Language Information

Korean Placement Test Information

To access your results, or to take a test, scroll to the bottom of this page. The following information is excerpted from the department's website and provides guidance on taking placement tests, interpreting your results, and next steps. Consult the original department page for additional information.

Language Placement

Korean Language Placement Test 2025-2026

All first-year students and returning students who have prior knowledge in Korean, and plan to fulfill the language requirement or to continue their study of Korean must take the placement test. You are not allowed to register any courses before taking the placement test.

Who needs to take the Korean placement test?

Students who want to use Korean language to satisfy the Weinberg and the School of Communication’s two-year language requirement.
Students who have prior knowledge of Korean and want to study Korean at Northwestern University must take the placement test. Students with prior knowledge include (a) students who are exposed to Korean at home or in informal settings such as watching Korean media, and (b) students who have learned Korean through other contexts such as community schools, self-study, or formal coursework outside of Northwestern University.
Students who have come back from study abroad and need to be placed into the appropriate level of Korean.
Students who have transferred from other universities and want to continue to take Korean at Northwestern.
Students who need to earn specific Korean language credits.

This rule applies to all students in all schools and programs, including graduate programs and professional schools. All students must take the online placement test AND the validation test before registering for courses.

What does the Korean placement test look like?
The Korean placement test takes TWO procedures: Online test and Validation test.

The online test consists of four sections: vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening.
The validation test consists of two parts: writing and speaking.

Where and when will I take the online Korean placement test?
Date: You should take the online test between July 1^st and July 31^st.

Online placement test site: https://placement.madstudio.northwestern.edu/
Fill out the questionnaires, and you should complete the entire test within two hours in one sitting. You may not receive placement results if you spend more than two hours. Be mindful of the time limitation.
You are allowed to take the test only once.

Where and when will I take the validation test?

After completing the online test, you are required to take a validation exam.
You will get an email regarding the instruction of the validation test from the placement coordinator.
You will receive the information of the time and the place.
Follow the instruction strictly on the validation test.

Where and when will I get the placement test result?
After you complete the validation test, the final placement result will be posted online at the same site https://placement.madstudio.northwestern.edu/ where you took the online exam.

Special notes

The placement result is effective only for a year, and students are not allowed to retake the test within a year.
Please note that the placement test does NOT bear any credit, and its purpose is to place students into the class of appropriate level.
Any dishonesty at the online test will adversely affect students in their course planning.

Questions? Or missed the test dates?
Please contact Professor Eun Hee Kim eunhee.kim@northwestern.edu for related questions.