Online Writing Self-Placement Essay and Questions

All first-year students in LSA, Art & Design, Kinesiology, Music, Residential College, and Nursing must fulfill the First-Year Writing Requirement. To assist students in choosing their first writing course at the University, the Sweetland Writing Center administers the Online Writing Self-Placement Essay and Questions.

All students, except those in first-year Engineering and LSA Honors must complete the Online Writing Self-Placement Essay and Questions at least 5 business days before your Orientation date.

Instructions for completing the Sweetland Writing Center’s Online Writing Self-Placement:

  1. Allow yourself several hours to complete the Online Writing Self-Placement Essay and Questions.
  2. To complete the Online Writing Self-Placement Essay and Questions, you will need a computer with an Internet connection and a web browser. The most effective browser/operating system combinations are listed below:
    • For Windows: Internet Explorer 6+, Opera 7.5+, Netscape 7.1+, or Firefox 1.5.0.2+. Firefox is recommended.
    • For Macintosh OS X: Safari 1.2.1+, Netscape 7.1+, or Firefox 1.5.0.2+. Firefox or Safari are recommended. Mac OS 9 is not supported.
    • For Linux: Firefox 1.5+ or Konqueror 3.3+. Firefox is recommended.
  3. Have your UM uniqname and password available.
  4. To begin, log in to http://ctools.umich.edu, click on the words "New Student Writing and Questions", and follow the instructions on the screen.
  5. Remember that you must upload your Essay and answer the Questions to complete the Self-Placement process.

If you receive a CTools : Site Unavailable message or the site is not listed in your CTools Workspace: Contact the Sweetland Writing Center to be added to the Online Writing Self-Placement Essay and Questions site by emailing swcinfo@umich.edu, or calling 734-764-0429.

All questions, comments or concerns regarding the Online Writing Self-Placement should be directed to the Sweetland Writing Center. You may visit the Sweetland Writing Center Website at www.lsa.umich.edu/swc/, send an email to swcinfo@umich.edu, or call 734-764-0429.