Admitted Students Information

Diagnostic Tests

The diagnostic test administered on Monday, August 17 will cover statistics and the diagnostic test on Tuesday, August 18 will cover calculus. The results on these tests will be used to assist your academic advisor in helping you select appropriate courses for the fall term. Each test will be multiple-choice and neither test will require calculators so pencils/pens and erasers are all that will be required.

One and one half hours will be permitted for each test although you are not likely to need the full time allotted. If you have not taken a statistics or calculus course recently you may want to obtain college textbooks and review prior to the diagnostics. Go here for topics that will be covered on the statistics diagnostic; key topics in calculus are available here and would be good for you to review.

Textbooks

For calculus review, a good text to get is Deborah Hughes-Hallett et al. "Calculus: Single and Multivariable" (John Wiley & Sons), an older edition is fine. For statistics review, a good text to get is D. Moore, G. McCabe et al. “Introduction to the Practice of Statistics” (W.H. Freeman & Co.) 5th edition, an older or newer version is fine.

We strongly recommend that you review both calculus and statistics prior to the diagnostics. Such a review is not a substitute for having taken a graded credit course in both calculus and statistics to meet the school-wide prerequisites but it can serve to remind you of what you need to know. If you have taken a prerequisite course in statistics or calculus but did not earn the required minimum grade (B-) you may take the diagnostic but you will still be required to fulfill the prerequisite. The score can guide your advisor in advising you on the proper course to take to fulfill the prerequisite during the fall term.

Students who will be required to take a prerequisite course for calculus should register for Duke’s MATH 31L with lab section; students who will be required to take a statistics prerequisite course will have several options available such as Duke’sSTA *101, *102, *103 (placement exam required and requires good calculus background); University of NC at Chapel Hill’s STOR 151, STOR 155, BIOS 600, PLAN 720 or SOCI 708; NC State University’s ST 311, ST 350, and ST 511. If you have never taken either a calculus course or a statistics course you should plan not to take the diagnostic in that subject.

Placement Examination

*Students who need to complete the statistics prerequisite this fall at Duke will be required to take a placement examination prior to registration for a statistics course (includes STA 101, 102, 102B, and 103). Students may register for the placement examination and find more information here.

Fall 2009 Placement Exam Schedule
August 20, 2009, 9 - 10 a.m., 116 Old Chemistry building
August 22, 2009, 9 - 10 a.m., 116 Old Chemistry building