Decoding the GRE and TOEFL Dilemma: Your U.S. Graduate Journey Uncovered

0:00 Hello. Good evening, and welcome to another episode of leap with chatbot. Today I'm going to be talking about a very interesting topic, something that I'm I've also asked the same question is why do I need to write the GRE or the TOEFL exams for admissions? Why can't they just give me, uh, an admission based on my 1s results, just like the UK does? That was the same thinking I had in 2005, when I wanted to choose between the US and the UK. I felt it was like a no brainer. I finished in last time. I get the admissions faster, I don't have to do some form of evaluation easy. However, there is a reason why, um, the admissions are done this way. The grey, which stands for the General Records exam, is a way of providing a similar skill to different applicants from different backgrounds. So it's it's more like trying to give you trying to give you a shot. The admissions, the TOEFL exam, the test of English or the foreign language is used to just figure out if you can speak English that can, you know, they have different categories listening, speaking, you know, comprehension and things like that. The reason why this topic is important is because a lot of people do not make this leap to to us, education because they feel it's a hindrance. Why should I do this? Exams. One of the things that I typically find out is it's because of the amount of time it takes to prepare, 1s um, for these exams, so that the US graduate program in general uses this as a way of filtering. So different people have gone to different schools in different places. They exam is like a central way of making sure that your skill set is the is is is a good skill set. However, there's one there's one thing that most people do not understand about this exams. 1s If you can be very, very smart and still flunk the grade exams. Because it's not a test of your intelligence like every other exam. You have to build skills to pass the exam. There is a lot of work that goes into that. So for me, for example. When I decided to study in the US, I, you know, had to study for the GRE. So I took the JR and the TOEFL. And the reason why I did that was I did not want to leave any stones untouched or unturned. I think that's how it goes. Another reason is an insight from understanding how sometimes the visa officers can view you. A bonafide student would do everything in his power to make sure he does the very best to get the best of education, so that sometimes, sometimes, I don't know. Currently it's been a while, but I sometimes view you right in the gray and the TOEFL as a good indicator that you probably are a serious student. So. That's one of the reasons why you should take it. It shows a bona fide student to some extent. I'm going to still give some more insights. Another reason why the G3 is important is they use it as a basis to give scholarships sometimes. So if they have, um, a situation where they have similar students, similar backgrounds, similar GPAs agree might be a dealbreaker. So if they go, oh, okay, this person did, well, then this person will give this person a scholarship or we give this person a coveted space in his research group. But there's another reason why the TOEFL is important, and I found this out in my own experience. If you're applying for teaching assistantships or graduate assistantships, and it is very possible some of your tasks will involve you teaching the class so you know you're coming into the US, you're going to teach a class, or you're going to have to interact with students. You don't understand what they're doing. Tofu kind of separates you out from, say, international students from, say, China or India, because what you've done is that you've chosen you've proven rather, that you can speak English at a level that has been assessed by a third party, and you'll most likely probably be given that role because you have a great exam to back it up. So most Nigerians would tell me, but I went to a school that taught in English. Yes, they also know you went to school to talk to the English. You've been emailing them in English. However, how do you want to prove to them that your English is at a level where you can interact with students at a university setting, which is why most of the scenarios they give you in the TOEFL exam is based around communication with students, with professors. That's typically how it works. So that is one reason why you should do it. So the GRE, because it's used as a filter, the TOEFL because it is used extensively for, um, figuring out who they're going to give an assistantship to if it involves you interacting with students. So that's so for me. For me, when I did the GRI, I took it twice. I scored 152 over 170 on both sections at both times. So it's a strong indication that that is that is where my skillset lies. So I got 304 out of 340 for my for my GRE, for my TOEFL. I had 109 out of 120. So it was it was very pivotal for me that the TOEFL was that high because I needed it. It helped me to get my assistantship to, to to teach, because in my master's program, I eventually had to teach a class. I taught undergrad computer programming class, um, to prepare for the grade. I think one of the reasons why people do not like, um, the GRE is the amount of time it takes to prepare for it, and to take one practice test is three hours. 1s And it was a lot of time. Uh, I took practice test for mongoose. That's, uh, it's a website called mongoose. That's where I took my exam. And you always have to practice, practice, practice, practice. Practice is always the motive. Don't start practicing. The grid is valid for five years, and the TOEFL is valid for two years. Um, one of the important aspects, uh, of this episode that I want to highlight is the the GRE was very instrumental when I did eventually apply for a PhD program. The PhD um, required degree and because, you know, it was valid for five years. So what happened was I came in for a two year program, I completed a two year program, and then I worked for three years and I applied for a PhD. So before the expiration of the grade, I was able to use the same GRE for my PhD application. So one of the advantages of doing a GRE is say for example, you intend on continuing to a PhD. It is very probable that you will need a grade, and you might not need to write it again for your PhD program, that if that's your if that's the way you're doing it for TOEFL, you might not need to for it again because you already gone through a master's program. So the school may not require it. So that's at one advantage I. I broke mine into the master's first worked. They went back for a PhD and use the same degree for that. So one of the questions maybe we should come down to now answering the questions of do I write it or do I not write it? So one of the advantages is that a good score can strengthen your application. It is just one of the I call it one of the 1s points of your application. So there are different, um. 1s A holistic application would have different sections. A gray can be a high gray score constraint in your application. Also, sometimes for some programs, um, a grey score could be the make or break. If you if a if an admissions committee sets a threshold. If you don't meet the threshold, you just never get a call back from them. So that's one thing with the grey. It's one disadvantage because they might never get to read your application if you don't meet the threshold. The disadvantage is the stress, the cost. It's an extra cost, and it's the time you would need at least three months to prepare for a good jury. Don't don't register a jury today, and we'll write it next week. You're gonna you're not going to do well. It's no point. You have to put in the work because it's a technique. There's a way to answer the questions. I'll give you a classic example. If you wanted to, um, say what is how when you add 5% to ten, whether you get, you know, some people will say, oh, every classic example you have, you want to know what 5% appreciation of 200 is? You know, some people would go, okay, 5% of to redo, you would have to calculate, you know, five divided by 100 times 200. You have to get the value of that, and then you have to add it to that. One of the techniques of that is that 5%, if you're going to do any increment or 5% is just multiply the number by 1.05. So 5% increase of 200 would be 1.05 times 200, for example. And that's your answer. You don't need to start figuring out what do I need to do or do I multiply here or do I add here? So it's a technique I hope I didn't confuse me by with my example, but what I'm trying to say is that you have to come up with this techniques. You have to be able to look at data quickly. You can't, um, think, well, you can't you you should definitely you should think about the problem. But you can't overthink a problem once you're overthinking a problem in a jury question. Math question, you've probably lost time and you probably wouldn't get the answer because that's not what they're, you know, testing. So that's the amount of time. Alternatives to the application might be to strengthen, you know, if you have a low grade score. It's to strengthen it with personal statements and work experience. That helped. For my PhD, um, I applied with a 304 out of three four degree score, but I had, uh, work experience. I have I had good personal statements that really helped me to, um, buttress my application, which was good. So I got into the PhD program, but that's another episode for another day to discuss my PhD progress. So far it's been fun. It's been up and down, but I get to it in another episode. Um, so that's that's one reason. However, in recent times I said this was going to be degree or not to Jerry in recent times when Covid hit. So everything I, you know, my master's was pre-COVID when I did my application for PhD was pre-COVID. So all this information I give you up to now is pre-COVID. However, when Covid hit, people couldn't go right, GRE exams, um, centers were closed, there was a virus. People couldn't just go out and say, hey, I, you know, I want to register for a G. I mean, schools need still needed to get, uh, admissions. Uh, so there's been a recent times, uh, a soft peddling on the GRE requirement. So there's been lots of schools that have said it's optional. 1s Some would ask you that, or you can take the GRE after your program. I know people that took their degree after their master's program before they got their certificates. Um, so that that's the current situation. So my advice do the GRE if you can. Um, even if even if the school says it's optional, it's a good test taking technique. It gives you some leg up in some certain things that you might not know would be considered when you're applying. It also can be a make or break. It can be used as a make or break you tool. To get through to. To get through. To get you to the finish line. In case admissions is trying to make a decision on your application for the TOEFL. I would strongly advise that you write it because it is extensively used to determine research assistants and teaching assistants, rather, when they want to teach students, they want to know that you can speak and respond and do well in English in an English setting, because you're going to be dealing with undergrads. They don't want someone that cannot speak English properly at all for a kind of validates that, you know, this person will probably do well. So assistantships is what is, you know, a lot of grad programs have them and they need, um, international students to do this training. So you are in a good position if you have a very good G uh, a very good TOEFL score. 1s Um. So. So what else am I missing? So that's pretty much what I wanted to cover. Um, make sure that, um, you, uh, take time in preparing for your GRE to. And your TOEFL to know that admissions really do consider them. Um, and in summary, what we've pretty much gone through right now is, you know, do I take the G and the TOEFL? I told you why the green tofu are are important. I've told you that there's been a pre-COVID, post-Covid kind of scenario recently where some uh, schools have said, uh, well, it's optional. Don't take it. Um, I have also outlined the advantages of taking the TOEFL and the grade. It could be a make or break season for you when they want to consider different, um, candidates, uh, especially if the admissions are competitive for schools that admissions are not competitive. Always helps to have it. I've also outlined how the visa officers sometimes would see you as a true, bona fide student when they see you've extensively put in time in writing these exams so they know, okay, if he's put in so much time to get a GRE score and a TOEFL score, he's most likely, uh, a serious student. I really wants to get, um, distance done. Well, I hope this has been very helpful for you. Um, if you have any questions, you can always reach out on the website, but we have a voicemail, uh, option where you can actually, you know, click and listen to and record a voicemail. I'll be very happy to play that in other episodes. Well, until then, I thank you very much for listening. I thank you very much for, um, being part of this 1s podcast series. Uh, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Thank you very much.