<p>Hmmm... I'm 100% fluent in English, but I was not born in America. English was not my first language and my family as a whole speaks mostly Chinese at home (actually, about 60% Chinese, 40% English).</p>
<p>I am applying to BU and the supplement tells me that because I checked that English was not my first language and because Chinese is the predominant language spoken at home, I must take the TOEFL.</p>
<p>It says on the supplement:</p>
<p>"If you checked ''no'' to either of the questions above, you are required to take and submit the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). In lieu of the TOEFL, students may submit results of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)."</p>
<p>Um..... do I have to? I mean, I took the SATs and got a competent score in both English and CR, and then the ACTs and got 99th percentile on English and reading...</p>
<p>Do they still expect me to send a TOEFL? What if I don't? Will they automatically not consider me as a candidate to their college?</p>
<p>I have the same problem, if anyone know, please explain</p>
<p>on second thought, if you said it wasn't your first language and they see a high CR/W score, they shouldn't care. Usually, doing good on you english SATs exempts you from tests like the TOEFL</p>
<p>When I filled out my application for BU (I ultimately decided not to apply), I went through the same thing. I just changed my answer and said that English is my first language, since there are varying interpretations of the meaning "first language." ;) I'm not sure what to do if you want to keep your answer the way it is, maybe you should e-mail them and ask? Personally, I think that in your situation it's reasonable to not submit it.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think "first language" means the language in which you are most fluent. In your case (whether or not you are as fluent in Chinese), your first language should be English. If you've attended American schools for most of your life, I think English is your first language.</p>
<p>Are you an American citizen/permanent resident though?
If they really want you to take the TOEFL and you haven't, then they might request for it later on. That's what they did with one of my friend's brother.
I'm full on American born Chinese but I've been living in China for a few years now at an int'l school and my friends are saying that I have to take the TOEFL which is stupid, because what if I were caucasian living here?</p>
<p>anyways, don't worry about it, at least for now. really.</p>
<p>See if you can register for a convenient test administration and get it over with. I do think it is a stupid requirement but you might encounter similar issues at other colleges too? I doubt they will hold up your application but it might come up before enrollment.</p>
<p>I had the same problem. I called BU and explained the situation (and it was especially hard for me to understand this since I come from a country where English is an official language) and an admissions person told me that if your SATs are high enough, which yours are, they'll waive the TOEFL requirement. Regardless, they will still look at your application and it's unlikely they'll reject you based on that when you have supplementary documentation. Also, your recommendation letters can also help (I had an English teacher write one of them).</p>
<p>I've checked out some schools that require this and most of the time, if you score about 700 or 750 in CR, they won't bother with the TOEFL requirement.</p>
<p>so whats the general consensus... should he or should he not take the TOEFL? cause i got the same problem... although i did request some colleges to waive it for me. theyu said i mite be at a disadvantage...which is crazy cause i got a score above 700 in both my CR and W sections and the TOEFL is like wayyy easier than the SAT.</p>
<p>oh and according to web definitions, your first langauge is your mother tongue so no matter how fluent you are at english, it aint your first language if it aint your mother tongue</p>
<p>i TOTALLY agree.
cuz i always thought "as long as you have resided in English-speaking country for more than five years..." was the exception and NO it's not!!
and i don't want to feel guilty for lying (cuz english IS NOT my first language) ...</p>
<p>at least there are schools where TOEFL is not required for 4+ residency or 680+ verbal on SAT ..while there ARE schools out there that require whatsover the situation. sadly.</p>
<p>so what's the answer? i'm in the same situation.
i heard that if you attended school in america, it should be fine or something.
anyone have a clear answer to this?
there is NO WAY i'm taking to TOEFL (too late)</p>
<p>I think the answer is "no" to taking the TOEFL
But, if you are not a US citizen or US resident, then I think you are required to take the test. My friends in Korea that got like 2200+ Sats were still required to take the TOEFL.</p>
<p>But if you receive a US education, no matter your residence status, doesn't that exempt you from takig the TOEFL. I thought you take when you receive your HS education in a foreign country (other than the US)</p>
<p>I took the TOEFL even though I'm perfectly fluent in English and my English is 100000X better than my Russian. Some schools like Cornell didn't even look at it because I went to school in the States and did well on my SATs, BU I think does look at it. I'm pretty sure that BU is the only school that remotely cares, no idea why.</p>
<p>Surprisingly I thought the TOEFL was actually really hard (and I went to school in America since kindergarden). I got a perfect score in the end because they scale it, but I would say it's MUCH more difficult than the SATs</p>
<p>"I'm pretty sure that BU is the only school that remotely cares, no idea why."</p>
<p>Nooo... please not BU </p>
<p>Should I just put english as my first language? What the hell..
I attended an International School, where English and Spanish was taught at the same time.
At home, I was taught Korean.
Now I'm living in the US
Basically, I learned 3 languages at once (?)
I'm fluent in all of them, but I feel comfortable with English too.
Should I just put English as my first language and get over with the TOEFL hassle?</p>
<p>I think if you put English as your first language they will judge your SAT otherwise they may include the TOEFL. As some poster already posted, TOEFL test is harder than SAT. So just put what you need to put so you do not have to take this test. The risk is that you will be reviewing solely based on your SAT. Is your SAT good enough?</p>
<p>i would take TOEFL just to get it over with though (i'm not saying toefl is not hard) </p>
<p>i signed up for the january test and have to fly/drive to canada because i really don't want to deal with TOEFL after i submit my essays and apps although i'm US citizen.</p>