Writing Placement Assessment

All undergraduates must demonstrate competency in writing skills at the upper division level as a requirement for graduation. To satisfy this requirement, you MUST take the Writing Placement Assessment (WPA) during the semester in which you achieve 60 units or in the semester immediately following. Students who do not take the exam within the required period will be administratively disqualified from attending SDSU.

The WPA is a two-hour exam that SDSU uses to determine which students write well enough to fulfill the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) and which students require an additional writing course or two in order to fulfill the requirement. The WPA focuses on your ability to express yourself clearly, logically, and specifically and to organize and develop your ideas well. In addition, it assesses your ability to write coherent paragraphs and correctly structured sentences. Finally, it checks your understanding of punctuation, spelling, mechanics, capitalization, and proofreading.

For information about test dates, writing workshops, test registration, and test scores, visit the Testing, Assessment & Research office. You may also call (619) 594-5216 or e-mail testoffice@sdsu.edu.