The Writing Exam

The Writing Exam asks you to read several brief selections that represent the kind of work found in Expos courses, and to respond to those examples. The exam also contains questions about your previous writing experience. While we estimate that the exam will take around 2-3 hours for most writers, you have 5 hours in which to complete the exam (to allow time for a break if you need it). 

The timed portion of the exam will begin as soon as you log in and access the selections you will read. Before the timed portion of the exam, you will find a few pages of information and questions. You will read and reflect on the Harvard College Honor Code;  answer some survey questions about your writing background before coming to Harvard; and read some more detailed instructions about taking the exam.  

During the dates that the Writing Exam is open, you can access the exam here. 

As soon as you log in and access the brief selections you will read, your timed work on the exam will begin . (We expect that it will take most writers 2-3 hours to complete the exam; the exam will remain open for 5 hours to give you time to take a break if you need one.) 

Do not compose your answers in the placement exam screen. Write your answers in a word-processing program, saving your work as you go, and then then copy and paste your final responses into the essay windows on the placement exam screen. Please save a final copy of your responses for yourself to ensure your work is not lost, in the event that there are any technical issues with your submission.

Any text you enter in the exam field will be lost if you log out, refresh the page, or refresh your remaining time.

Please note that the placement exam platform will not format footnotes; any citations should be in MLA parenthetical citation format (including author’s last name and page number from the source in the parentheses.) For more information about this citation format, please see the Harvard Guide to Using Sources.

Please also note that italics and underlining will be lost when you paste your text into the placement exam platform.

For questions specific to the Writing Exam, please contact the Writing Program at: expos@fas.harvard.edu 

For general information and questions about other placement exams, contact:  placement-help@fas.harvard.edu or consult the Placement Exams website.

For technical issues during the exam, contact: ithelp@harvard.edu | (617) 495-9000