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Writing Placement

Writing Placement at UC Merced

Incoming UC Merced students complete the Writing Readiness Review (WRR) to determine their initial writing course enrollment at UCM.

The Writing Readiness Review will be opening for Spring 2025 incoming students on October 15,2024.

Students will receive the link for the WRR via their official UC Merced email account.  Your official UC Merced email account ends in "@ucmerced.edu"

To log in to your official UCM email account directly, use this link:  http://o365.ucmerced.edu

UC Merced’s Writing Readiness Review (WRR) is a tool designed to facilitate two important steps for all incoming UCM students:

The WRR assists students in making an informed choice about their initial writing course selection at UC Merced

The WRR provides an opportunity for incoming UC Merced students to fulfill the Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR). Successful completion of the Writing Readiness Review process satisfies the ELWR requirement, allowing students to choose an accelerated course of study in writing by enrolling directly in WRI 10.

Keep in mind that successful completion of the WRR process fulfills the ELWR, the prerequisite for the WRI 10 course required of all UCM undergraduates. Students who do not meet this prerequisite before beginning their studies at UCM must first take WRI 1 before enrolling in WRI 10.

During the Writing Readiness Review, students will:

  • engage with course materials (readings and assignments) from UC Merced's writing courses
  • answer questions based on their experiences and confidence with reading and writing
  • reflect on their past experiences with reading and writing
  • upload or compose a piece of their own writing that they feel best represents their work
  • learn more about our two first-year composition courses, WRI 01 and WRI 10

Students who have completed the WRR may choose to enroll in WRI 1, the first course of this two-course writing sequence, or students may elect to fulfill the UCM writing requirement on an accelerated timeline by enrolling directly in WRI 10.

Students who complete the WRR and who are still not sure which course is the best fit for them will have the opportunity to meet with a member of our Writing faculty before making their final enrollment decision.

Students who do not complete the Writing Readiness Review and who have not fulfilled the ELWR prior to beginning their studies at UC Merced must enroll in WRI 1 to fulfill the prerequisites for WRI 10. Students who complete the WRR may enroll directly in WRI 10.

Additional Links & Resources

For additional questions about the Writing Readiness Review, please email writingplacement@ucmerced.edu.