The 2026 Latin Placement Exam is on Thursday, August 20, 2026 from 1:30 - 4:00 pm in 142 Goldwin Smith Hall. The Ancient Greek placement exam will also be given at this date. No registration necessary.
The Department of Classics offers placement exams in Latin and Ancient Greek. The placement exam is given the week before Fall semester classes start, or by arranging a time at any point during the year with the Undergraduate Coordinator (Ryan Belle rtb95@cornell.edu).
The placement exam itself does not amount to any credits. No credit is given for any AP Latin test score. The department does not consider AP Latin scores for placement.
The exam consists of beginner through college-level forms and translations and is progressively structured: work forward until you reach the limit of your Latin abilities. Students have up to two hours to work on the exam. There are no dictionaries allowed. There is no practice/sample exam provided beforehand. There is no online option for the exam. Please notify us in advance if you have accommodations.
If you have not yet taken Latin or Ancient Greek at Cornell, the placement exam is a prerequisite for all intermediate/advanced Latin or Ancient Greek classes. Please wait to enroll in any Latin or Ancient Greek class until after you have met the prerequisite/received your placement results.
If you have further questions, you may email the Undergraduate Coordinator (Ryan Belle rtb95@cornell.edu) or the Classics Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Satisfying the College Language Requirements with Greek or Latin:
Ancient Greek: Option 1 is satisfied by taking GREEK 2101 or above. Option 2 is satisfied by taking (a) GREEK 1101, GREEK 1102, and GREEK 2101 (b) GREEK 1104, GREEK 1105, and GREEK 2103.
Latin: Option 1 is satisfied by taking LATIN 2201 or above. Option 2 is satisfied by taking LATIN 1201, LATIN 1202, and LATIN 1205. The sequence LATIN 1204–LATIN 1205 does not satisfy Option 2. Upon completing LATIN 2201, they satisfy Option 1. LATIN 1204 overlaps with LATIN 1202 and therefore cannot be taken (or counted toward the degree) after completing LATIN 1202.