My personal TOEFL experience

Now that I've already applied to all of my desirable colleges, it's time to look back at my experiences, identify mistakes that I've made and new things that I've found out.

I began my preparation for TOEFL long before, sometime after the summer of 2010. I used Longman's preparation book which is really extensive, but its main flaw is that it's unofficial and it doesn't even bearly represent the real hardness of the exam. Unfortunately, I found that out after I took the exam the first time in December. On the day of the exam, I entered an examination room with confidence, being quite sure that nothing could go wrong. I strove to at least a 100/120 result. However, texts in the exam were incomparably harder that those in my preparation book, and they were even longer. Also, many questions were ambiguous with a couple of nearly the same answers, so I had to guess answers to those questions. In the listening part I got the weakest score of all, which was totally unexpectable.

My final result of my first take was quite a disappointment for me (94/120) : Reading (25/30), Listening (21/30), Speaking (23/30), Writing (25/30).

So I decided to retake the test in January. In order to prepare myself better I lent an official study guide from ETS, used some time reading the passages, I worked on my speaking by speaking English in my non-English speaker family, which was rather awkward, but it was worth the effort. My second result was 9 points higher than the first one (103/120) which was very satisfying: Reading (26/30), Listening (27/30), Speaking (23/30), Writing (27/30).

To sum up, if I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't take so much time to prepare for the exam. I would take no more than a month and make an intense preparation, which has worked out for me on the second take of the exam. My advice is also to use that valuable time to prepare for the SAT, which certainly needs more time to prepare. Additionally, I would try to use an official study guide published by the ETS.

TOEFL is not a hard exam if you know how to prepare for it. Spending some money on the preparation courses isn't a bad idea at all. Taking a good, intense preparation course will surely be cost-effective, if you're not a fluent English speaker and if you need serious preparation. For example, in my case for taking the TOEFL twice, which is a result of bad and amateur preparation, I spent more than 450 $. Test fee is 180$, and additional reports to the colleges are 17$ each. A little bit of simple math and there's the cost. I hope that my experience is helpful.

L.

Financial aid help Part 1 - Need-blind colleges

I suppose that most of you relies on the financial aid when considering a U.S. study. Since the scholarships for undergraduates are said to be more rare then those for graduates, to compete for those scholarships you'll need to have excellent competences. That includes a high GPA score, high TOEFL and SAT score, good extracuricullars, etc.
In most cases, your financial situation could also be taken into account. So the applicant with better financial situation has an advatage over a less-wealthy applicant. Nevertheless, this isn't the end of the tunnel.

The solution are need-blind colleges which do not consider an applicant's financial situation when deciding admission. Those colleges are backed finacially by great endowment or source of funding. Need-blind admissions systems are rare in the private sector where institutional funds often make up the bulk of financial aid awarded but virtually all public institutions are need blind. Most private universities cannot afford to offer financial aid to all admitted students and many will admit all students but cannot offer them sufficient aid to meet need. . Many schools who admit all U.S. citizens or resident aliens without regard to need do not extend this policy to internationals or to transfer students. Therefore schools, especially private ones, which are need-blind and full-need for all applicants, including internationals, tend to be much more selective as they have relatively more applicants than other similar schools.

Need-blind admission does not necessarily mean a "full-need" financial aid policy--where the school agrees to meet the full demonstrated financial need of all its admitted students. Indeed, the two policies can be in tension because need-blind admissions and full-need financial aid together commit the school to spend an undetermined amount of money regardless of other budgetary constraints. Thus, some need-blind schools will admit students who will nonetheless not be able to attend because of deficient financial aid awards.

U.S. INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE NEED-BLIND AND FULL-NEED FOR ALL APPLICANTS

There are currently only six U.S. institutions of higher learning offering such admission policies for all applicants, including international students.

1. Amherst College - liberal arts college
2. Dartmouth College
3. Harvard University
4. MIT
5. Princeton University
6. Yale University

For U.S. applicants there is a much boader range of whether need-blind or full-need institutions.

Some of them are:

1. Boston College
2. Duke University
3. Georgetown University
4. University of Notre Dame

GPA calculator for non-US students is here.

I frankly doubt that something like this already exists. GPA calculator was no problem only to US students and those 'foreigners' who had straight A's in their school reports. Until now.


GPA calculator calculates your grade using:

• your US grade equivalent
• credit hours

You can find your US equivalent grade on http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/germany.htm. On your left side there is a menu where you can choose your counrty.

Credit hours refer to the importance of a particular course with regards to the other courses.
If you have every single week the same courses schedule, then your credit hours for particular course mean the number of classes you have this course during one week. E.g. in your weekly schedule you have 5 classes of mathematics, but 3 classes of biology, and 2 classes of foreign language. Then your credit hours are: mathematics (5), biology (3), foreign language (2).
If you have a two-week pattern in your courses schedule, then count the classes during two weeks.

You can find GPA calculator on the left.

What is more you can calculate your GPA by yourself on a sheet of paper. Want to know how? Please subscribe, or stay tuned until the next post.

Leo

Step 3 - Determine whether you meet admission requirements

What are the most common admission requirements set up by US colleges?

• Your GPA (Grade Point Average) is an average assessment of your knowledge for a particular school year calculated from your grades. It ranges on a scale from 0.0-4.0. 
• Standardized testing includes TOEFL and SAT or ACT (not both of them) - maximum number of points for TOEFL (120 iBT), SAT (2400), ACT (36). A great deal of universities require two more SAT Subject Tests. e.g."When applying for admission to Princeton, you must submit official scores for either the SAT Reasoning Test or the ACT (with Writing, where available). All applicants must also take two SAT Subject Tests."
• Most of the colleges commonly require a TOEFL score of 80/120 iBT or higher.
• extracuricullar activities - social activity, membership in clubs, doing sports, anything you find useful to mention.
• Just to mention 12 years of education so far.

All colleges and universities have different admissions requirements. The best way to compare your credentials to the requirements is to consider average SAT scores of the last-year enrolled students and acceptance rate.
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What is eCPM?

Many users of Adbrite and other similar advertising programs may have wondered what eCPM means, or how it is calculated? If you encountered a question: 'What's the price to beat?', when installing Adbrite, and stood still without knowing what to write in, here's an answer.

Step 2 - Define what field you want to study in.

This is a very important step that defines your future career. Consider it with regards. You must have wished already to work in a certain field in future. If so, look the facts about that field up in the Academics section on every university's webpage. Intoduce yourself to your wishing field of study. Use the internet, magazines or else.

Step 1 - Start preparing for the TOEFL and the SAT

You should start your preparation immediately unless you speak English fluently. The TOEFL (Test Of English As Foreign Language) examination is one of your passes for entering U.S. university. TOEFL test-taking is usually offered by the advising center in your country. The test is offered in two formats: iBT (internet-based) and PBT (paper-based). IBT format is more convenient because it's offered 30-40 times a year and in 4,500 authorized test centers across the world. The cost of the test ranges from 150-200$.

To find out what is the closest location where you can take the test visit