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All entering undergraduate students, with or without transfer credit for freshman composition, must take and pass Old Dominon University's Writing Sample Placement Test (WSPT) on-line via Blackboard.  All entering undergraduate students, including students with transfer credit (e.g. AP, IB, Dual Enrollment credit from second school or course equivalent from another post-secondary institution) for ENGL 110C (first-year composition) must complete and pass the WSPT.

Transfer students will use WSPT scores for diagnostic purposes. Transfer students who do not pass the WSPT must meet with a writing center counselor to form a plan of action to correct writing deficiencies before registering for the second semester. Transfer students are required to pass the Writing Sample Placement test (WSPT) before the end of their second semester. This policy was developed to ensure that all students have the writing skills to successfully complete the Exit Exam, a graduation requirement.

The WSPT is a 90-minute essay test. The essay should have an introduction, a body of paragraphs supporting the thesis statement and a conclusion. 

The writing will be evaluated for organization and development, word choice, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation and grammar. You are expected to write a 400-500 word expository essay in response to a question concerning basic human rights, television or education.

There are no practice writing tests currently available.

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Exit Examination of Writing Proficiency

All undergraduate students, including those students who are seeking a second baccalaureate degree, must register for, take and pass the University's Exit Examination of Writing Proficiency prior to the date of graduation. Students should take the exam as soon as they have accumulated 58 semester hours of credit and the credit hours appear on the official transcript, usually at the end of the semester in which the hours are completed. Students must have passed the WSPT and English 110C before taking the Exit Exam. The Exit Exam is usually given on the third Saturday of each month except December.

Registration and test dates are listed in each semester's Schedule of Classes, on the Writing Center's home page, and they are posted throughout the campus each month. For questions, call the Writing Center, (757) 683-4112.

ONLINE REGISTRATION: http://uc.odu.edu/writingcenter/

On-line registration is not recommended for first time Exit Exam takers; statistics show that students benefit from the registration/orientation sessions and that the pass rate is higher for those students who attend one of these sessions. On-line registration is encouraged for all those students who are taking the Exit Exam for the second (or more) time; there are resources at the registration address which students can use for information and review.

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