UC Online English Placement
Pre-Login Instructions

Please read and print this page before you try to login. If you have not already read the "General Information", "Technical Information", and "Schedule", please do so now and then return to this page.

The UC Online English Placement Site is restricted to students of the University of Cincinnati. UC students who choose to write the English Placement Essay online may follow the link below to login to the Online English Placement Site.

Students may login once the registration period for an online assessment date opens. Please use your UC username as login. For the password, use the first four digits of your date of birth without slashes (mmdd). Example, if your birthday is March 7, your password is 0307. You will then be prompted to change your password. Write down your password since you will need to enter it each time you login to this site. If you do not know your UC username, you can obtain it here: Get UC Username

Instructions

PLEASE PRINT THESE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE YOU START TO REGISTER FOR THE ONLINE ESSAY.

1. Make sure you are admitted and confirmed as a UC student. (Remember that non-matriculated students at the open-admissions colleges must have completed the Student Information Data Form and be classified as a non-matriculated student at that college. All other students must be admitted and confirmed.)
2. Check the schedule first. Registration does not open for a particular assessment period until the specified date and time. If registration is open, follow the link below to the Online Assessment login page.
3. When you go to the login page, login by entering your UC username in both the "Login Name" and "Password" boxes. The online Assessment Home Page will then appear.
4. You will be given a command to immediately change your password. Write down your new password and keep it in a safe place. (Because capital letters in these passwords are considered to be different letters, be sure to note all capitals.)
5. You must enter an email address and select the statement that indicates whether English is your native language. Click "continue."
6. This will lead you to the homepage for the online essay. Red arrows indicate the next step, which is to register for one of the online essay sessions. Register for the particular Online Essay you want to take by the date and time specified on the schedule. You must put your cursor in the radio box (circle) next to the online essay session you are selecting. Make sure there is a dot in that circle.You can change your registration at any time until you open the reading or prompt.
7. Enter an email address and phone number. Submit Registration.
8. If registration is successful, you will automatically return to the home page. (See instructions below for completing the online essay.)
9. Make sure that your address is on file in the system and is correct. You can add or update an address by selecting "edit biographical information."

Please make a note of the opening and closing dates of the session you have selected. You will NOT be sent a reminder that a session has begun, and you will want to give yourself enough time to do your best on the assignment. Registration for each session closes at 9:00 a.m. on the day the submission is due, but we strongly recommend that you begin the assignment on the first day it opens.

DURING THE ONLINE ASSESSMENT PERIOD

1. Go to login page and log onto the site. Simply follow the link "View Reading" on the home page. The link will be visible, but faded, until the "readings available" date on the schedule. The page will open to "Reading Instructions." The actual reading can be accessed by following the link "view" at the bottom of the page.
2. You should print the reading, so you can mark it and make notes.
3. To access the writing assignment, follow the link "view assignment."
4. Follow the directions for the assignment carefully. Use a word processor to compose the writing (or type in your writing in a word processor.) Do not write your essay in the text submission box. BE SURE TO SAVE YOUR WORK on your computer.
5. You may use dictionaries, spell checks, and grammar checks, but you may not have someone else help you with any part of the writing nor may you discuss the readings with anyone.
6. Submit your completed writing by the specified deadline. Check the schedule and note the date and time submissions are due. Submission time is 5:00 p.m., EDT on the date specified.)
7. To get to the submission page, select “submit essays” from the OEE homepage” and then select “assignment” in the grey box. Once on the submission page, do the following:
   • Type the title of your essay in the title box.
   • Copy and paste the three-part writing into the one essay submission box. In your document, each part should be labeled. "Part I", "Part II," "Part III." with spaces between parts. Do not submit your summary, essay, and reflection separately. The three parts should all be in one document. PLEASE NOTE: We count only the last submission; if you submit the three parts separately, we will not see all the parts.
   • In the third box, type the oath exactly as it appears. If this is not typed correctly, your submission will not be received.
   • WAIT TO SEE A CONFIRMATION ON THE PAGE. If you do not see a confirmation message, we did not receive your submission. Try typing the oath again.
   • If you submit your writing before you meant to send it, you can simply submit the one you want to send later. We will score only the submission with the latest date.
   • DO NOT WAIT until 5 minutes before the deadline to submit your writing. Submissions are due by 5:00 p.m., EDT on the date specified. Give yourself time for any unforeseen problems.
   • If you have problems submitting, contact the helpline. (To accommodate last-minute submission problems only, the system will remain open for 30 minutes past the submission deadline. Once it closes, the system will not accept any submissions. YOU MUST CONTACT the phone or email helpline if you are having problems. The staff will help you to submit your essay even if the system has closed, so don't panic. If we don't hear from you, however, we can't help you.)

Other possible questions or problems:

• You can sign out of the "test site" during the period and log back on when you are ready to submit.
• If you forgot your password (BE SURE TO WRITE IT DOWN), you can be assigned a new password via e-mail. This does not take long, but don't try to submit too close to the deadline. Give yourself enough time to make sure the submission goes through.
• Use the "back" button on your browser to move to previous pages. If you want to refer to the UC English Placement pages while you are in the online assessment system, you can open a new window and go to http://www.uc.edu/englishplacement. There is also a link to the UC Placement Web Page at the bottom of the online assessment system.

E-mail and phone helplines operating during the assessment period will be at the bottom of each page of the Online Assessment site and on the "help" button at the top of each page. If you encounter problems during the assessment period, someone will be available to assist you between the hours of 9-5. Before the actual assessment period begins, the helpline email messages will be checked several times a day. Phone messages left after business hours will be answered the following day. You may also want to contact the English Placement Coordinator at your college. See Contacts.

Follow this link to Online English Placement Login