No one giving/has given IELTS

Hi Ayan,

Sorry but unfortunately I have not taken the IELTS. I hear it's a bit harder than the TOEFL, but you get more credit for it from business schools. Good luck and maybe you can share a few ideas about your experience when you're done (i.e. books you used, how hard it was etc.).

Hello Dana,

Yes I will do so.
My test is on 31st and I will have to travel to a different city for giving it.
So my next week I can give an outline how it went.

Thanks.
Ayan

Guys!!!

Why is TOEFL and IELTS not used interchangeably?I am just wondering do I need to write both?
Many B Schools explicitly seek TOEFL scores.I am in a fix.I have an IELTS score.

Saurabh

The IELTS is a test administered by the University of Cambridge and the British Council, so this is an English test from Britain. On the other hand, the TOEFL is a test administered by ETS, the American company that also administers the SAT. As such, American universities tend to ask for the TOEFL instead of the IELTS simply because of the ETS reputation. IELTS is however accepted by most European schools.

DanaJ wrote:IELTS is however accepted by most European schools.

Actually all the universities in Europe that I have looked into accept TOEFL and IELTS.
The universities in UK (some in Europe) also accept CPE.

BTW, I gave the IELTS today in Curitiba, Brazil.
This is the nearest city from where I live that have a centre where you give IELTS.
I had the option of giving either IELTS or TOEFL because of the reason given above. However, I prefer IELTS because of the human touch that IELTS provide. I liked the fact that I will be talking to a person and not into some microphone and also the fact that everything will be written with a pencil/pen. Backwardly as I may sound, I prefer pen/pencil over a computerised test. Having said this, the only centre that was offering paper based TOEFL was quite far from my city.

The speaking test was done in the morning and went on well.
I was asked pretty elementary stuffs relating to my life, my city, education etc.
After this I was given a topic on public health and awareness. I was given a minute to prepare and had to speak for 1-2 mins.

The Listening, Reading and Writing tests were conducted at one go in the afternoon.
For the listening test a particular cd was played for 30 mins from which the answers had to be extracted.
The sound was loud and clear and there was no difficulty in hearing. The room was quite sound proof as well.

The Reading and Writing tests were almost as I practised from the Cambridge IELTS materials.
Honestly after giving GMAT, the writing test will seem a cakewalk.

Let me know if you need any specific information about IELTS or study materials and I would be happy to answer.

many thanks.

I meant to say that IELTS is recognized by most European universities, but they also accept the TOEFL for sure.

And congrats for taking the test! As far as I can tell you had a pretty good experience with it.

Received my IELTS score 2 days back.
I got a band of 8 which in term of percentile is about 97.

Here is the breakup of the score:

Listening - 8.5
Reading - 8
Writing - 7.5
Speaking - 7.5

Wow, congrats! Could you please start a thread detailing your experience:
- why did you choose the IELTS and not something else
- how long did you prep
- what did you use for your prep
- how was the test day experience

Thanks and all the best!