I’m switching to a new university for grad school, and they want me to take a Japanese placement exam before I can enroll. I did well enough in my previous classes but haven’t really studied since my final in January.
Has anyone taken a placement exam for school? Curious as to how punishing it is.
It will depend on what test you’re taking. Is it the EJU (Examination for Japanese University Admissions) or a test administered by your school?
I had to take a placement test when I entered language school in Japan last fall, and to be honest it wasn’t so bad. The one I took was provided by my school and was a mix of N5 up to N1 level grammar and kanji. Some of it was easy and some of it was incomprehensible. I think most placement tests are like this, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
The point of the placement test is to decide which class level is right for you. You don’t want to end up in a high level class where you can’t keep your head above water, so just review what you learned in your previous class to prepare and do your best.
When is the test?
Sorry! It’s a US University and I can’t find any info on what test they use. They offer a ton of languages, so I don’t know if they’d have departments write them or hire a big company. The test is whenever (online) but class starts Tuesday.
My target class is equivalent to the next class at my previous school (both used the same textbook) and is only offered every other semester. Just worried I’ll lose a year.
If you kept up with your studies in your previous class and use the next few days before the test to review, I’d wager you’ll be alright. My strategy would be to look through the textbook from your previous class and review all the grammar points and vocabulary before taking the test.
Personally I think the test being online is a big plus. Usually online tests are multiple choice, so you may remember more when presented with options rather than pulling the answer completely out of your brain.
If the level is equivalent to the next class at your old school, this should be enough to get you placed in your target class. If however you end up falling short by some slim margin, you may be able to talk the faculty of the Japanese department into letting you into the class you want. There’s no guarantee of that of course, but it is an option in some cases.
I’d really only worry if you feel like you’ve forgotten everything you learned at your old school, in which case re-learning the material in the lower class may be a necessary evil.
Thanks for making me feel better 
I’ve been trying to blow through all of N5 and N4 on here but random little ghosts were really getting me down. Looking through Genki 2 again, I definitely remember more than I thought. I should actually probably move on to kanji and vocab review…
I would add here that placement tests are usually your friend, not your enemy. Try not to cram too much before the test or you may end up in a class too difficult for what you can keep up with. The cramming you did for the one week before the exam may turn into a whole semester of relentless cramming hahah.
Let the test place you accurately by just reviewing what you already know
It could vary quite a bit. I reached out to the department chair at a big state university, and she told me I’d need to take a placement test. It turned out the placement test was the meeting and conversation I had with her. She had me go through some random materials as she was presumably determining my level. Towards the end, I asked her about the test, and she was like, “It’s done. That was it.” We had a good laugh together.