I got a 97 in my toefl. Many of the universities i am applying to require 100+ toefl scores.The colleges i am talking about are
Cornell, Brown, UIUC, UC, UMICH, Georgiatech etx. Does this severely hurt my application.I cant give it again coz its already December and most deadlines are tomorrow.Can i do anything?
Hey, ouch, getting just 3 points below the ‘benchmark’ sucks man! When I took the TOEFL in November, I thought ‘what if I score below 100?’ If I were you, I’d be sure to show mastery of English in any other possible way. Do you have a great SAT/ACT reading/English section score? Did you take the IELTS? Is there any other way you have shown your proficiency, if you’re proficient? If so, I’d put that information in the ‘additional information’ box on the Commonapp. Also, I’d write about why I didn’t get >=100 if I were you, provided you haven’t submitted your application yet. If you have, and you’ve achieved significant stuff since the submission, you could add it to the file you intend to upload, which is to inform the admissions officers about your latest achievements. Just add it at the end.
Furthermore, if you’re very uneasy about it, you could give the admissions office/university or w/e a call, tell them about your situation and ask what you should do next.
I must say, though, that I am in no way an expert. I do not know if the 100 score is a hard benchmark, or whether a ~95-100 is also acceptable. I just described what I would have done. Good luck!