Placement Exams for ECON 1110 and ECON 1120

Note: This page applies for students who first matriculated as a full-time student at a college or university after May 1, 2026, and who wish to apply advanced placement credit in economics toward the Economics Major or to satisfy the prereqs for ECON 3030 or ECON 3040.

If you are a student who first matriculated as a full-time student at a college or university prior May 1, 2026, click here

At Cornell, students receive advanced placement credit for ECON 1110 and/or ECON 1120 via any of the following:

• receiving a score of 5 on the associated A.P. Exam (A.P. Microeconomics for ECON 1110 Introductory Microeconomics, A.P. Macroeconomics for ECON 1120 Introductory Macroeconomics)

• receiving a score of A on the GCE "A" Level Examination in Economics

• receiving a score of 7 on the IB Higher-Level Examination in Economics.

For Economics Majors: If you plan to major in Economics and you would like to count your advanced placement credit towards your Economics Major, you must in addition pass the associated Economics Placement Exam.

For non-Economics majors: You need NOT take the Economics Placement Exams, as you will receive advanced placement credit for ECON 1110 and/or ECON 1120 regardless of whether you take the Economics Placement Exams.

For All Students: If you plan to take ECON 3030 (Intermediate Microeconomic Theory) or ECON 3040 (Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory) and would like to use your advanced placement credit to satisfy the prerequisite, you must in addition pass the associated Economics Placement Exam.

ECON 3030 and ECON 3040 are rigorous courses, and to be successful in these courses, students must be sufficiently prepared. Moreover, many advanced economics electives make heavy use of the materials from ECON 3030 and ECON 3040, and thus students who struggle in ECON 3030 and ECON 3040 also tend to struggle in these advanced economics electives as well. Our goal with the economics placement exams is to help ensure that students are sufficiently prepared for ECON 3030 and ECON 3040, which in turn helps them to be successful through the entire Economics major.

In the past, we let students with advanced placement credit decide for themselves whether they were sufficiently prepared for ECON 3030 or ECON 3040. Among those who decided they were, some succeeded, but many failed. We introduced the economics placement exams to provide a formal assessment of whether students are sufficiently prepared.

The economics placement exams will be given in person. For August 2026, we have scheduled three blocks during which students can take the economics placement exams:

• Wednesday, August 19 at 9am

• Wednesday, August 19 at 3pm

• Friday, August 21 at 9am

During each block, you may take the Microeconomics Placement Exam or the Macroeconomics Placement Exam.

Each exam will consist of 40 multiple-choice questions that you will answer using bubble sheets. You will have 100 minutes to complete the exam.

Note:

• The Microeconomics Placement Exam will mostly be based on material from Microeconomics: Improve Your World by Dean Karlan and Jonathan Morduch.

• The Macroeconomics Placement Exam will mostly be based on material from Principles of Macroeconomics, Second Edition by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers.

The results from the placement exams will be reported as Pass or No Pass, and should be available within 24 hours of taking the exam (and possibly sooner).

To sign up to take one or both economics placement exams, please complete this survey.

Also, see Advice on Course Enrollment for Incoming Economics Students.