Why take this exam?
- Many admitted students have taken a programming course, but the course may not be officially articulated on Assist.org. Consequently, you will not receive ICS 31 credit and will then need to take ICS 31 when you come to UCI. NOTE: Regardless, this exam is not mandatory. It is intended for students who want to get credit for ICS 31 but have not taken the equivalent of ICS 31 at an outside school.
- If you are a proficient programmer, you should consider taking the credit by exam option.
- If you do not have COMPLETE credit for ICS 31, i.e. took only 1 of the 2 required courses, OR your transfer school did not have an officially articulated ICS 31 course, we recommend you take the exam. You can review community college transfer articulation agreements held with UCI on assist.org.
- There is no academic penalty if you do not do well on the exam. You will be given the option to accept or deny your grade.
What if I have taken the AP exam?
| Exam | Score | Action |
| AP Computer Science | 1-2 | Enroll in ICS 31. Do not take this test |
| AP Computer Science | 3-5 | Take this test OR Enroll in ICS 32A |
| AP Computer Science Principles | 1-5 | Enroll in ICS 31. Do not take this test. |
How many times can I take this exam?
- You may only take this exam once.
- Re-takes and exceptions are not granted.
Is there a deadline to take this exam?
- Yes, new ICS students who wish to take the exam should take it one week prior to their orientation date so that you can enroll in the appropriate classes.
Which ICS majors should consider the ICS 31 credit by exam?
- Business Information Management
- Computer Science
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Data Science
- ICS Undeclared
- Informatics
- Software Engineering
What is the exam format?
- The ICS 31 Placement Exam is a two-hour multiple choice exam.
- It is not open book or open note.
- We adhere to strict academic honesty guidelines. Incidents of cheating will be reported to the campus.
What do I need to know about this exam?
- Python knowledge: We expect you to be familiar with most of the Python 3 concepts covered in ICS 31.
- Basic Python 3 programming as covered in chapters 1–6 of Introduction to Computing Using Python, An Application Development Focus, second edition, by Ljubomir Perkovic (Wiley 2015).
- Namedtuples in the collections library (in the standard Python 3 distribution). See the Namedtuples in ICS 31 document and the official documentation on python.org.
- Type annotations in function headers, docstring comments, and the assert statement. These features and their role in software development are described in the Design Recipe document.
- The Restaurants Program, a short case study that illustrates how these features are used and may be the basis of questions on the placement exam. (If we ask detailed questions about this code on the exam, we will supply a copy of the code with the exam.)
- A detailed listing of Python language features covered in ICS 31/ CSE 41 is available.
How does grading work?
- A grade of C or higher on the exam is a passing grade.
- If you choose to accept the grade, that grade will be reflected on your official UCI transcript after grades are posted and you will enroll in ICS 32.
- If you do not accept the grade, that grade will not be reflected on your transcript and you will instead enroll in the actual course, ICS 31.
- Note: Please allow one quarter’s time for posting grades. Once processed, the grade will be applied to the quarter the exam was taken or in Fall if taken the Summer prior. (For example, if you take an exam during Summer, it will post onto your Fall transcript along with the rest of your Fall grades. This change will appear during the Winter quarter.
- You can be cleared for enrollment once you have accepted your grade. Major and School restrictions apply before you can be cleared to enroll in ICS 32.
I am ready to take the test!
- Great! You can find the registration on the main part of this page
- Cost for exam: $5: Pay through the Registration Link!
I received my results, what should I do?
- Grade of B- or lower: do not accept the grade and take the course instead.
- Grade of B or higher: accept the grade.
What happens after I accept my grade?
- Once you indicate your grade acceptance/denial, the Testing Center will notify the ICS Undergraduate Student Affairs Office.
- ICS Undergraduate Student Affairs will report your grade, if accepted, to the UCI Registrars Office.
- Grades are posted to the next quarter of completion
- Summer: the grade will post on your Fall transcript. This change will appear no later than Winter quarter.
- Fall: the grade will post on your Fall transcript. This change will appear during the Winter quarter.
- Winter: the grade will post on your Winter transcript. This change will appear during the Spring quarter.
- Spring: the grade will post on your Spring transcript. This change will appear during the Summer quarter.
When can I enroll in the next course?
- You can be cleared for enrollment once you have accepted your grade. Major and School restrictions apply before you can be cleared to enroll in ICS 32.