. A score of 80% is required to register for CHEM 1061/1065 or CHEM 1081/1065. You can improve your score by working in the system, and we encourage you to do so! Most students earn an initial score of 21-59% and students spend on average 15 hours mastering content in the learning modules to achieve the 80% score. If you need longer than this, we encourage you to talk with your advisor at orientation.
You must achieve a score above 80% prior to orientation/registration. Please reference the college-specific pages to determine which chemistry course placement is preferred for your intended major.
Regardless of course placement, you would be well-served by continuing to work in ALEKS to prepare for your first University of Minnesota chemistry course. Students enrolled in CHEM 1061/1065 or CHEM 1081/1065 will be expected to know 100% of the content in ALEKS by the first day of class.
Chemistry Placement scores are valid for one year.