<p>I came to the U.S 4 and half years ago. Since then, I have spent 3 years of my high school in an environment where English is the only language people use to communicate. I have improved my English skill much faster than the average English learners, but I have to say that I’m not perfect.
Anyway, I can communicate with the native American English speakers without any trouble. However, I seem to have problem on the English reading, especially the archaic and professional ones. I took my SAT in June of my junior year, I did horrible on the critical reading and writing section (470 and 490 respectively). Then, I took it again in early October and I’m not very confident about getting a high enough score (although I think I have improved a lot).
Then, I thought that I might just well signed up for the TOEFL. I brought a review book and did the practices. However, I had a huge headache this morning and I felt like I did poorly on the reading and listening section (since they’re the first two sections of the exam). Speaking is a little bit odd, but I managed to do it without much trouble. Writing is always my strongest point, so I think I should be able to pull a 30/30 on the writing section. Since my headache went away during the second half of the test, I’m not too worry about the speaking and the writing section.
As I said, I have improved my reading drastically on the SAT since June (I read a lot during the summer). I’m also planning on taking it again in November. I’m going to study really hard in the next half month or so and I think I should be able to get at least a 600 on it.
Now, here comes the problem. I have submitted my TOEFL score to 4 universities when I signed up for the test (Binghamton, U of Penn, U of Chicago, and Johns Hopkins). Now, I can’t go back and change the information. My TOEFL will be sent to these 4 colleges no matter how well or poorly I did.
I’m applying through common app and I’m really worried now. Assume that I have a really good SAT and ACT scores (600+ and 33+), am I going to be okay even if I bombed my TOEFL test since these colleges will get my score before I even submit my application. I think I’ll get somewhere around 105-110 on my TOEFL (out of 120) based on what I think, which isn’t very ideal for the competitive schools that I’m applying to.
Can I choose to not report my TOEFL score on my common app even if four of the colleges I’m applying will get my score anyway? Does TOEFL matter anymore if I can manage to get a decent SAT and ACT score? Will it backfire on me? Should I take it again?
I know it’s long, but I’ll really appreciate it if anyone is willing to answer my question!</p>
<p>TOEFL simply demonstrates that apart from writing cool essays to colleges you can also perform other English skills well. A large number of colleges accept TOEFL waiver if your SAT reading is higher than a certain number. You should visit each school’s website. Do note that some have weird TOEFL requirements, such as Boston university.</p>
<p>As for the 4 schools you have sent your scores to, I think standardized scores matter little. They are all top schools which receive so many “super” scores a year that they don’t quite care if 105 or 120 makes a difference. (but 80 and 105 do make a difference)</p>
<p>Trust me. 105-110 is way enough for you to get into a great school, like ivy leaugue or sth.
so don’t worry.</p>
<p>But like you said, the four schools are going to get your teofl score anyway, so just report it on the common app. And 105-110 is really decent, considering you’re a non native English speaker. But do take another teofl test if you have time because a better score will simply look better. </p>
<p>But as I was saying, your toefl score is way enough! So don’t worry about backfiring!
Good luck!!!</p>