UG Students at US and Canada Talk About Exams Required to Study Abroad

Q: Which exams are required for admission to UG courses in US and Canada?

Iqra Khan: For UG courses from the US, students need to take SAT along with IELTS or TOEFL. There are only a handful universities which ask for SAT Subject scores. For Canada, students need IELTS or TOEFL scores. SAT is a recommended test, but not a mandatory requirement at Canadian institutes.

For example, at the University of Toronto, SAT scores are required for selected courses. At other places, including top Canadian universities, SAT scores are not compulsory but you can opt to appear for it to improve your academic profile.

Q: Which is the perfect time of the year to take SAT, IELTS and TOEFL? What scores are considered good for these exams?

Iqra Khan: SAT is conducted six times a year for Indian students. Ideally, you should first attempt taking the SAT in you eleventh class during Oct-Nov months. This way, if you need to retake the SAT, you have enough time to start the preparations again. Your second attempt could be in your twelfth class, a maximum number of students attempt SAT in May-June as academic sessions are relatively lighter during this time. IELTS and TOEFL can be taken any time during your twelfth class.

As far as good scores are concerned, 1200 out of 1600 on the New SAT is considered a competitive score. For IELTS, a good score is overall 6.5 bands out of 9 bands. However some universities are liberal for undergraduate courses, so they could accept overall 6 bands. For TOEFL exam, 90 out of 120 is a good score.

Q: How did you prepare for IELTS and what advice do you have for those preparing for IELTS?

Milap Dadlani: I didn’t take a lot of time preparing for IELTS because I was already working and my job required me to interact with lot international clients so I was quite proficient in English. Even in school, I used to read a lot of books, articles in newspapers etc. So in my case, IELTS preparation started long back.

My advice to students would be to take lots of IELTS practice tests. Look at the sample tests available on the official website resources, and keep practising. Pay special attention to the Reading section as that is one section where a lot of students get stuck. You have read a given passage very carefully and answer questions related to the content. In the Listening section, just pay attention to the sound clip being played. It is an easier section comparatively. If you have been communicating in English since long, then the speaking section will not be hard. Speaking English came naturally to me because of the nature of my job.

On an average, you need to practice you IELTS at least a month before, if you have the time. There are lots of advantages of getting a good IELTS score. At my university, Thompson Rivers University, you get exempted from English course if you have good IELTS scores. UG students are expected to take up at least two English courses, however, since I got 8 overall bands in IELTS I was exempt from those. So it is better to prepare in advance than spend additional money on those English courses.

Q. Did you give the SAT exam? What advice would you give to the prospective students?

Vaibhav Chitkara: Yes, I took the SAT exam. The SAT score will help you with scholarships; the better your score is, the better your chances of getting a scholarship. There are a lot of books that can help you prepare for your exam, like Barron’s lots of good resources, the administrating body of Sat College Board also has guides and books. So find all the resources you can and go through them to understand the exam structure, kind of questions to expect etc. a lot of the students are surprised when they first take their SAT exam because they aren’t sure what kind of questions to expect.

Also, don’t be scared to take the exam for than once. Many students don’t tend to do well the first time, the results are definitely better the second and third time around.

About the Expert Panel

Iqra Khan

Iqra is a student admissions counsellor at Shiksha.com with 8+ years of experience in study abroad counselling and has worked with students across UG and PG for all top study destinations

Milap Dadlani

Milap is currently in his 4th year at Post Baccalaureate Diploma in Marketing at Thompson Rivers University, Canada

Vaibhav Chitkara

Vaibhav is the International Student Ambassador and Diversity Scholar Intern at the University Of Kentucky, USA

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