The placement test is now available at https://glow.williams.edu/enroll/JKY88F (this uses the same Glow platform as the WQRLA you recently completed). Please complete by Aug 1 at 5pm ET. If you have technical issues accessing the test, you may email OIT at [email protected]. This placement test helps determine which economics course we recommend as your starting point in our department. Below are additional details about who should take this and what the process involves (the assessment will also repeat some of these details before it begins).
Background Information
If you have economics background, such as having taken an economics course, then you must take this placement assessment. If you are not sure whether your background fits this description, please email the placement chair, Professor Chao, at [email protected]. If you have background in only one out of microeconomics and macroeconomics, you still must take this assessment, since it is possible to get placement for just one of the two.
If you have no prior economics background, you do not need to take the placement assessment. For students with no prior economics background, your first economics course should be ECON 110, which you can register for without taking this placement assessment. (You may also begin with a 100-level elective numbered below 110; just be aware those do not count towards the major).
Since we only provide a recommendation, taking the placement assessment will never prevent you from still taking any economics course you choose to, including our introductory ECON 110 and 120 courses. Thus, taking this assessment will never reduce the number of economics course options available to you. It will simply give you better information on which courses likely make sense for you, and it will allow us to provide a detailed recommendation based on your specific knowledge.
Summary of the Assessment
The placement assessment consists of four sections and should take about an hour or less to complete (you will have a maximum of two hours once you begin, but we don’t anticipate anyone needing that much time). We recommend finding a quiet location with a reliable internet connection. We summarize each section below.
Section 1: Honor Code Statement
Williams College prides itself on the Honor Code. In this section, you will be asked to acknowledge that you have read the Honor Code statement and that you agree to abide by the code. For this assessment, you cannot use any outside resources (notes, textbooks, technology, AI, tutors, etc.) except a non-graphing calculator. Access to any such outside resources is in violation of the Honor Code and would of course only cause us to provide an inaccurate placement recommendation.
Section 2: Economics Background
In this section, you will provide a basic description of your math and economics background, including prior economics classes and standardized exam scores (if you have any).
Section 3: Microeconomics Content
This section consists of approximately 20 multiple choice questions about microeconomics. If you are unfamiliar with the topic in any question, you can always select “I don’t think I’ve seen this before” or “I can’t remember how to do it.” If you have not taken microeconomics before and just want to get to the macro section, you may skip the micro section entirely, or you can simply select “I don’t think I’ve seen this before” for every question in Section 3. You cannot skip this section if you have background in micro content.
Section 4: Macroeconomics Content
This section consists of approximately 20 multiple choice questions about macroeconomics. If you have not taken macroeconomics, and you are only taking the exam for the micro section, you can skip this section entirely, or you can simply select “I don’t think I’ve seen this before” for every question in Section 4. You cannot skip this section if you have background in macro content.
Advice
Do not worry if there are many topics you have not seen before. It is NOT meant to be evaluated according to standard grading thresholds that you might be used to. In some years, even a 50%-60% on a section can indicate strong economics knowledge and be placement-worthy. (This percentage varies by year, depending on the difficulty of that year’s questions). Simply do the best you can and let us handle the rest. Please also ignore the automatic score that the test will generate upon completion; that score does not separate micro from macro scores and thus is not helpful.
Access
You may access the assessment at https://glow.williams.edu/enroll/JKY88F. Complete by Friday, Aug 1 at 5pm ET so we can provide placement information prior to the beginning of preregistration on Monday, Aug 4. To reiterate, all incoming students with prior economics background should take the assessment, while those with no prior economics background do not need to take it.
All questions about economics placement should be directed to the current placement chair (Professor Matthew Chao: mc20@williams.edu).