The ENG 101 Entrance Writing Diagnostic

About the Diagnostic

All enrolled ENG 101 students will take the Entrance Writing Diagnostic on the first day of class. Enrolled students who are not in attendance on the first day of class will complete the diagnostic within the week. 

This assessment asks you to compose an essay in response to a hypothetical situation described in the prompt, which will be provided when the student takes the diagnostic. The writing sample you submit will provide important insight into your current level of writing skills, which will help in assessing not only your academic needs, but also your readiness for college-level composition courses.

Therefore, it is important that you come to the first day of class well rested and fully prepared to work diligently so as to provide your strongest writing sample.

Measurement and Outcomes

Students are encouraged to submit their strongest writing so that instructors can determine how they can be best served and most successful in our composition sequence. After completing the diagnostic, students' diagnostic writings will be assessed to determine the range of skills and gaps so as to best tailor teaching approaches for any unique needs or rhythms of the class.

At the start of ENG 101, a student's diagnostic writing should illustrate the following:

• a clear and focused purpose
• an awareness of different perspectives and larger conversations regarding chosen issue
• a clear thesis and essay structure with beginning, middle, and end organized to support thesis
• clear examples and explanations to support general ideas
• sentence structure variety with appropriate transitions and diction
• evidence of standard English usage
• at least a page of writing with clearly developed ideas in essay structure

Depending on the results of a student's diagnostic, the instructor might require that a student schedule one or more appointments with a tutor in the Academic Success Center during the semester. Another possible outcome is that the instructor might strongly recommend the student register for ENG 010, a one hour co-requisite course to be taken to complement and support his or her ENG 101 studies. One final possible outcome of the diagnostic assessment could be the instructor's recommendation that a student withdraw from ENG 101 and register for ENG 100 this semester to better prepare the student for the rigors of composition studies.

How to Prepare?

You should consider perusing the resources provided in this module to prepare for the diagnostic so as to provide the strongest and most accurate impression of your current writing skills.

The night before our first day of class, which is when the diagnostic will be taken, you should get plenty of rest so that you feel relaxed and energized during the assessment. You should also make any necessary arrangements to attend the first class period in its entirety so that you have plenty of time to complete the diagnostic.

You should also attend the first day of class with pencils, erasers, and plenty of paper. Please also bring your MTC Student ID #, which you'll be asked to provide on the top of the diagnostic.