Are TOEFL scores crucial for college admissions?
Yes. TOEFL scores are crucial if you want to enroll in a degree program. You cannot be accepted or issued visa documents until you establish satisfactory language proficiency.
TOEFL scores are less important if you are trying to enroll in an ESL program.
Would a First Certificate in English form Cambridge English do? I did it last year and scored so high that I got the C1 level (second highest level in the CEFR) which according to the Cambridge website is equal to a 7-8 score in the IELTS. I also have a 760 in the reading and writing section of SAT.
The TOEFL seems redundant, and money doesn’t grow on trees.
Contact each college you’re interested in and ask if the Cambridge First Certificate - SAT English 760 is sufficient to show your English proficiency or if they need another test. There’s no one size fits all answer, it’s up to eaxh college.
I’d the TOEFL is too expensive, cross out colleges that say that want it on top of your Cambridge First Certificate and SAT English score.
Most of time, Toefl is waived if:
- Your first language or the language used in your school is English
- You take SAT and hit the benchmark score in reading. For example, Dartmouth’s old SAT reading score to waive TOEFL was 700.