First-year English Placement

As part of the University General Education Requirements, all students are required to complete ENGL 1010 or 1011 (formerly ENGL 110 or 111). [Note: ENGL 1010 or 1011 is a prerequisite to all writing (W) courses.] Honors students passing ENGL 3800 (formerly ENGL 250) will be exempted from the ENGL 1010/1011 requirement.

Placement into first-year English is based upon your Verbal SAT score as given in the following:

Verbal SAT ≤ 430
You must enroll in ENGL 1004 (formerly ENGL 104).
440 ≤ Verbal SAT ≤ 540
You may choose to enroll in either ENGL 1004 (formerly ENGL 104), ENGL 1010 (formerly ENGL 110) or ENGL 1011 (formerly ENGL 111).
Verbal SAT ≥ 550
You may choose to enroll in either ENGL 1010 (formerly ENGL 110) or ENGL 1011 (formerly ENGL 111).

The final check on placement occurs in the classroom during the first week of classes. If upon reviewing a writing sample an instructor finds evidence that you are underprepared for their course your placement may be reviewed by the Director of Freshman English in consultation with the instructor.

If you have not completed the verbal SAT, your advisor will suggest appropriate course work taking into account your previous schooling and, if applicable, any credits received in transfer.

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ENGL 1004 (formerly ENGL 104)

ENGL 1004 is designed, as the University General Catalog puts it, to help students "develop the reading and writing skills essential to university work." Students who are placed into or who elect to take ENGL 1004 must pass the course before electing one of the required Freshman English seminars [either ENGL 1010 or 1011].

ENGL 1004, which carries four credits and an enrollment of fifteen students per section, is a course in academic writing that involves challenging reading and frequent writing and revision. By the end of the semester, students will have written fifteen (15) pages of typed, revised, and edited prose. Instructors will work individually with each student on reading, writing, and revision throughout the term.

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ENGL 1010/1011 (formerly ENGL 110/111)

The University of Connecticut Freshman English requirement is a four (4) credit, single semester interdisciplinary writing seminar that is either rhetorically based [ENGL 1010] or literature based [ENGL 1011]. Not all students who place in ENGL 1010/1011 will take the seminar in the fall term; half the first year class will take their seminar in the spring.

The rhetorically based interdisciplinary course is called ENGL 1010: Seminar in Academic Writing, and it is described in the University General Catalog as follows: "Instruction in academic writing through interdisciplinary readings. Assignments emphasize interpretation, argumentation, and reflection. Revision of formal assignments and instruction on grammar, mechanics, and style."

The literature based course is called ENGL 1011: Seminar in Writing through Literature, and it is described in the University General Catalog as follows: "Instruction in academic writing through literary reading. Assignments emphasize interpretation, argumentation, and reflection. Revision of formal assignments and instruction on grammar, mechanics, and style."

Each seminar carries four (4) credits and the class limit is twenty (20) students per seminar. By the end of the semester, students will have written thirty (30) pages of revised, edited, and proofread prose.

The bottom line: Since both seminars have the same intellectual and writing goals, you should choose the seminar according to the kind of reading you might like most to do. If reading a range of texts from history, philosophy, education theory, anthropology and so on interests you, you should enroll in ENGL 1010. If reading literature--novels, plays, poems, criticism--interests you, you should enroll in ENGL 1011.

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Special Note: Students in the Honors Programs or with English credit from high school

Honors students who enroll in ENGL 3800 (formerly ENGL 250): Honors I - Approaches to Literature are exempt from the Freshman English requirement. Students who successfully complete English courses given under the UConn High School Early College Experience Program will receive the same credit as that given by the University for the course.