UG Students At US And Canada Talk About Exams Required For Admissions

Question: Do all American and Canadian universities require SAT for the undergraduate courses?

Udit Narang: Most of the American universities do require SAT scores. Even though some don’t, taking the SAT will make your case stronger, especially for your visa application. If there are 100 universities in the US, maybe 10-15 of them won’t require SAT scores and the rest of them will ask for it. A lot depends on the ranking of the university and the particular department. Some departments require SAT scores, some request SAT Subject test scores.

Divya: Most of the Canadian universities don’t require SAT scores. They focus primarily on the academic profile. You need to have at least 75% in your 12^th grade but it can vary from course to course, like mechanical engineering or computer science courses will require higher scores while other less technical courses may require lesser scores. Also, your 10^th and 11^th grade scores will be considered as well. Apart from these scores, you need to be proficient in the English language. Some universities might waiver off language tests if the medium of teaching at your school was English for the last 10 years. However it is highly recommended you give either IELTS or TOEFL exam.

Akaash Sethi: I would like to add that for Canada, it will be beneficial if you can give some Advanced Placement tests. Doing that might help you get some course credits if you are falling short on total credits required. It will definitely give you a jump start while starting the course.

Vedant Jain: Since I’m studying at an American university, I gave SAT and TOEFL. I had to attempt my SAT twice. From my experience, the questions you will get on your exam could be very different than what the coaching centers teach you. It is preferable you use relevant software to practice for these exams, as all these exams are attempted on a computer. So a classroom setting will be very different that the actual exam.

Question: Tell us more about Advanced Placement tests. Are they accepted at universities across all countries?

Iqra Khan: Some top universities in the UK consider AP tests for credit transfer. For other European universities, AP test isn’t helpful. AP is a university level course which a student can take up while they are still in school. There are lots of subjects available and depending on which course you will pursue, you can accordingly take up the AP tests to show your relevant skill set to the university. These exams are conducted by the College Board every year in the month of March. The cost is approximately Rs. 9000.

Student Question: My SAT score is 1230 out of 1600. Is it a good score to get into a decent university?

Udit Narang: 1230 is a decent score. If you are aiming at getting into the top 50 universities, then it falls short and you might have to retake SAT. But if you are looking at getting into top 50-100 universities then it is a good score. We can’t suggest any university names based only on your scores as for that we need an idea of your complete profile, academic history, volunteering history etc.

About the Expert Panel

Vedant Jain

Vedant is in his first-year of the Biology undergraduate course at Pittsburg State University, USA.

Aakash Sethi

Akaash is currently pursuing the course Baccalaureate of Applied Sciences in Software Engineering from University of Ottawa, Canada.

Udit Narang

Udit is a student admissions counsellor at Shiksha.com with 4+ years of experience and is an expert of the US and Canadian universities.

Iqra Khan

Iqra is a student admissions counsellor at Shiksha.com with 8+ years of experience in study abroad counselling. She is an expert of European universities and Rest of the world universities.

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