Why is math placement so important?

Your success at New Mexico Tech is very important to us. We want you to be successful in your math courses and confident in your math skills. Math is integral to all science and engineering disciplines. A strong math foundation can contribute substantially to both your time at college and your future career.

Entry Math Level

Entry math level helps determine your first semester courses at New Mexico Tech. When you look in the course catalog, you will see that many courses have a math pre-requisite or co-requisite. The general courses in Chemistry, Physics and Engineering Science have specific math requirements. 

Math placement is initially determined by your ACT/SAT scores:

Placement	ACT Math	SAT Redesign Math
MATH 1220 (College Algebra)	24 or below	580 or below
MATH 1230 (Trigonometry)	25-29	590-690
MATH 1240 (Pre-Calculus)	25-29	590-690
MATH 1510 (Calculus I)	30 or above	700 or above

 

Note that MATH 1240 is pre- or co-requisite for MATH 1230.  If you place into MATH 1240 and 1230 you may take MATH 1240 before MATH 1230 or you may take both courses at the same time.  You may not take MATH 1230 before MATH 1240.  

You may also start at the MATH 1510 level if:

• You have dual or other college/university transfer credit for MATH 1230 and MATH 1240. The Registrar's office will determine validity.
• You have qualified based on the New Mexico Tech optional Math Placement Exam.
• More information may be found at nmt.edu/registrar/placement.php.

Should I try to move ahead in my math placement? How can I move ahead in my math placement?

First, you need to evaluate how comfortable you are with your math placement. If you feel that the placement is an accurate representation of your math skills, then stay in the course that corresponds to your math placement. If you think that your math skills correspond to the next level, take the math placement test. If you want to get ahead on math before you arrive at NMT, take a math course over the summer at your local community college:

• Math Placement Test

  New Mexico Tech offers an optional, online math placement exam. Send an email from your New Mexico Tech email account to [email protected]  to request access to the test. Include your name and NMT Banner Student ID number. Take the test as soon as possible. This will leave you with the option to enroll in a summer math course in case you don't pass the test. 
  
  There are placement tests for MATH 1220, MATH 1230, and MATH 1240.  Note that you must test out of both MATH 1230 and MATH 1240 to place into MATH 1510 Calculus I.  Your first placement test will be determined by your ACT/SAT score, transfer credit, or by the last mathematics course that you took in high school. 

• Summer Math Course

  Take a math course over the summer to move ahead. You can take it at your local community college. Earn at least a C to be able to transfer the credits.  You also have the option of taking a summer math course at NMT- there is a scholarship program to help with the cost of tuition.   

College Level Examination Program

No credit is given for the College Level Examination Program (CLEP).  However, challenge exams are available for various courses.  Here you can find information on challenge exams.

You are now part of the New Mexico Tech community and the greater community of science and engineering. We are confident that you are on the path to academic success and a fulfilling college experience. Please let us know how we can help along the way.