Chinese Language Placement Exam
If you have a public (non-international) high school or college diploma from Mainland China or Taiwan, where Mandarin Chinese is the medium of instruction, you are exempt from taking the placement test. Please contact Dr. Wu Yanwen ([email protected]) and provide your diploma along with the following information: your program, school affiliation, and the contact details of your academic advisor. This information is required to obtain a language certificate that will exempt you from the 2-year foreign language requirement.
Students who do not meet the above conditions but wish to test out of the language requirement, as well as those who wish to continue their study of Chinese at Columbia, MUST take the placement test.
For information on registration, exam dates, format, and other details, please click here.
For information about your test result, please click here.
PhD candidates from other departments, such as Art History, Comparative Literature (excluding TC) should come to Dr. Zhirong Wang ([email protected]) for language testing and evaluations. These students usually require a translation test. **For all Fall 2026 inquiries, please contact the acting director of the program, Dr. Jia Xu ([email protected])**
Recipients of FLAS should go to their own Chinese instructors for evaluations if they are taking a Chinese course at Columbia. Recipients of FLAS , who are not taking Chinese courses at Columbia, should see Dr. Zhirong Wang ([email protected]) for language evaluations. **For all Fall 2026 inquiries, please contact the acting director of the program, Dr. Jia Xu ([email protected])**
Students with all other cases of language evaluations, should contact Dr. Kaidi Chen ([email protected]).
For all the placement/proficiency test fees, please visit Language Testing Fee Policies page.