EDUCATION REPORT - November 7, 2002: Foreign Student Series #8 >Tests

By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our reports about how foreign students can attend an American college or university. This
information also can be found on the Special English Web site, w-w-w dot voaspecialenglish dot com. Today, we
provide information about admission tests required by many American colleges.

Experts say American college officials mainly consider three things when deciding which students to accept.
Most important are the grades the student has earned in school. Officials also consider how difficult the student’
s classes were. Colleges usually accept students who have shown that they are interested in learning and have
taken difficult classes. The third thing they look at is scores on admissions tests. The college you want to attend
may require that you take a test called the S-A-T One Reasoning Test.

It is known by the letters S-A-T. The test measures a student’s understanding of mathematics and English. It
also measures how well a student reads and understands what is read.

The S-A-T is a three-hour test. It costs about twenty-six dollars. You can get detailed information at the College
Board Web site, w-w-w dot college board dot com. That’s w-w-w dot c-o-l-l-e-g-e b-o-a-r-d dot c-o-m. The
Web site will tell you where and when the S-A-T will be given in your country. If you do not have a computer,
you can get the information at the United States Educational Advising Center in your country.

Another test is called the Test of Spoken English. It is a twenty-minute test that involves speaking English. Many
American universities want you to take this test if you plan to attend graduate school.

Some universities also will tell you to take the Test of Written English. This is a thirty-minute test in which you
write about something in English. It measures your ability to organize information and express ideas in correct
English.

The schools to which you apply probably will require a test known as TOEFL. TOEFL is a short way of saying
Test of English as a Foreign Language. It measures your ability to understand, read and write English. We will
tell about the TOEFL on our Education Report next week.

This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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