The writing waiver exam allows students to show writing proficiency. It is for students who believe they already have learned what they would learn in WR 121 or WR 122.

The exams must be taken in sequence. To take the WR 122 waiver exam, students must have fulfilled the WR 121 requirement. Students wanting to take the WR 122 exam should show proof that they have met the WR 121 requirement.

Students may only take one writing waiver exam per term. Students who do not pass their waiver exam may attempt the exam one more time. When taking a waiver exam for a second time, students should inform the testing center.

Register for the Writing Waiver Exam

Timing and What to Expect

• The writing waiver exam is given during the first week of fall, winter, and spring terms.
• The writing waiver exam is not given during summer term.
• Students must pay a $10 fee for the writing waiver exam when making their appointments.
• Each exam will require the student to read a brief selection of prose and write an essay based on the reading. Students have two hours to take the exam.
• The Composition department will email the exam results during week six. Students should stay registered for WR 121 or WR 122 until they receive the waiver results.
• When a student passes, the Composition Program notifies the Office of the Registrar that the student can waive the course requirement.
• Students can drop the class without penalty and a W will NOT appear on the transcript. However, dropping a class late in the term may put students below full-time student status. Students should discuss dropping a course with their academic advisor or the financial aid office before dropping the course.
• No credit is given for passing the exam.

Review Process

The essay exams are read anonymously by three members of the English Department’s Composition Committee and are graded pass or no pass.

Each reader makes an independent assessment of the quality of the essay according to these standards:

• Does the essay have a clear, reasonable, and thought-out thesis? Is the logic of the argument reasonable and valid? Does the stated thesis represent the actual argument of the rest of the paper?
• Is the thesis developed adequately, consistently, and effectively with appropriate supporting evidence? Does the essay progress in a way that the ideas build on each other between paragraphs?
• Does the essay demonstrate critical reading ability by analyzing the source reading? Does the writer successfully draw on the article for support or counterarguments, while still maintaining an independent argument?
• Are the sentence and paragraph structures, diction, grammar, and mechanics of the essay correct and effective?

Because a passing essay demonstrates proficiency in the control of writing skills which WR 121 and WR 122 are designed to teach, the WR 122 exam is assessed with these additional criteria in mind:

• Is the logic of the argument reasonable and valid?
• Is the writer able to identify not only the main argument in the source reading, but also the logical structures or assumptions in the source reading? Does the writer address the source reading in an ethical fashion?
• Does the style of the writing demonstrate sufficient clarity, sophistication, and individuality?

After reviewing, the English Department does not return the exams to students, nor do they give feedback about why students did or did not pass.

Students who pass the exam will have an exam exemption noted on their transcripts. Students who do not pass the exams will not have anything added to their records and will be expected to take the required writing courses.