The placement test is the first college exam many students take. Placement tests do not determine your grade or success in a course. They are merely used to determine which level you have achieved in a particular skill. Placement tests are especially common for language and math courses. They ensure that students are not placed in a class that is too difficult or too easy but that matches their skill levels.
An essay test is common in humanities courses, such as those that focus on history or literature. For example, a liberal arts college that offers an interdisciplinary freshman core course may provide a final exam in the form of an essay, in which the test provides a prompt from a reading assignment and students must write a complete essay answering a question during the time allotted for the test.
Quote identification tests are also common in the humanities, especially literature survey courses. These tests require students to list the author of a particular quote. Students are also often asked the title and date of publication of the work from which the quote is taken. Some quote identification tests ask that the student write a paragraph interpreting the quotation or linking it to another text.
Many college courses, especially those in science in math, allow students to take open book tests during which they have access to notes and assignments. Open book tests stress critical thinking and the ability to solve problems rather than memorization. Because students do not need to spend time studying and memorizing long equations or sequences, these tests may incorporate more difficult problems that require a thorough understanding of material.
To eliminate time constraints and give students full access to notes and reading material, some professors design take-home tests. Take-home tests often require an essay or a series of short answers and rarely demand hard facts, making cheating difficult. These tests can be beneficial to students who understand material well but who do not excel in the high-pressure environment of a traditionally administered test.