Does HBS require TOEFL from Indian applicants?

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jgdjgd: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 15; Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:36 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by jgdjgd » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:23 am

Is TOEFL required by Indians with their education in India and from English medium school and college?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — The Application Process | Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:23 am

asamaverick: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 106; Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:29 amFollowed by: 2 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 26 times; GMAT Score:700

by asamaverick » Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:14 pm

This is from the HBS website:

Candidates who received their bachelor's degree from an English-speaking university are not required to take an English language test (i.e., they are exempt).

So, I don't think it requires a TOEFL in your case. But you might want to check out what proof they require, if at all any.

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mahendra.mallya: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 13; Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:20 pm; Location: India; GMAT Score:750

by mahendra.mallya » Sat Jul 03, 2010 11:42 am

jgdjgd

As far as the interpretation of HBS's TOEFL clause goes, you need not give your TOEFL as long as your undergrad instruction was entirely in English. However i do not know exactly what criterion HBS or other schools use to evaluate what qualifies your institute as an English-speaking one. It also does not speak about the level or style of English that was used for instruction. I may sound paranoid but you do not want HBS to reject you at the end of it all saying that "Although your instruction was in English, we're afraid your institution's standards of English are not consistent with our requirements and hence the non-availability on your part of a valid TOEFL score qualifies you for an OUTRIGHT DING" or something like that.

For this reason my advice is that you give the TOEFL anyway since it is a relatively simple exam which does not require too much prep (as compared to GMAT / GRE). A good grasp of English is sufficient to score above 100. I scored 112 with less than 2 weeks of prep. HBS is a relatively tough school to get into no matter how outstanding your profile is and last yr there were plenty of dings to even those applicants who scored 780 and above on GMAT. There are some slightly lesser ranked schools with excellent programs as well and you should keep these schools in mind too. However many of these require a compulsory TOEFL score. If you are prepared to spend $200 on applying to these schools you might as well spend an additional $150 and give the TOEFL as a safeguard

Regards
Mallya

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