Shall I retake the TOEFL

[usmeme]

Hey, guys, I just got my TOEFL score, it's 109 (R:27, L:29, S:27, W:26).

One puzzle that have always confused me is that whether a score of 109 and a score of 110 would mean quite differently if I were to apply the IR Ph.D. programs offered by top schools (say, Princeton, Stanford, etc.).

Thanks for your time and I really need your suggestions.

[fuzzylogician]

The TOEFL is the kind of obstacle you need to clear, but once you do, no one cares what score you got. So if you are applying to a school that requires a score of 110+, you may want to retake. Otherwise, there is no need to worry. A 109 is a high score, I'd be surprised if there were schools that have a higher cutoff than that. 

[izmir]

I looked at Princeton's and Stanford's website. Although the minimum requirement for Stanford is 100, they say the admitted students typically score at least 115. In Princeton's webpage, it says that they do not have a minimum but admitted students who score less than 28 on speaking need to take an additional English test (which I believe is rarely the case). I think, if you are aiming for the top schools, it might be worth taking the test again to see whether you can get 115 or over. Links are below. 

https://politicalscience.stanford.edu/graduate-program/graduate-admissions/faq-prospective-phd-students

http://gradschool.princeton.edu/english-language-tests

[usmeme]

16 hours ago, fuzzylogician said:

The TOEFL is the kind of obstacle you need to clear, but once you do, no one cares what score you got. So if you are applying to a school that requires a score of 110+, you may want to retake. Otherwise, there is no need to worry. A 109 is a high score, I'd be surprised if there were schools that have a higher cutoff than that. 

Thanks for your information! Like what @izmir mentioned earlier in his/her post, Stanford does indicate that "admitted students typically score at least 115" even though the minimum requirement is 100.

Any idea on this? Thank you!

[lelepat]

Don't want to be too simplistic but 109 is not enough for the most competitive PhD programs. I got the same score in TOEFL too and I'm planning to retake it. Just my personal opinion.

[Gik]

I don't believe they care much about your TOEFL scores as long as you've made it to the cutoff, as @fuzzylogician said. The fact that "admitted students typically score at least 115" does not mean the ad comm will give your scores a second look after they check you fulfilled the minimun requirement. So unless the program clearly requires higher scores, I wouldn't bother retaking it. 

The only thing you have to pay attention to, I think, is the minimum score for certain funding packages. In UC Irvine, for example, you need a minimum score of 26 in the Speaking section to be eligible for funding.