Johns Hopkins' TOEFL requirement

[chichi]

Dear all

I'm an international student. I would like to apply to the PhD program in the Department of History of Johns Hopkins university. The school has a ambiguous description of their minimum TOEFL score requirement:

Johns Hopkins University requires graduate students to have English proficiency for their course of study. Graduate students must be able to read, speak, and write English fluently upon their arrival. Successful study demands understanding oral lectures and taking comprehensive notes during lectures. Applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of their proficiency in English before they can be offered admissions and before a visa certificate can be issued. Johns Hopkins prefers a minimum score of 100 (internet-based).

I got my score of 95. Because of the deadline reason, I'm afraid that I have no time to take the second test. Do you know what does PREFERABLE SCORE mean? How will the graduate school staffs treat my application if they see my TOEFL score not reach their preferable one? Will my application be thrown out before it reaches the department and professors?

Hope people with similar experience can provide me with your valuable experience and advice.

Thank you very much!

[eklavya]

Do you know what does PREFERABLE SCORE mean? How will the graduate school staffs treat my application if they see my TOEFL score not reach their preferable one? Will my application be thrown out before it reaches the department and professors?

these are my opinions:

1. first off, preferable means 'it would be nice if you have a score of 100, but we might consider all applications that have >90. however, their statement says that their preferred minimum is 100. my spidey sense suggests me to re-word their statement as this: our regular minimum is actually >100. perhaps 105? 110?

2. now, if you submit your application, the central (or main) admission office might toss away your application because you did not meet the minimum toefl requirement. game over right here. i honestly don't know what happens in the main admission office before forwarding to the dept grad office. if somehow it goes through, you are lucky. otherwise, app fee gone to total waste. still, worth a shot.

3. why don't you try contacting the professors you are interested in working with anyway? you can explain the situation, and if your remaining app credentials are stellar, toefl won't hold you back from going where you want to go.

being an international student myself, i know how much these little hurdles can hurt your application. good luck!

[griffie]

I do not have experience with Johns Hopkins, but I applied for several grad school programs last year. English is also my second language. I think all of the schools I applied for required English proficiency but I did not take the TOEFL. I took the GRE and got a decent score on the verbal section. My undergraduate program was in English as well and I was never asked to even take the TOEFL even though they stated something similar on their website.

I was accepted at several schools (including my top choice). They will probably not immediately disregard your application with your TOEFL score. But you do have to keep in mind that graduate students in history are expected to be fluent in English and they will not be easier on you because you're not a native speaker. As long as you show your proficiency in English in other parts of the application there is no reason why they would reject you only based upon your TOEFL score. But they will pay closer attention to your English. I think it is more important you show your potential as a graduate student in your writing sample and SOP, but the least you can do is double- and triple-check for spelling and grammatical errors.

It would help if you could explain or compromise for your lower TOEFL score in other parts of your application. I don't think it would help you if you take the test again unless there was a reason why you might have scored lower than expected (like illness). But really focus on your SOP and writing sample as they are considered the most important parts of your application anyway.

Good luck

[chichi]

Thanks a lot. I finally submitted my application to the school. I kind of feel that applying PhD program in the U.S. is a battle that you can hardly know what's going on. Good luck to you too:)

these are my opinions:

1. first off, preferable means 'it would be nice if you have a score of 100, but we might consider all applications that have >90. however, their statement says that their preferred minimum is 100. my spidey sense suggests me to re-word their statement as this: our regular minimum is actually >100. perhaps 105? 110?

2. now, if you submit your application, the central (or main) admission office might toss away your application because you did not meet the minimum toefl requirement. game over right here. i honestly don't know what happens in the main admission office before forwarding to the dept grad office. if somehow it goes through, you are lucky. otherwise, app fee gone to total waste. still, worth a shot.

3. why don't you try contacting the professors you are interested in working with anyway? you can explain the situation, and if your remaining app credentials are stellar, toefl won't hold you back from going where you want to go.

being an international student myself, i know how much these little hurdles can hurt your application. good luck!

[chichi]

Thanks for your advice. I really appreciate! Best

I do not have experience with Johns Hopkins, but I applied for several grad school programs last year. English is also my second language. I think all of the schools I applied for required English proficiency but I did not take the TOEFL. I took the GRE and got a decent score on the verbal section. My undergraduate program was in English as well and I was never asked to even take the TOEFL even though they stated something similar on their website.

I was accepted at several schools (including my top choice). They will probably not immediately disregard your application with your TOEFL score. But you do have to keep in mind that graduate students in history are expected to be fluent in English and they will not be easier on you because you're not a native speaker. As long as you show your proficiency in English in other parts of the application there is no reason why they would reject you only based upon your TOEFL score. But they will pay closer attention to your English. I think it is more important you show your potential as a graduate student in your writing sample and SOP, but the least you can do is double- and triple-check for spelling and grammatical errors.

It would help if you could explain or compromise for your lower TOEFL score in other parts of your application. I don't think it would help you if you take the test again unless there was a reason why you might have scored lower than expected (like illness). But really focus on your SOP and writing sample as they are considered the most important parts of your application anyway.

Good luck