How much does the TOEFL score matter?

b_r_um
Mon, 16 May 2016 19:26:28 +0000

Penn published the average TOEFL iBT score of their accepted students a few years ago, and it was 113. The minimum requirement was 100.

Since TOEFL scores seem highly correlated with verbal SAT scores (applicants who struggle on the TOEFL usually struggle on the SAT as well), it’s hard to tell statistically if colleges use the TOEFL requirement as a pass/fail criterion, or if they pay attention to the actual number.

That being said, international students whose English is “good enough” usually catch up very quickly once they arrive in the US. Colleges know this. Furthermore, the universities you named have their pick of the best and brightest applicants from all around the world. I assume that they would be much more concerned about your accomplishments (e.g. many international students at Caltech and MIT have awards from international science competitions) than about whether your TOEFL score was 115 or 105.