English Proficiency Requirements
All regular graduate students
are required to demonstrate acceptable proficiency in English
composition before an advanced degree may be obtained. The
English requirement may be met in various ways as described
below. A student may not ask for the appointment of an advisory
committee or file a plan of study until after this requirement
has been met or adequate steps taken toward meeting it.
A student whose native
language is English, or a student from an English-speaking
country, may meet the requirement in any of three ways:
- By receiving "B",
or better, in all undergraduate courses in English composition.
If this condition is met, the student's notice of admission
will so state. (A course shall be deemed a composition
course only if its emphasis was on written, discursive,
prose communication; at least one text in grammar or rhetoric
was required; at least 3500 words of writing were required
and the course grade was based solely on the composition
element. Courses which are not deemed acceptable to satisfy
the requirement are frequently titled: literature or humanities;
creative or imaginative writing; business letter writing;
communications; mass media or journalism.) If a student
has received ungraded or pass/no pass credit for undergraduate
composition, or has not taken a course in composition,
the requirement must be satisfied by one of the remaining
methods.
- By submitting an
official record from Educational Testing Service, showing
a scaled score of 600 or higher on the verbal portion
of the G.R.E. Aptitude Test, or for industrial management,
a score of 36, or higher, on the verbal portion of the
G.M.A.T. for graduate students in business.
- By certification
of the Writing Review Committee that the student has established
writing competence. The Office of Writing Review in Heavilon
Hall administers the examinations for this certification.
A student whose first
language is not English may meet the English proficiency
requirement by submitting a T.O.E.F.L.
total score of 550 or higher (paper version) or 213
or higher (computer version).
The minimum Internet-based test scores required for admission are the following:
- Writing 18
- Speaking 18
- Listening 14
- Reading 19
- Total 77
Note that in addition to required minimum scores for writing, speaking, listening, and reading, the Graduate School also requires a minimum overall score that is higher than the minimums for the four area tests combined. Applicants must meet or exceed each of the five scores (listed above) for admission to the Graduate School.
Only official TOEFL scores received directly from Educational Testing Service are acceptable. For further information, visit www.toefl.org . Purdue University's code for the TOEFL application is 1631.
The Graduate School also accepts International English Language Testing System (IELTS) scores. An overall band score of 6.5 is required for admission. For more information, visit www.ielts.org .
Questions? send email to fnrgradrep@purdue.edu |
