Placements

Placement Information

Learn about the Placement and Prerequisite Services and the placement process at SWC!

Learn More about Placement and Prerequisite Services by visiting us in the Cesar Chavez Building in 68-205or visit our Virtual Lobby (link below).

What Are Placements?

Placements show you which math, English, and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes are needed to start your college journey.

There are NO tests required or used for placement. Instead, information from your application or the Guided Placement is used to decide your starting point for college-level math, English, and ESL classes.

To see your starting point for math visit the What Math Should I Take? page.

We strongly recommend all students start with transfer-level math and English classes in their semester of college. Some students need to take a support classes with their transferable math and/ or English class. This is determined by placement. Support classes help students succeed in transfer-level math and English classes.

If you already attended another college and want to continue your studies here, check out our Prerequisites webpage. The webpage contains instructions on having your prior classes cleared so you can take the next level math, English, or ESL with SWC.

Placement and Prerequisites Petitions and Forms

How Do I Check My Placement Results?

Please check your SWC email for a message with subject line "IMPORTANT: Your Southwestern College Placements".
If you are unable to find your email, you may click on this link to see your Southwestern College Placements.
If you are still unsure of which math class to take, visit the Southwestern College What Math Should I Take? page for help.

Types of Placements

New Students with US High School

In general, new students who completed high school in the United States will be placed into mathematics and English course sequences based on one or more of the following:

Unweighted overall high school grade point average (HS GPA)
Courses taken in high school
Grades in high school courses

This information will be collected on your application when you Apply & Register to Southwestern College.

No US High School Transcript

Complete the Guided Placement if you are in one of the following groups:

You completed high school outside of the United States.
You attended less than two years of high school in the United States.
You completed a high school equivalency like the GED or HiSet or left high school without finishing.

ESL Placement

You have a right to take credit English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. If you want to take English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, you need to complete the Guided Placement

If you have problems or questions about the ESL Guided Self Placement, visit the Placement and Prerequisites Lobby or SWCPlacement@swccd.edu to get help.

Current & Returning Students

If you are a Southwestern College student who was placed into non-transferable developmental courses in mathematics and English before Fall 2019, you have a right to get a new placement that will allow you to enroll in a transfer level math or English course.

You can begin this process by completing the Guided Placement.

Virtual Chat

We are here for our students. Cranium Café provides live Chat with an online staff member. Click on the link below to access our online chat during business hours.

Student Services Lobby

If you are interested in more information about the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program, please chat with our ESL Student Advocate Specialist, Angelina Barrera.

Sí usted esta interesado en más información de Inglés Como Segunda Lengua (ESL) hable con nuestra ESL Student Advocate Specialist, Angelina Barrera.

Note: If you have questions about support class requirements. Information for enrolling in support classes can be found below.

All students are placed into transfer-level math and English classes.

We recommend that you enroll in a transferable math course in your first semester at Southwestern College.

Students with a history of A's and B's in higher level math and English classes, often place directly into a transfer-level classes without support.

Students likely to benefit from additional help in their transfer level classes, are required to take a support class with their transfer level class. These classes provide additional instruction as needed including effective study skills.

Research suggests that students who take a support class are more likely to pass the transfer course in their first attempt.

Math Placements
Students receive placements for two different mathematics pathways, Statistics / Liberal Arts Mathematics (SLAM) and Business, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (BSTEM). Your major will determine which pathway you follow. Visit the What Math Should I Take? webpage to see the recommendation for your major.

SLAM pathway majors and classes do not require knowledge of higher level algebra and calculus. They focus on transfer level math classes including statistics or other types of mathematical reasoning.

BSTEM pathway majors and classes require higher level algebra and calculus. They focus on transfer-level math classes including College Algebra, Trigonometry, Calculus for Business Application, Applied Calculus, Analytic Geometry and Calculus, and other advanced mathematics topics.

Your placement within each pathway will depend on the kinds of math classes you completed in high school, the grades you received in those classes, and your unweighted overall high school grade point average (GPA).

We recommend that you enroll in a transferable math course in their first semester at Southwestern College.

English Placements
All students receive a placement into a transfer-level English class (English 115) either with or without a required support class (English 45 or NC-165). If your placement includes a support class, the support class is required to be taken at same time as English 115. Certain students may be eligible to opt out of the support course.

We recommend that you complete English 115 or ESL 115A in your first semester at Southwestern College.
To enroll in a section of transfer-level math course with a support class, you need to look for sections of your math class with an“S” in the section number. For example, MATH-100-S99. Students with support class placements are NOT eligible for math sections without the “S” in the section number. If you enroll in MATH-100-S99, you need to enroll in MATH-82-S99. The sections of the transfer-level course and the support classes are linked. Students are not allowed to "mix and match" sections. Following list shows matching transfer-level math with sections:
- MATH-100 with its corequisite support course MATH-82.
- MATH 101 with its corequisite support course MATH-83.
- MATH-104 with its corequisite support course MATH-86.
- MATH-110 with its corequisite support course MATH-82.
- MATH-118 with its corequisite support course MATH-82.
- MATH-119 with its corequisite support course MATH-84.
- MATH-120 with its corequisite support course MATH-85.
- MATH-121 with its corequisite support course MATH-85.
- MATH-250 with its corequisite support course MATH 87.
To enroll in a section of English 115 with the English 45 support class, you need to look for sections of English 115 with a “P” in the section number, such as ENGL-115-P99. If your placement says English 115 with English 45, you are not currently eligible for sections of English 115 without the “P” in the section number. You will need to enroll in the section of English 45 that has the same section number. For example:
- ENGL-115-P99, you need to enroll in ENGL-45-P99.
If following these instructions did not answer your question, please reach out to us with the virtual chat and email links below.
You may be placed into the Southwestern College next level English and/or math class based on the college courses that you already completed.

If you completed math and English courses at another college or university (with a grade of “C” or better, or “Credit”) and you want to take the next level math and/or English class with Southwestern College; please submit a request for External Course Prerequisite Evaluation. More detailed instructions can be found on the Prerequisites webpage.
If you completed classes with modified content, you will be placed by the same procedures as other students. However, we strongly recommend that you talk with a counselor in Disability Support Services.

Individualized accommodations are available to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Please contact Disability Support Services at (619) 482-6512 or TTY (619) 492-6470 for help with accommodations.
You can request a re-evaluation or your math and/or English Placement with the Placement Re-evaluation process. This process directs us to re-evaluate your placement. Typical reasons that placements get re-evaluated are:
- You entered some information like your GPA, high school courses or grades incorrectly on your CCCApply application
- You made a mistake on your Interactive Placement Tool for math and English
- You need to provide additional information about courses taken that may affect your placements in math and/or English
- You have other supporting documents to have your placements in math and/or English re-evaluated
In the Placement Re-evaluation process, it is the responsibility of the student to show evidence that the original placement is incorrect. Providing supporting documentation, like a transcript, is highly recommended, not required, for a successful placement re-evaluation request.

Once your request is received via the online form, you should get a response within 3-5 business days.

Get In Touch

We are here to support you! Please feel free to reach out and let us know how we can help.