Is there anyone here who has waived the English proficiency requirement while applying for the grad school at Columbia? Since it has been mentioned on the GSAAP website that international students who have successfully completed two years of study in an English speaking Institution may waive the TOEFL exam if they are able to submit relevant transcripts, did anyone here carry out their application through this process?
I have written the IELTS and scored an 8.5 and have done all my education in English speaking institutions. I'm wondering if I will be required to specifically take the TOEFL for Columbia or if I can apply with my transcripts stating the medium of my instruction as English. Because writing the TOEFL would add up to the list of things that i have to complete before applying and would delay my application by a bit. Please do let me know if anyone has any leads. Any help is much appreciated!
Thank you!
placebeyondthesplines
Nov 30, 19 11:41 am
8. TOEFL
All applicants whose native language is not English must submit TOEFL scores (with the exception of Introduction to Architecture applicants). At this time there is no minimum TOEFL score required for admission.
International students who have successfully completed two years of study in an English-speaking institution may waive the TOEFL exam requirement provided they can submit relevant transcripts.
Applicants should contact ETS to have official test scores sent to the GSAPP Admissions Office via Institution Code 2164, Dept. Code 12. TOEFL scores are valid for two years after the test date.
We do not accept the TOEFL ITP. We do not accept the IELTS in lieu of the TOEFL.
copied and pasted straight from the GSAPP website. your inability to do a basic internet search suggests that the TOEFL isn't going to be what gets you rejected.
Vins
Nov 30, 19 10:25 pm
@placebeyondthesplines I'm aware of this but the TOEFL waiver request form is not available on the website for GSAAP. You have to request the university for one. I have sent an email to them and they are unavailable over the Thanksgiving weekend. I needed to make a quick decision and asked for help. I have already mentioned what i have read on the website, thanks for your quick judgement anyway.
Non Sequitur
Nov 30, 19 10:43 pm
Have you tried calling a real person and asking instead of just posting in an online forum?
Non Sequitur
Dec 1, 19 12:06 am
ah, then I guess the OP should have been more proactive and called before a holiday weekend.
Vins
Dec 1, 19 12:55 am
@Non sequitur you don't know what my circumstances are so i don't expect you to understand my situation. Thank you anyway for the feedback! I guess I'll go speak with real people now.
Flatfish
Dec 1, 19 11:32 am
GSAPP's applications aren't even due until January, and this person has transcripts that meet the waiver criteria. There doesn't seem to be any procrastination - they're just trying to get clarification on what additional form they need to provide, if any, when they file their application. At this point they're still more than a month ahead of the due date.
Vins
Nov 30, 19 11:28 pm
Hey yes, I have spoken to a friend of mine who attends Columbia. She has mentioned that she has submitted her TOEFL scores because she had to write them anyway for a couple of other universities. She suggested that it is better if I write it. She also tried to find out if anyone else has waived the requirement while applying but had no luck. She was the one who mentioned that there is usually a waiver request form that needs to be submitted during the application and gave me a personal contact from the admissions committee and am waiting to hear back from them. Posting on this online forum is an added effort to find out if anyone else has been in a similar situation.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 1, 19 9:44 am
It is truly scary that someone may become licensed as an Architect in the Us without full-proficiency in the English language.
Flatfish
Dec 1, 19 11:35 am
The OP's posts demonstrate strong proficiency. There are plenty of born-and-raised-in-the-USA regulars here who are less competent in their native language. Case in point: the person who thinks that "maybe" is a contraction of "may be", and who doesn't know the difference between "then" and "than".
BulgarBlogger
Dec 1, 19 11:45 am
You can't truly judge that these days because people's care as far as grammar online is expressed as a function of the formality of the forum in which they participate. I would be more careful if I were writing to the president than if I were responding to Rick Balkins. Auto correct doesn't help either, and people's participatoon through smart devices also leaves room for error.
Flatfish
Dec 1, 19 4:26 pm
I'm not talking about informality. I'm talking about basic understandings of English word meanings. For example Rick, in your case you use "maybe" incorrectly 99% of the time. It's not a casual or "slang" usage - it's used in a way that doesn't mean what you think it means, and makes no sense because it's not even the correct part of speech ("maybe" isn't a contraction, it's an adjective. You can't use it to replace a verb.). It's unfair that everybody's ganging up on the OP for lack of English competence and for procrastinating when in fact the people doing the complaining are from here and can't express coherent thoughts in their native language.
Flatfish
Dec 1, 19 5:15 pm
As I said above, GSAPP's application isn't due until January. The OP certainly isn't "waiting until the last second", and I'm not sure why you think he or she owes some sort of proof to you. They just came here wondering whether anyone else happened to have already encountered the same situation while applying, in which case they might not have had to wait until Monday to complete their application, when someone will be in the admissions office to answer the question.
Flatfish
Dec 1, 19 5:35 pm
First of all, it's not finals week. Columbia's semester goes until December 18, and applications aren't even due until January. The OP isn't a current student there - they're applying to grad school. Why would you think that they should have contacted the admissions office during the first or 2nd week of the fall term? Usually the electronic application isn't even out yet that early for the next year. I'm still not understanding why you think the OP is waiting until the last minute or is in any way looking for sympathy. They already have the required English transcripts - all they're trying to do is find out where to indicate on GSAPP's application that they're selecting the option to waive the TOEFUL (this is confusing, because in GSAPP's FAQ it says this can be done directly in the electronic application, but in the electronic application there's no box to check or option to select for this choice.) They can call the admissions office tomorrow and ask the question, but all they were trying to do was see if somebody here had already gone through the same thing recently and already knew the answer. Isn't that one of the purposes of this forum?
Flatfish
Dec 1, 19 7:07 pm
In the application itself it says that the student can waive the TOEFL. It just doesn't precisely tell the student how to do that. This student has the appropriate transcripts. Their question isn't how to upload those - it's whether they need to fill out some additional form, or send a letter or something, to formally state that it's their intention to waive the TOEFL, or whether the admissions staff will just automatically understand that because they upload transcripts from an institution that teaches in English. As for why they didn't ask 5 weeks ago or whatever: because this is traditional "application season" for M.Arch programs. Most of the universities don't even update their applications to the following year until around the time of the prospective open-houses in November. I don't understand why you're being so harsh toward someone who just came here to ask a question of others who might have applied to the same program. They didn't do anything wrong by asking it when the question arose, as they were trying to complete the application.
BulgarBlogger
Dec 1, 19 5:11 pm
International relay chat- good times...
placebeyondthesplines_
Dec 4, 19 8:26 am
I don't plan to apply to GSAPP at this time.
Oh Balkins, never change. This is the purest form of comedy; imagine being in the GSAPP admissions and seeing whatever this application would be. Goddamn, the thought of this made my whole day.
placebeyondthesplines_
Dec 5, 19 12:43 am
well that’s about as creepy a comment as I’d expect.
manalalg
Nov 8, 20 5:18 pm
Finally Someone is talking about this! I have sent an email, no response yet.
any update?
placebeyondthesplines
Nov 9, 20 5:00 pm
At this time there is no minimum TOEFL score required for admission.
if your score doesn't even matter, why not just take the test and stop worrying about it?
Hello guys,
Is there anyone here who has waived the English proficiency requirement while applying for the grad school at Columbia? Since it has been mentioned on the GSAAP website that international students who have successfully completed two years of study in an English speaking Institution may waive the TOEFL exam if they are able to submit relevant transcripts, did anyone here carry out their application through this process?
I have written the IELTS and scored an 8.5 and have done all my education in English speaking institutions. I'm wondering if I will be required to specifically take the TOEFL for Columbia or if I can apply with my transcripts stating the medium of my instruction as English. Because writing the TOEFL would add up to the list of things that i have to complete before applying and would delay my application by a bit. Please do let me know if anyone has any leads. Any help is much appreciated!
Thank you!
8. TOEFL
All applicants whose native language is not English must submit TOEFL scores (with the exception of Introduction to Architecture applicants). At this time there is no minimum TOEFL score required for admission.
International students who have successfully completed two years of study in an English-speaking institution may waive the TOEFL exam requirement provided they can submit relevant transcripts.
Applicants should contact ETS to have official test scores sent to the GSAPP Admissions Office via Institution Code 2164, Dept. Code 12. TOEFL scores are valid for two years after the test date.
We do not accept the TOEFL ITP. We do not accept the IELTS in lieu of the TOEFL.
copied and pasted straight from the GSAPP website. your inability to do a basic internet search suggests that the TOEFL isn't going to be what gets you rejected.
@placebeyondthesplines I'm aware of this but the TOEFL waiver request form is not available on the website for GSAAP. You have to request the university for one. I have sent an email to them and they are unavailable over the Thanksgiving weekend. I needed to make a quick decision and asked for help. I have already mentioned what i have read on the website, thanks for your quick judgement anyway.
Have you tried calling a real person and asking instead of just posting in an online forum?
ah, then I guess the OP should have been more proactive and called before a holiday weekend.
@Non sequitur you don't know what my circumstances are so i don't expect you to understand my situation. Thank you anyway for the feedback! I guess I'll go speak with real people now.
GSAPP's applications aren't even due until January, and this person has transcripts that meet the waiver criteria. There doesn't seem to be any procrastination - they're just trying to get clarification on what additional form they need to provide, if any, when they file their application. At this point they're still more than a month ahead of the due date.
Hey yes, I have spoken to a friend of mine who attends Columbia. She has mentioned that she has submitted her TOEFL scores because she had to write them anyway for a couple of other universities. She suggested that it is better if I write it. She also tried to find out if anyone else has waived the requirement while applying but had no luck. She was the one who mentioned that there is usually a waiver request form that needs to be submitted during the application and gave me a personal contact from the admissions committee and am waiting to hear back from them. Posting on this online forum is an added effort to find out if anyone else has been in a similar situation.
It is truly scary that someone may become licensed as an Architect in the Us without full-proficiency in the English language.
The OP's posts demonstrate strong proficiency. There are plenty of born-and-raised-in-the-USA regulars here who are less competent in their native language. Case in point: the person who thinks that "maybe" is a contraction of "may be", and who doesn't know the difference between "then" and "than".
You can't truly judge that these days because people's care as far as grammar online is expressed as a function of the formality of the forum in which they participate. I would be more careful if I were writing to the president than if I were responding to Rick Balkins. Auto correct doesn't help either, and people's participatoon through smart devices also leaves room for error.
I'm not talking about informality. I'm talking about basic understandings of English word meanings. For example Rick, in your case you use "maybe" incorrectly 99% of the time. It's not a casual or "slang" usage - it's used in a way that doesn't mean what you think it means, and makes no sense because it's not even the correct part of speech ("maybe" isn't a contraction, it's an adjective. You can't use it to replace a verb.). It's unfair that everybody's ganging up on the OP for lack of English competence and for procrastinating when in fact the people doing the complaining are from here and can't express coherent thoughts in their native language.
As I said above, GSAPP's application isn't due until January. The OP certainly isn't "waiting until the last second", and I'm not sure why you think he or she owes some sort of proof to you. They just came here wondering whether anyone else happened to have already encountered the same situation while applying, in which case they might not have had to wait until Monday to complete their application, when someone will be in the admissions office to answer the question.
First of all, it's not finals week. Columbia's semester goes until December 18, and applications aren't even due until January. The OP isn't a current student there - they're applying to grad school. Why would you think that they should have contacted the admissions office during the first or 2nd week of the fall term? Usually the electronic application isn't even out yet that early for the next year. I'm still not understanding why you think the OP is waiting until the last minute or is in any way looking for sympathy. They already have the required English transcripts - all they're trying to do is find out where to indicate on GSAPP's application that they're selecting the option to waive the TOEFUL (this is confusing, because in GSAPP's FAQ it says this can be done directly in the electronic application, but in the electronic application there's no box to check or option to select for this choice.) They can call the admissions office tomorrow and ask the question, but all they were trying to do was see if somebody here had already gone through the same thing recently and already knew the answer. Isn't that one of the purposes of this forum?
In the application itself it says that the student can waive the TOEFL. It just doesn't precisely tell the student how to do that. This student has the appropriate transcripts. Their question isn't how to upload those - it's whether they need to fill out some additional form, or send a letter or something, to formally state that it's their intention to waive the TOEFL, or whether the admissions staff will just automatically understand that because they upload transcripts from an institution that teaches in English. As for why they didn't ask 5 weeks ago or whatever: because this is traditional "application season" for M.Arch programs. Most of the universities don't even update their applications to the following year until around the time of the prospective open-houses in November. I don't understand why you're being so harsh toward someone who just came here to ask a question of others who might have applied to the same program. They didn't do anything wrong by asking it when the question arose, as they were trying to complete the application.
International relay chat- good times...
I don't plan to apply to GSAPP at this time.
Oh Balkins, never change. This is the purest form of comedy; imagine being in the GSAPP admissions and seeing whatever this application would be. Goddamn, the thought of this made my whole day.
well that’s about as creepy a comment as I’d expect.
Finally Someone is talking about this! I have sent an email, no response yet.
any update?
At this time there is no minimum TOEFL score required for admission.
if your score doesn't even matter, why not just take the test and stop worrying about it?