Education Matters - Study in Abroad

The function of standardized tests is to give colleges a way to evaluate all their applicants on an equal level. Comparison of grades received in courses or on exams is not always enough because different schools have different academic standards.

Most standardized tests are designed to measure a student’s skills, rather than a student’s amount of knowledge. The questions in these tests evaluate your ability to solve problems, not your knowledge of facts (such as important historical dates, or parts of the human anatomy).

Most of the US colleges and universities require that all their applicants take one or more standardized tests. These tests include the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), GRE (Graduate Record Examination), and GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test). Additionally, applicants who are not Americans are required to also take the TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System).

International students applying for an undergraduate program (bachelor’s degree) will be required to take the TOEFL or IELTS and the SAT tests. Graduate students applying to an arts or science program will be required to take the TOEFL or IELTS and, usually, the GRE. Graduate students applying to a business program will be required to take the TOEFL or IELTS and, usually, the GMAT.

Most British universities will look for an IELTS or TOFEL score, in some cases this can be waived based on your English score in the class 10th and 12th.

Australian universities will look for an IELTS score that will depend on the level of the qualification you are applying to.