Frequently Asked Questions

All first-year students must complete College Writing with a grade of C- or better in order to satisfy the University’s first-year writing requirement. Additionally, some transfer students may be required to enroll in the course.

Engineering students should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

Yes. Since College Writing courses have high volume, limited seats, and no wait lists, first-year students are randomly assigned either a fall or spring semester placement. We carefully balance the number of students placed each semester, so we ask that students enroll in the course during the semester they've been placed. Students can contact their four year advisors to determine their semester placement.

Despite its number at the 1000-level, College Writing is not a remedial course, nor is it an introduction to writing. In fact, it is designed for students just like you: well-prepared, competent writers who are ready to be challenged to write differently and think more analytically in this new, collegiate environment.

Yes. Please share a copy of your WashU Accommodation letter from Disability Resources with your instructor. If you have not yet registered with Disability Resources you can do so through the Disability Resources website or email them with any questions at disabilityresources@wustl.edu

Most students complete College Writing with a grade of C- or better and satisfy the first-year writing requirement. However, in cases where they don’t, students are usually required to re-take the course the following semester.

No – in fact, students are sometimes surprised to find that work in class focuses less on discussion of the readings’ content and more on the particular strategies the writers of those texts have employed. Our goal in examining written texts in this way is to increase students’ awareness of the wide variety of choices open to them as writers, and to empower them to make new and more informed choices in their own writing. In College Writing, we work with texts from a variety of disciplines, and we consider the ways in which a text’s situation in a particular discipline informs its construction.

College Writing sections are held on MWF, beginning at every hour of the day (except 11 a.m.) from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and TR, at 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The sections are kept at a very low enrollment (12 students) in an effort to maintain small writing communities. 

To find out when College Writing is offered in a specific semester, consult Workday Student.

All College Writing sections share standard curricular elements, including course objectives, grade weights, and policies; major assignments; major concepts; and deadlines for the final research project. Additionally, every section will be assigned a class reference librarian.

These shared elements provide the backbone of the course, and using them, individual instructors design their own syllabi, making decisions about such things as which of the shared readings to assign (and when), how much homework to assign, and when major assignments are due.

In College Writing, the writing you do in class is as important as the writing you do outside of class. Class time is often spent on exercises designed to help you practice new writing strategies, experiment with alternative writing strategies, and prepare to write longer assignments. You will write formal, argumentative essays, but you will also spend time on shorter, less-formal and more-process-oriented writing. Additionally, you will work on a research project, through which you'll learn the academic conventions of scholarship at the university.

The College Writing Program employs a range of instructors including part- and full-time lecturers, senior lecturers, post-doctoral fellows, practitioners in the field of journalism, graduate students, and occasionally, members of the English Department faculty. All instructors are trained to teach writing, and all are well-supported and -supervised. To view a listing of College Writing faculty, consult Our People page.

No. Given the challenges of staffing so many classes and finding seats for so many students each year, it simply isn’t possible to allow students to enroll by instructor.

In certain instances, students may be required to complete preparatory coursework prior to taking College Writing and may be placed into either Critical Reading and Analytical Writing (1000) or Foundations of Academic Writing (1001).

Students in 1000 must successfully complete the course with a grade of C- or better before enrolling in 1001. Students in 1001 must successfully complete the course with a grade of C- or better before enrolling in College Writing. Students in College Writing must successfully complete the course with a grade of C- or better in order to satisfy the University's first-year writing requirement.

No, test scores cannot exempt students from taking College Writing. Students entering the university with an AP English score of 5 may earn 3 credits of English elective credit, contingent upon completing College Writing with a grade of B or better. Students are encouraged to verify that their AP scores have been communicated to the university and that it appears on their record. Contact the Office of Student Records with any questions.

Engineering students should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

No, test scores cannot exempt students from taking College Writing. Students entering the university with an IB score of 7 may earn 3 credits of English elective credit, contingent upon completing College Writing with a grade of B or better. Students are encouraged to verify that their scores have been communicated to the university and that it appears on their record. Contact the Office of Student Records with any questions.

Engineering students should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

No, test scores cannot exempt students from taking College Writing.

Engineering students should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

We send multiple emails and reminders to first-year students about the exam. If you have not received these emails, please contact collegewriting@wustl.edu immediately. Please note: emails may have gone to a spam folder in your inbox. 

Engineering students take a different exam than students in the other schools and should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

Transfer Students should consult this page for their placement process.

Engineering students take a different exam than students in the other schools and should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

The Writing Placement Exam does not result in an exemption from taking College Writing. Our objective in requiring this exam is to ensure that all students possess the skills and receive the support they need to succeed in College Writing and future courses at Washington University.

All students are required to take the Writing Placement Exam to ensure that they are adequately prepared for the challenges of College Writing (L59 1501-1510), the University’s first-year writing requirement. We are committed to aligning our curriculum and writing support structures appropriately in order to meet the needs of our students. Your participation in this exam helps us meet that goal.

You'll be able to access the exam through Canvas. Full instructions can be found on the Writing Placement Exam page.

Students wanting to use their disability-related accommodations for the writing placement exam need to email a copy of the WashU Accommodation Letter from Disability Resources to collegewriting@wustl.edu and we will implement your accommodations accordingly.

If you have not yet registered with Disability Resources you can do so through the Disability Resources website or email them with any questions at disabilityresources@wustl.edu

Student writing from high school or prior experience does not supersede evaluation of the Writing Placement Exam. While you are taking the exam, there will be an opportunity for you to upload a portfolio of supplementary writing that we will review in conjunction with your exam response.

No. While we appreciate your achievement on standardized tests, we don't offer exemptions based on these scores. Taking the exam will ensure your proper writing course placement.

No. The placement exam should be completed online during the summer prior to arriving on campus.

We understand that Canvas may not be fully accessible outside of the United States. If you experience problems accessing the exam or Canvas, please contact Student Technology Services at student.technology@wustl.edu or the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu.

Make sure you're using the most updated version of the Canvas Student app. If your app is up-to-date, try accessing the exam from a web browser instead of using the app. If you're still having troubles, please contact the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu.

Please contact the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu.

It's recommended that students type their response directly into the text box. As you take the exam, Canvas will auto-save your response. If your exam submitted without any text because you were writing your response in another program, please contact the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu.

It's recommended that students type their response directly into the text box to avoid formatting issues. In making placement decisions, we consider grammar, punctuation, word choice, sentence structure, and paragraphing. We also look for: clarity and development of ideas; statement of argumentative purpose; structure and organization; coherence; the ability to support claims by providing evidence from a text; the ability to analyze / comment on the significance of that evidence; and the integration of source material into your own writing. Minor formatting issues will not be counted against you.

You will be notified via email of your placement within 1-2 weeks of completing the Writing Placement Exam.

In addition to the online exam, your instructor will collect a writing sample in the first week of classes to ensure proper course placement. You are always welcome to discuss your placement with your instructor or College Writing Program administration.

All students at Washington University must satisfy a first-year writing requirement; most do so by taking College Writing. Some transfer students do so by having taken an equivalent course at another institution they were previously enrolled in. Equivalent courses are those in which writing is a central focus of classroom instruction. Note that this is not the same as a course for which you simply wrote papers.

If you have not taken an equivalent course at your previous college or university, you must take College Writing during your first year of study at Washington University. If you believe that you have taken an equivalent course, you may be eligible to submit a writing portfolio, which will help us to determine whether or not you are required to take another writing course.

Engineering students should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English Proficiency Requirement.

Students who are eligible to submit a portfolio if they believe that they have taken an equivalent course at a prior institution. Equivalent courses are those in which writing is a central focus of classroom instruction. Note that this is not the same as a course for which you simply wrote papers.

If you believe that you have taken an equivalent course, you may complete the Writing Portfolio Eligibility Form. The form will ask you to provide information about the course, along with writing samples and a syllabus that will help us to determine if the course is sufficient for meeting the first-year writing requirements at WashU. After reviewing your portfolio, we will notify you and your academic advisor of either your exemption from or your placement into College Writing or our 1-credit research writing course called Writing Workshop.

Yes, the deadline to submit a writing portfolio is August 1.  Students who miss this deadline will be required to take College Writing in their first year of study.

Portfolio writing samples should include only work produced for college courses. You may include writing samples from the course that you think is equivalent, as well as other writing courses that you have taken. The kinds of writing we are looking for in portfolios include analytical and argumentative essays, as well as researched writing which incorporates scholarly sources from prior college course work. Please provide a brief description of the original assignment / goals for each essay submitted.

Portfolio writing samples should include only work produced for college courses. You may include writing samples from the course that you think is equivalent, as well as other writing courses that you have taken. The kinds of writing we are looking for in portfolios include analytical and argumentative essays, as well as researched writing which incorporates scholarly sources from prior college course work. Please provide a brief description of the original assignment / goals for each essay submitted.

Please contact the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu.

If you do not have a complete portfolio, you should contact the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu or (314) 935-4899 as soon as possible. In most cases, students who do not have complete portfolios are required to take College Writing. 

Students transferring into engineering should contact the McKelvey School of Engineering about the engineering English proficiency requirement.

If you are not eligible to submit a portfolio, plan to take College Writing in your first year of study at Washington University.

If you do not have a copy of the syllabus from the course that you took that you believe is equivalent to College Writing, you should contact either your former professor or the department in which you took the course at your prior institution. They should be able to provide you with a syllabus on file for the course.

The current theme offerings for College Writing include: Ampersand Ireland (L59 1501), Citizen Scientist (L59 1502), Dreams & Nightmares (L59 1503), Writing Identity (L59 1504), Place & Perspective (L59 1506), Power & Commodity Culture (L59 1507), Technology & Selfhood (L59 1508), Writing on Aging (L59 1509), and Text & Traditions (L59 1510). More information on the themes, including short descriptions and links to the theme web pages, can be found on our Course Overview page.

Yes, you may enroll in any course with available seats.

Since College Writing sections are capped at 12 seats and there's no guarantee that a seat will open, you should enroll in any College Writing section that fits in your schedule. While it may not be your preferred theme, each theme emphasizes interdisciplinary inquiry. You’ll read dynamic material from across fields, and you might just discover an interest you didn’t know you had. Also, the small class size provides a built-in community for lively discussion and peer-driven writing support.

After enrolling in a course, contact the College Writing Program at collegewriting@wustl.edu.

The only difference between the themes is the content. The assignment sequence, grading policies, and curricular goals are identical for all College Writing courses.

More information on the themes, including short descriptions and links to the theme web pages, can be found on our Course Overview page.

While your chosen theme may differ from your expectations, each theme emphasizes interdisciplinary inquiry. You’ll self-select a research project, read dynamic material from across fields, and you might just discover an interest you didn’t know you had.

Yes, any of the themed College Writing courses (L59 1501-1510) can satisfy the first-year writing requirement. All themed courses are also considered equivalent for the purposes of retakes, including retakes of L59 100: College Writing 1.

Ampersand Ireland (L59 1501): you must be a participant in the Literary Culture of Modern Ireland Ampersand program.

Writing on Aging (L59 1509): you must also be enrolled in the Beyond Boundaries course When I'm Sixty-Four: Transforming Your Future.

Text & Traditions (L59 1510): you must be a participant in the Text & Traditions Ampersand program. 

No. College Writing courses have high volume, limited seats, and no wait lists, so to ensure available space for students who are yet to register, we cannot allow anyone to enroll in multiple sections. All of the course themes have the same learning objectives & assignment sequence, and will satisfy your first-year writing requirement, so it isn't appropriate to be enrolled in multiple sections.

Enrollments are closely monitored and you will be dropped from all but one section of College Writing should you enroll in multiple sections.