Hello all. I am in a bit of a dilemma and would like to pick your brain on whether I should take the TOEFL / IELTS.
I am interested in applying to several UK schools in Round 1. I am really surprised to learn that the English language requirements can vary materially across the schools. Here are some examples:
LBS:
...your undergraduate or postgraduate degree was conducted entirely in English or in an English-speaking country (degrees must be two years or longer); OR
you have lived or worked in an English-speaking country for at least two years since graduating from university.
Judge:
You have completed formalised education, equivalent to a UK Bachelors Degree, for a minimum of three years in an academic institution located in the following list (of English-speaking countries).
Said:
Successfully completed a full-time degree-level course of a minimum of nine months, at a recognised institution, where the medium of instruction and assessment was entirely in English.
I have an undergraduate degree whose medium of instruction is English. However, only one out of three years of study was in the UK. I am not a native speaker or a citizen of an English-speaking country. However, I have lived and worked in the UK for over a third of my life. My circumstances mean that I satisfy the language requirements of LBS and Said (and most schools in Europe for that matter), but not that of Judge. As Round 1 is approaching and I have some business travel commitment to fulfill in the coming weeks, I doubt that I will have time to take the TOEFL or IELTS.
What would you do if you were me?
A. Don't submit application to Judge in R1
B. Take the risk and submit application to Judge without TOEFL or IELTS
I am tempted to submit without a TOEFL/IELTS score, but I don't want to be disqualified on this basis. Do you think the AdCom would disregard my application? How strict do you think they are on this? Do you think a good GMAT Verbal score would allay their concerns about a candidate's language proficiency?
Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.