I’ve been busy since the semester started and haven’t written anything in a while.

Maybe I overworked myself this week, because when the weekend arrived, I felt completely drained. I spent an entire day doing nothing, and even now, I don’t feel like tackling anything on my to-do list.

So, to distract myself, I decided to do something unplanned—like writing a blog post.

This post will summarize my experience preparing for the ESLAT and offer some advice that might help future students place into ESL 118, sparing them from several semesters of struggling with English writing (perhaps even finding a shortcut).

The ESLAT Exam and Test Anxiety

Non-native English-speaking undergraduate students at UW-Madison need to earn credits for ESL 118, an academic writing course for ESL students. However, this course isn’t open for direct enrollment. Instead, students must take the ESLAT (English as a Second Language Assessment Test) upon entry, regardless of whether they’re first-year students or transfer students.

The test determines placement into one of five writing courses, ranging from ESL 114 to ESL 118. Students can only enroll in the course corresponding to their placement level. Additionally, each course level requires students to retake the ESLAT at the beginning of the semester (ESLAT Retake) to confirm their placement.

I’ve heard that if a student underperforms on the initial ESLAT, the Retake might offer them another chance to be placed in a higher-level ESL course. However, I didn’t experience this personally, so I’m not sure how common it is.

Due to an issue with my online SOAR appointment after transferring, I had to take the ESLAT in person at the ESL office after the semester had already started. Before my exam, I found out that my roommate, who transferred here at sametime with me, had been placed into ESL 115, meaning she would have to take ESL writing courses for up to four semesters. That sounded like a nightmare.

I was worried that my English writing skills had deteriorated after taking the TOEFL months ago, and that I’d struggle during the ESLAT, leading to multiple semesters of English courses completely unrelated to my major. Naturally, I felt quite anxious before the test.

Preparation & Advice

ESLAT Exam Format

For detailed information, refer to the UW-Madison ESL Office website. The section What does the exam look like? even includes a practice reading passage.

The exam format is straightforward: you receive an article and have 50 minutes to read it and write an essay based on its topic. The task is somewhat like a mix of the old TOEFL integrated and independent writing tasks.

My Personal Preparation Strategy

The ESL website recommends “reading, free writing, and speaking in English the day before the test.” However, as someone whose brain constantly thinks in their native language, this was quite difficult for me. Additionally, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain a habit of “reading extensively, summarizing, and writing regularly.”

Instead, I followed a more efficient preparation strategy, which took significantly less than a full day. The key isn’t how much you prepare, but rather that once you start doing something, your anxiety naturally decreases.

  1. English Reading Skill Recovery
    Since taking the TOEFL, I had barely practiced English writing for over a year. Even when I had English writing assignments, I often drafted them in my native language before translating them. The last time I wrote a full-length English essay independently was probably back when I took the TOEFL.

    I hadn’t read any serious English articles in a long time either. So, before worrying about my writing skills, I first needed to check whether I could even comprehend a full-page academic text.

    To recover my reading ability, I read several TOEFL Practice Online (TPO) passages—not for speed or test efficiency, but simply to get used to processing large chunks of English text again. This helped me suppress the urge to automatically translate everything with Google, reducing the risk of panicking when faced with a dense passage on test day.

  2. Reviewing My TOEFL Speaking/Writing Notes
    For me, English writing is quite similar to speaking. My biggest challenges were:

    • Struggling to come up with ideas when the topic was boring.
    • Knowing what to say but being unable to express it fluently in English.

    More often than not, the second issue was the real problem.

    From my experience preparing for TOEFL speaking, I learned that memorizing essay templates isn’t useful. When the timer starts and the pressure kicks in, my brain defaults to its own logic and phrasing, rather than pre-learned structures.

    So instead of memorizing sample essays, I reviewed my old speaking/writing notes to recall how I naturally express certain ideas in English. This was much more useful than studying generic writing guides on how to structure an introduction or conclusion.

  3. Writing Short Paragraphs to Regain Fluency
    This step can be combined with Step 2. I picked a few TOEFL writing or speaking tasks and wrote short paragraphs in response.

    If you think your writing isn’t great, you can use GPT to correct it. Then, revise the edited version yourself and read it several times. Make sure that any expressions you used in the final version are ones that can genuinely come to you naturally, rather than complex words forced in by AI.

  4. Practicing with the ESLAT Sample Prompt
    Once I felt ready, I simulated the test conditions, timed myself for 50 minutes, and completed the official ESLAT practice essay. It didn’t matter if my writing wasn’t perfect—I just wrote freely, and if I got stuck on a word, I used my native language as a placeholder and looked up the English equivalent afterward.

A Shortcut to ESL 118 (For Reference)

If you’re worried about ESLAT placement or have already been placed in a lower-level ESL course, consider this suggestion from a UW-Madison alu @吃吃吃卤蛋 in the comments of this Zhihu post陆本211大二转学威斯康星麦迪逊CS值得吗?：

No matter what your ESLAT placement is, you can take ASU’s online ENG 108 course and transfer the credits to get directly into ESL 118. You don’t need to take ESL 116 or 117. You can enroll either through an agency or directly from ASU’s website. Use Transferology to check if your credits will transfer. If you’re only fulfilling a general education requirement, taking courses at your local community college may also be an option.

Data Point

For reference, here’s my background and test experience:

My TOEFL writing score was 22/30 (from the old TOEFL format with a full independent writing essay).

My ESLAT article was about ethics education in computer science, which was closely related to my major, so I found it easy to write.

The ESL 118 Retake article was about reciprocity in social sciences—a topic I wasn’t familiar with, so I struggled more. However, I wasn’t removed from ESL 118.

ESL 118 instructors mentioned that students usually aren’t moved down after the Retake unless they perform exceptionally poorly, so as long as you do your best, you shouldn’t worry too much.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading! I hope this post helps you prepare for the ESLAT and plan your academic journey more effectively.