TOEFL score report delivery estimate?

[Rosamunda]

Thanks for the info though!

And by the way, IELTS has ***FREE*** materials on its website to help candidates prepare for the exam. I think it is a good idea to read through them before the exam even if you are confident about your level.


http://www.ielts.org/test_takers_inform ... ample.aspx

[melameen]

Hello everyone, I'm new here
I cannot believe this ETS thing. They charge you $18 per copy and it takes them this long. I had my exam on Dec 22nd. Today, Aalto University told me that they still haven't got my score report. Is this normal?!

[Hippo]

Sadly, it is. Their website says to allow 10 days for the test result and another 4-6 weeks for score report delivery to schools. So the whole thing could take up to 2 months.

[melameen]

for future reference, I received en email from Aalto saying that they received my TOEFL scores on Jan 30th.
So, it took around 6 weeks from the day of the test, until it arrived to Aalto.
Best of luck to all !

[Daniel anyane]

I orderd my toefl score from EST toJAMK on 17Jan. is it likely my score will arrive on time.

[Rosamunda]

Just out of pure curiosity, why do you all take TOEFL instead of IELTS?
Is it cheaper? Is it because you don't have an IELTS test centre near to where you live?
Any other reason?

[Hippo]

Well, for me, I had to take -specifically- TOEFL a few years ago and I liked the test then. So this time around I took it again as a safe route since I was already familiar with it.

Also, I am not exactly sure how it works, but the IELTS scoring scale (out of 9 with .5 increments) is kind of wacky. The idea of dropping from 8 to 7.5 in a section because of a single mistake makes me uncomfortable.

[Rosamunda]

I guess if you are familiar with TOEFL then that is a good reason to stick witn it even if they do take TWO MONTHS to post the results!

As for the IELTS scoring system I really don't think that "one mistake" would hamper your chances of getting the grade you need. From what I've heard the grading system is not based on the number of mistakes that you make, it focuses more on the positive side of what you say/write. But it's an interesting comment, and one that I hadn't really thought about! The other big difference between the two is in the speaking test: with IELTS you are face to face with a real person who has been trained to help you produce your best language whereas in Toefl you are talking to a computer.

Another solution is to do a Cambridge exam which is valid for infinity and beyond, so you don't have to resit IELTS/Toefl every two years over and over again.

[Hippo]

I have never done it in a language test setting, but I imagine I'd be far comfortable talking to a real person than to a computer screen in the speaking section. I might take IELTS the next time - though I don't know if there will be a next time.

The Cambridge exam is interesting but it may not be as widely recognized. I've seen some schools in Europe that only list TOEFL and IELTS scores as accepted qualifications.

[farhad]

funny! I also took TOEFL iBT on 12 Jan 2013 and the Metropolia deadline is 22nd Feb!
And they claimed they are very strict and they can make no exceptions!

[Hippo]

I had a 'bad' experience of my TOEFL score getting delivered to Aalto University: it took more than a month (I guess around 2 months). I also sent my TOEFL score to other universities in Europe, and almost all of them reached the universities on time (the time mentioned in TOEFL website). I contacted the Aalto University admission office and told them about my problem. They replied that they contacted the ETS. Because of many applications ETS is taking time to deliver the TOEFL score report. So even they agreed to wait for the TOEFL.

But this happened in Aalto and not in Tampere. I suggest that you should contact the admission office of the university and tell them about your problem.

Ugh, Aalto has just told me that they have received my documents, but the application is not complete because they have not received my TOEFL report yet, which I asked from ETS on 20 Jan (not the date of the test, I had taken it way earlier). It's been 3 and a half weeks at this point, which is more than enough time for an envelope from US to arrive in Finland

[farhad]

I had a 'bad' experience of my TOEFL score getting delivered to Aalto University: it took more than a month (I guess around 2 months). I also sent my TOEFL score to other universities in Europe, and almost all of them reached the universities on time (the time mentioned in TOEFL website). I contacted the Aalto University admission office and told them about my problem. They replied that they contacted the ETS. Because of many applications ETS is taking time to deliver the TOEFL score report. So even they agreed to wait for the TOEFL.

But this happened in Aalto and not in Tampere. I suggest that you should contact the admission office of the university and tell them about your problem.

Ugh, Aalto has just told me that they have received my documents, but the application is not complete because they have not received my TOEFL report yet, which I asked from ETS on 20 Jan (not the date of the test, I had taken it way earlier). It's been 3 and a half weeks at this point, which is more than enough time for an envelope from US to arrive in Finland

Dear Hippo, When did you take your toefl exam?

[Hippo]

October 2011.

[roadlamp1768]

Just out of pure curiosity, why do you all take TOEFL instead of IELTS?
Is it cheaper? Is it because you don't have an IELTS test centre near to where you live?
Any other reason?

Many Korean students go to the U.S for university education and it seems there are some unis that only take TOEFL score in the U.S.
As for me, it was mainly because of marketing by private English language academies.
I heard more about TOEFL and I only heard about IELTS after I got very familiar with TOEFL test format so I didn't feel the need to look into it further.

I prepared for IELTS everyday per an hour for one week and I have to say that I liked preparing for IELTS more than preparing for TOEFL.

I got my score report today and sent it to TAMK via DHL express. If nothing odd happens, my package will arrive there by next Tuesday. Thank you again, Rosamunda for letting me know about this option!

[roadlamp1768]

Thanks to all those who replied to my question! I hope all of us can get into the uni of our choice! Good luck to all!