Concerns about offer being withdrawn after placement exam?

Graduate School
1

Hi,

I was recently admitted to the University of Washington’s computational linguistics master’s program. I was quite surprised by this given that I only had a GPA of around 3.3 with my recent 60 units and I had very little research experience (my only research experience was presenting a semester long project at USC’s Undergraduate Research Symposium).

Anyway, the program’s website claims that a linguistics background and a basic course in programming/data structures is all that is needed to apply to the program. I majored in computational linguistics at USC, so I meet these requirements. However, the wording for the placement exam concerns me - it basically states that the aim is to ensure that applicants are qualified. UW has a 1 year track for students that have significant CS experience or a 2 year track for linguistics majors that have little to no CS experience and the test is also meant to determine which track is appropriate. However, I’ve never been the best when it comes to taking tests. And given that this is a placement exam, I know it would be hard to actually study for and try to “fake” things I don’t actually know. I’m just quite concerned that I’m going to bomb certain portions of the exam and get a score that makes them regret offering me a spot. Has anybody heard of such a situation? Getting kicked out of a grad program before starting?

Thanks for any help.

2

I am guessing the worst case is you wind up on the two-year track rather than the one, but if you are concerned you could ask.

I would ask for the syllabus for the test, too. Your goal shouldn’t be to “fake” things you don’t know, but review the material you did cover during your undergrad career. You want to do well on the sections of the test that you have the most potential to do well on. No sense repeating classes you don’t need.

3

The name of the exam tells it all. It is a “placement” exam, not an “entrance” exam. As @AroundHere says, it will likely determine if you are placed into the one year or two year program.