TOEFL for Permanent Resident?

Applying to College
1

<p>I have a question for students/parents who are permanent US residents with green cards --
If a student’s first language is not English, but the student holds a green card and has attended US schools since middle school, is the TOEFL still required? The student is NOT applying as an international.</p>

<p>I am seeing on many school websites that international applicants whose first language is not English must submit a TOEFL or the web-based test. However, there is not much clarity on what a green card holder should do. Would like to be pre-emptive and not have to deal with scheduling a test at the last minute or worse, get turned down because it needed to be taken. Student has strong CR and W scores.</p>

<p>OTOH, the student is paying for all application and testing fees for college, so if the student can avoid this expense, it would be a good thing.</p>

2

<p>I was a green card holder when I was a HS Senior. I NEVER recall seeing anywhere a request for TOEFL scores – I didn’t take it.</p>

3

<p>No, you don’t need the TOEFL.</p>

4

<p>Read the websites of the colleges/universities that you are applying to, and see who is required to take the TOEFL (or another English proficiency exam). This has nothing to do with whether you have a Green Card, or whether you are a citizen or not. It has to do with whether or not you are proficient enough in Academic English. Most colleges/universities require a TOEFL exam from all applicants who have fewer than four years of secondary school education in an English-language environment. Many colleges/universities will waive the TOEFL requirement for students who receive a specific ACT or SAT score.</p>

<p>Within the ESL profession, it is generally considered that about seven years of living and studying in English are needed for someone to achieve full academic proficiency. If you haven’t been studying in English language schools for at least five years, you should plan to take the TOEFL. If you are still a bit weak in Academic English, a good TOEFL score will help the college/university better interpret your ACT/SAT scores. It may also allow you to be placed into a writing course designed specifically for advanced language learners such as yourself once you get to college.</p>

<p>Talk to the ESL teachers and the guidance counselors at your school, and ask them whether or not they think you personally should take the TOEFL.</p>

5

<p>Student has been living here 6.5 years, CR score is in upper 600s, Writing in low 700s. On the ACT, 35 Reading, 32 English w/10 essay. </p>

<p>The websites I’ve seen tend to say “If English is not your first/native language…” which is the case for this student – and then goes on with info for international student info – hence the confusion about what a permanent resident whose native language is not English should do.</p>

6

<p>With 6.5 years in the US school system, and scores in those ranges, this kid clearly is nearly native-fluent, if not fully native-fluent. The TOEFL is probably a waste of time and money. There are plenty of monolingual native speakers of English who can’t score in that range.</p>

7

<p>I go to a boarding school with 20-30% international students so we have a lot of experience dealing with this.</p>

<p>As long as you get decent SAT CR scores (upper 600s is fine, writing in low 700s is excellent) colleges don’t care.</p>

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<p>One of those videos has my college counselor talking about international students and standardize testing.</p>

8

<p>No, I can assure you that this student definitely does not need the TOEFL exam.</p>