Ask Stacy Blackman

Hello!

My TOEFL iBT score is 106 (Reading 30; Listening 29; Speaking 22; Writing 25).

During the test I was quite worried about the speaking section. As a result of this I made a couple of awful pauses 7-10 seconds long.

HBS discourages applicants with score less than 109 from applying. Here are my other credentials (you saw them already ):

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My undergrad GPA is 3,76 / 4.0 (I had 4 semesters of quanttive courses. For all of them I got A's) - American University in Central Asia, Finance concentration.

My GMAT is 760 (Q50, V42, AWA 4.5)

I speak English, Russian, French, and Turkish.
I am the founder and the CEO of the first investment student organisation in my country. Besides I attended two more clubs at my university.

I have been an intern at DHL and one of the "Big Four" companies.
I have successfully passed 3 of 4 exams which are required for accountant certification. (It is a CPA analogue in my region.)

I believe I can substantiate my desire to get an MBA right now quite well.
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I think that I could improve my TOEFL score after 3-4 weeks of additional preparations. However, in my country 145 USD is quite a lot of money. Besides 106 is enough for all other schools I apply to such as Chicago, Wharton, Stanford, etc. So, I will not retake the test again.

Will HBS consider my worries during the test or no?

Some additional info:
- Around 40% of all my classes were in English.
- I think that I can speak in English well enough. However, TOEFL iBT speaking section format is very uncomfortable for me.

Thanks for your help.

Alex

with a profile like yours....im sure HBS would not have any problems with you having a score of 106 on the toefl.


just my opinion!

Thanks!

I appreciate your encouragment. I am getting a bit nervous as deadlines approach.

Hi Veinard,

I agree that you have a strong GMAT score, which may alleviate some of the fears about your language abilities. Strong essays will also help.

That being said, HBS tends to be fairly firm on their guidelines, and it may be worth taking the TOEFL again if you have time. Nerves are generally not a legitimate excuse for poor test taking.

If you absolutely don't want to take the test again, I think you have answered the question for me - you should probably go ahead and apply to your target schools and see how it works out.

Good luck!

Amy

Hi - how did this end? I am facing the same dilemma now