TOEFL test

[Wayne]

I am finding that American universities require a certain score or higher on the TOEFL--Test of English as a Foreign Language. 

It looks like this test can be taken at major cities in Ukraine.  Has anyone taken this test?

Also, if someone is transfering from a Ukrainian university to one in America, how did you get your transripts evaluated? 

[brave girl]

Also, if someone is transfering from a Ukrainian university to one in America, how did you get your transripts evaluated? 

So, this time she is the young one!!  :evil:   brave girl

[brave girl]

I am finding that American universities require a certain score or higher on the TOEFL--Test of English as a Foreign Language. 

It looks like this test can be taken at major cities in Ukraine.  Has anyone taken this test?

Also, if someone is transfering from a Ukrainian university to one in America, how did you get your transripts evaluated? 

Also, transferring & transcripts (the spell check )!!  brave girl

[GalinaF]

My daughter took her TOEFL exam at a testing center in St. Petersburg a few years ago. As far as I can remember, she registered for the test online and paid the fee with her debit card. Then, she took a sample test at the center to figure out what score she would be able to get on her real exam. While filling out her TOEFL registration form, she was supposed to write down the code(s) of American universities she was applying to. She left that field blank at first, and then, when she decided on the university, she sent another form (and another fee) to ETS.

If you go to the TOEFL website, you’ll find a list of all the test centers in Ukraine.

When my daughter was accepted at NYU, they evaluated her transcripts themselves. After 2.5 years at St. Petersburg state university, she got about 62 (? – I don’t remember the exact number now) credits transferred, so she received her bachelor’s degree in two years.

[facetrock]

  Wayne you can get into deep doo doo if your trying to do what I think you are doing. Highly illegal. Better have your ducks in a perfect rows upon rows. The people at the embassys doing the interviews are pros at figuring this out. If I am wrong  and this is not the case I apologize in advance.

[Lily]

I am finding that American universities require a certain score or higher on the TOEFL--Test of English as a Foreign Language. 

It looks like this test can be taken at major cities in Ukraine.  Has anyone taken this test?

Also, if someone is transfering from a Ukrainian university to one in America, how did you get your transripts evaluated? 

I have taken TOEFL in Moscow in 2002, at Prometrics.

Transcripts evaluation is another story, suggest asking in your target university (-ies).

[ECOCKS]

I have had several of my students take the TOEFL within the last 4 years. All were in Kyiv but it is offered in other cities as well. What is your question?

As you are being told, first send your transcripts to the targeted university for evaluation. If you are unsure where the student wishes to attend, you can send it to one of the two transcript evaluation services and get an idea of how it will be viewed in order to plan the degree and reasonable chance of getting accepted.

There are scholarships available for graduate level work which go crying for qualified students, yet few Ukrainians or Russians have the academic discipline or talent to apply for it in such a way as to be reasonably assured of getting one and then being succesful. I have two students in the US right now on full-ride scholarships (one including pocket money even) but couldn't find any worth working with for this coming year's competitions.

[Boethius]

So, this time she is the young one!!  :evil:   brave girl

Or perhaps it is the child of the lady he is visiting.

Care to clarify, Wayne?  If this is for the child, is that child over/under 21 years of age?

[Wayne]

Yes, the student is the child.  She is only 16 years old, but in the first year of medical school.  Very smart!

Does anyone have experience with "World Education Services" credential services? They have a package where they store your transcripts and evaluations and you can later have them sent to any school.

Does anyone have experience with the apostille procedure at the Ukraine Ministry of Education and Science?

Why would a university in Ukraine teach classes in English and Russian--but not Ukrainian?

[GQBlues]

I am finding that American universities require a certain score or higher on the TOEFL--Test of English as a Foreign Language. 

It looks like this test can be taken at major cities in Ukraine.  Has anyone taken this test?

Also, if someone is transfering from a Ukrainian university to one in America, how did you get your transripts evaluated? 

Transcripts are normally evaluated by the university you plan to, or are/will be attending. They will credit whatever GE studies they feel are adequate transfer credits. If you have specialized classes (those geared toward your degree), then they'll advise the student to meet/present your credentials to the appropriate departments for their own evaluation - then you'll be able to determine how much of what you already completed can be accredited as completed course/unit. Make sure the transcript is translated and certified.

You can send in your transcripts to a private firm, but based on our experience, it was a waste of time and money.

My wife never took the TOEFL since she took English courses at the city college level prior to attending a University.

[chicagosenso]

Wayne,

My wife had daughter had their Russian college transcripts evaluated by a company called ECE.  You can find them on the web by searching ECE.  It costs about $100 for each one of them to have their classes evaluated and took about four to six weeks to receive a response.  You send them a certified copy of the transcripts from the Russian university/school and they do the rest.  Make sure you bring a copy of the transcripts with you.  My wife received full credit for her Phd and my daughter full credit for her two years of college.  Both are attending college in the US and neither of them had diffciulty getting credit for their classes toward their current academic career goals.

[GalinaF]

Does anyone have experience with "World Education Services" credential services? They have a package where they store your transcripts and evaluations and you can later have them sent to any school.

I had my diploma evaluated at WES, but it was a while ago when their requirements were different from what they are now. Before sending my papers to them, I made sure that it would be accepted at our CT Board of Education.

I agree with GQBlues that it could be a waste of time and money. Of course, they can promise that they will send their evaluation to any school, but whether it would be accepted by the school is a completely different question. In case of my daughter, it would have been a waste...

[JR]

So, this time she is the young one!!  :evil:   brave girl

BraveGirly you need to take that blind fold off as it is making your jumping to conclusions into jumping into piles of.....

[kievstar]

Wayne did not answer how old the mother is could be 30 years old.  Which is young as well.

Very easy to get a Ukraine woman over to the USA if she speaks good English for education or work visa.  Can be expensive for school for international rates. 

[mies]

 Wayne you can get into deep doo doo if your trying to do what I think you are doing. Highly illegal. Better have your ducks in a perfect rows upon rows. The people at the embassys doing the interviews are pros at figuring this out. If I am wrong  and this is not the case I apologize in advance.

disregard - i've just read that student is the child.

[mies]

I am finding that American universities require a certain score or higher on the TOEFL--Test of English as a Foreign Language.  

It looks like this test can be taken at major cities in Ukraine.  Has anyone taken this test?

Also, if someone is transfering from a Ukrainian university to one in America, how did you get your transripts evaluated?  

maybe the transripts don't need to be evaluated at all. Some universities have international affairs office - where they handle the issuing and translation of transcripts, as well as issue and verify all needed relevant documentation. If in her university there is no such office, she can probably use the public notary's services in her town to translate the transcripts. These transcripts are sent by student directly to U.S. college along with other application documents. If she plans to transfer her credits from ukrainian/russian university - I would do as other contributors already advised - and will send her transripts to the US college.

For TOEFL - you can register her yourself,
http://www.ets.org/bin/getprogram.cgi?test=toefl
and pay yourself for her test. Only use her e-mail when you will be registering her for the test. Then she will receive an e-mail with details about the test.
TOEFL score requirements can be found on most U.S. universities websites.

[mies]

There are scholarships available for graduate level work which go crying for qualified students, yet few Ukrainians or Russians have the academic discipline or talent to apply for it in such a way as to be reasonably assured of getting one and then being succesful. I have two students in the US right now on full-ride scholarships (one including pocket money even) but couldn't find any worth working with for this coming year's competitions.

really? i was under very different impression. not many russian or ukrainian students indeed apply for external funding - but that is not because they lack knowledge or talent, but because they are not familiar with the whole process of fund-raising. However, most of those who apply to western graduate schools - are qualified enough to get funded by university - in a form of graduate assistantship, and it's not just "pocket money" - it's regular monthly stipend, sufficient to cover all living expenses. As I am writing this - my ex-classmate from ukrainian university is doing post-doc at Yale. as well as 30+ other classmates from ukrainian university are either PhD students or assistant professors or research fellows in USA or Europe. Few have chosen to study business and have already graduated from INSEAD or LSE & LBS, landed great jobs before they graduated, and already paid back their "school loans" in full.
I don't know anybody who went to medical school in USA, so i cannot help Wayne with advice. I could however advise him - to consider pharmaceutics departments. if the girl can transfer her credits from russian/ukrainian university - those will be applicable, because during the first year they study less specialized courses (chemistry, biology, anatomy, physiology etc). And the discipline is close enough to medicine. Maybe (not 100% sure, but possible) she will be able to find some funding for her studies in USA. I have a Colombian friend who after finishing 4 college years in Colombia in medical school - was accepted to US "pharmaceutical" program (the top school) and now is doing PhD here, fully sponsored by her U.S. program/university.

[ECOCKS]

I'm not even counting the Graduate or Teaching Assistant options.

The "pocket money" for one is from the living allowance paid by a "full-ride" scholarship while pursuing his MBA. The other one, also pursuing an MBA, was too impatient to wait for the competitive scholarships (which are richer) and simply got accepted first, then received a full tuition scholarship from the Alumni Association of one of the top-ranked International Business Schools in the world.

So, they're there if anyone bothers to get off their butt to work for it and get accepted at a reputable school. Takes hard work though (preparation, testing, interviewing and then the paperchase) and sadly, most don't seem to understand this or the ultimate payoff.

[mies]

So, they're there if anyone bothers to get off their butt to work for it and get accepted at a reputable school. Takes hard work though (preparation, testing, interviewing and then the paperchase) and sadly, most don't seem to understand this or the ultimate payoff.

i think many just have no idea these options exist. remember - we have very different school system. What is obvious for an american student, and is only a matter of "getting off the butt", is a whole new world for many kids in FSU colleges/schools.

[ECOCKS]

Different views then. I met too many who are completely unwilling to put the work into the preparation and spend the time going for the degreee.

[Lily]

Different views indeed. As for my experience, I have meet quite a number of those who dig through every opportunity to fund their studies in the West. They are Ukrainians, Russians, Kazakhs, Georgian and other FSU people.

Throughout my life, I found opportunities and applied for about a dozen of fellowships ans stipends in order to advance myself professionally. I had no success with some of them; but the others brought me two postdraduate degrees and some good things in my resume.

Now I prepare my diplomas for WES and other evaluations. Trying to do as much as I can while being still in Russia. It's a lenghy and exhaustive process

[Wayne]

Thanks for all the responses!  We talked to the university and they do not require the WES nor ECE evaluations.  They do their own evaluation as part of the registration process and there is no charge for it.

The TOEFL test is required with a minimum score of 80 on the internet version of the test. I will get some books and study guides for it.  It is available in the city where they live and costs $165.

My lady says that all her friends who moved to USA had to start from "zero" with respect to their education.  I wonder if it was just a lack of information?

[ECOCKS]

I doubt they actually started at zero but from their perspective they probably struggled with the academic writing and comprehension skills necessary for satisfactory performance in our system. That is one side benefit of preparing for the TOEFL, SAT, GMAT, GRE, LSAT, etc.

Some of the materials might be available as an internet download if you are able to get her to a steady enough connection.

Also don't underestimate the possibilities of on-line learning. There are people who tutor for these tests via Skype and other LD delivery systems. If she is in Kyiv, there are some places that specifically teach the TOEFL and admissions test curriculum. Might find someone in Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk as well.

Her ability to demonstrate her initiative in undertaking this prep is a good indication as to how she will perform in an American classroom.