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TOEFL for Chinese Student in Canada?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Sept. 2, 2010

Question: I lived in Canada for 7 years until grade 5, then I went back to Taiwan and came back in grade 9. Do I need to take the TOEFL?

If the primary language of instruction during your high school years is English, then colleges will usually not expect you to submit a TOEFL score. BUT ... occasionally colleges want a TOEFL score from any applicant whose first language (the one spoken at home) isn't English.

So ... if your first language isn't English, be sure to read application instructions carefully. They will vary from one institution to the next. If a college does expect a TOEFL result from all non-native speakers, you can write to admission officials and explain your situation. Since you have spent so many years at school in Canada, they are likely to waive the TOEFL requirement. You should also take the SAT (or ACT) before you contact colleges. If your reading school is good, then that will give you more "ammunition" if you are requesting exemption from the TOEFL.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.