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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 http://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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