A basic requirement for successful study in the United States is the
ability to communicate in English. If English is not your native
language, U.S. universities and colleges will ask you to take an
English language proficiency test before admitting you to a degree
program. Almost all institutions require that this test be the Test
of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A few may accept scores
from other examinations or administer their own tests. For further
information, check each college's catalog or contact the admissions
office to discuss your situation. As with many areas of U.S.
education, each institution sets its own English language admission
standard, but some general guidelines on requirements are given in
the section on TOEFL scores below. Some institutions may grant
conditional acceptance with the understanding that you must attend
English language classes at their college prior to starting your
degree program. Once you have reached the required English language
level, you will be able to start your studies. Keep in mind,
however, that in some cases it may be difficult for you to obtain a
student visa in your country if you cannot prove sufficient command
of the English language to begin study in the United States.
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
TOEFL is currently given in most countries around the world on
computer, and the paper-based version is being phased out. The test
is offered on many days in the month, but only at a limited number
of computer-based testing centers. You may have to travel some
distance to reach the nearest test center.
Test Registration: Pre-registration is required, and it is NOT
possible to go to the testing center and hope to find space
available that same day. Computer-based testing registration
deadlines vary. According to TOEFL instructions, mail-in
registration deadlines are three weeks ahead of your desired test
date, one week ahead of the test date for fax registrations, and two
days ahead of the test date for registration by telephone. Note that
a credit card is required to register by fax or telephone. You can
indicate the days when you would prefer to take the test, and the
test administrators will try to accommodate your request. However,
at certain times of the year, or in certain cities, centers may be
very busy. It is therefore advisable to register at least two to
three months in advance of your desired test date. For those
countries where paper-based testing is still offered, the test is
given on certain dates during the year, and registration deadlines
are approximately six weeks ahead of those dates.
TOEFL registration bulletins are available from either the test
administrators in the United States, the regional registration
center for your country (see the TOEFL Web site at
https://www.toefl.org or the test registration bulletin for further
details), or from a U.S. educational information or advising center.
These centers may ask you to pay postage costs, and they may also
have test preparation materials for the TOEFL available for
reference use, loan, or purchase.
TOEFL Waivers: If you are a non-U.S. citizen and non-native speaker
of English who has been educated in English for most of your school
life, your TOEFL requirement may be waived. Allow sufficient time in
the application process to correspond with the U.S. university about
this issue. American universities will probably not accept secondary
school English language examination results as proof of your
language ability.
Content: The test uses a multiple choice and essay format to measure
each examinee's ability to understand North American English. The
test is divided into four sections: listening, structure, reading,
and writing. The writing section requires the test taker to write an
essay. TOEFL is a computer-adaptive test, which means that not all
students answer exactly the same questions on the test. Instead,
depending on how the student performs on each question, the computer
determines whether the level of the next question should be harder
or easier.
Scores: The total number of questions you answer correctly and your
score on the essay form the raw scores for each section. Raw scores
are then converted to a scaled score for each section, which for the
computer-based test ranges from 0 to 30. From these a total score is
calculated, which ranges between 40 and 300 for the computer-based
test. Each college decides for itself what score is acceptable. In
general, colleges consider a total score of 250 or above to be
excellent and a score below 97 as inadequate. Average scores range
between 173 and 250 for undergraduate applicants. |
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