Impact of toefl on application and Cancellation query

Question

None of the schools that I plan to apply to have TOEFL as a requirement if the medium of instruction of undergrads was English, but I had still been planning to take the test just to be safe, as I am an international candidate from India.
My first question is if I take the test and score poorly, will that harm my candidature more than if I don't take at all?
My second question is that can one cancel the score after knowing the full toefl score?

abhimahna · Answer

Hey,

I think if the schools are not asking for TOEFL Score and you have a poor score, you should not report it to them.

I think you have the option of cancelling your exam at the moment you are done with your it.

Post exam completion and score generation, you cannot cancel the score.

Solution to your problem:  You can always retake another one and report the updated score to your schools.

ZenYogi · Answer

I think this is like the chicken and egg problem. I wouldn't know if I have a good score or bad score until I take the test, and if I do then my scores get automatically reported.

I could potentially do a retake, but then again there is no guarantee that I'd score well and I'd be back to square one.

abhimahna · Answer

I agree. But you can always prepare well and practice alot before giving another try. Your practice tests could help you determine your current level.

Once you are anywhere near to your target score, you can book your exam and get a good score.

ZenYogi · Answer

Do you think its somehow better to not use the option of sending the scores to 4 schools for free, and then send them later once you know the scores for charge?

abhimahna · Answer

If you are not confident enough, I will prefer doing so. This way you will be on a safer side.

Carcass · Answer

Hi,

as for the replies before, they are correct.

1) You can delete your score after you get it https://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/scoring/ Here you have all the necessary info about.

2) If the school does not require the score why you have to take ??? However, in my opinion a good TOEFL score is always a strong point for your candidacy. I would suggest having in your CV. Schools or not, or for a job .........it will never hurt you, at the very least it is neutral. In general, it is good to have, regardless.

BrunoP · Answer

My two cents here:

Do the TOEFL and check your score. If you get above 100-105 points than you report them to your schools, otherwise you can cancel your test.
If you get, for example, 107 points (which is a great score in my opinion) I believe that it will help you in your applications. So I believe it worth trying to get this score in the test.

ZenYogi · Answer

Hi Carcass,

First of all, thanks for replying to the post.

Second, I did not find the part on "deleting" per se, but the site does say - "If you cancel your scores, they will not be reported to you or any institutions." 
From what I understand, if I cancel my score at the end of the test (which is the point when I don't know my scores), I'll never get to know my score (so cannot take an informed decision).

I agree that having a good score will boost my candidacy and that's why I want to take the test.

ZenYogi · Answer

Yeah, I do agree that it would be a less risky thing to do but definitely be more expensive, since I'll have to pay for each school that I want to send the score to.

Again, are you sure that it is possible to know your score and then cancel them? Because from what I understand, TOEFL differs from GMAT in this regard. Else, this would have been just perfect.

BrunoP · Answer

It will cost you more but you can do the test, receive your score and them send to the schools.
If the score is bad, you just do not send to them (if I am not wrong, they cannot check your score unless you send it to them. So no matter what happens, if you receive a bad score, just keep it to yourself and do another test).

I did this. My first score was 99 (and I needed 100).
I asked to review my score and they didn't increase any points.
Than I did a second test, got 102 and send to the schools. They know only about the 102, not about the 99.

ZenYogi · Answer

Thanks, this really helps. Also, from your post I'm assuming that unlike gmat where all the scores from previous tests are included in the report, on the toefl only score from one test is included per report. Can you please confirm this assumption?

BrunoP · Answer

From what I know, yes.
I looked the report and it just show about the current test, nothing about previous scores.

Pandastic · Answer

Hi. I took my TOEFL a few days back and the reports will come probably in ten days from the date of test. In the meantime, I decided to apply to a school whose deadline is a few days earlier than the day on which TOEFL scores are expected. What happens now? Is there a way out here? Thanks a lot.

Impact of toefl on application and Cancellation query

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