Last Updated on March 30, 2024 by Ali Hamza
It is exciting to think that you can study abroad and make a career in a leading European or American city. But the journey of moving outside your country is not easy. You need a lot of preparation and hurdles to cross before you can go to study abroad. It can be the laws and regulations regarding the passport and visa or the financial burdens.
Now, before you are enmeshed into legal protocols, you first need to become eligible to study abroad. So, you need to prepare yourself for several entrance examinations to make it to abroad, and gain a few scholarships.
On that note, here we discuss eight entrance exams you can consider to become eligible for studying abroad.
TOEFL
TOEFL, or Test of English as a Foreign Language, is one of the most accepted entrance exams across several reputed universities. You can appear for TOEFL if you want to get into a premium institution in over 100 countries, including the US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and many others.
TOEFL has a duration of 4 hours and is a fully computerised test. It emphasises your English skills and tests your writing, reading, and listening skills. However, if you do not have the provision of digital mediums, you can opt for an offline version of TOEFL. The Exam fees for TOEFL PBT are around INR 13,000. If you opt for iBT, you need to shell out anything between INR 11,000 to 17,000. You can register for TOEFL throughout the year and fix a date according to your convenience.
GMAT
Unlike TOEFL, which mostly assesses your English skills, Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) tests your quantitative skills along with reading and verbal skills. The Graduate Management Admission Council manages this exam, and you can get into many top universities in Germany, Canada, and the USA using the GMAT scores.
The exam fees are a bit steep and cost INR 20,000. The exam duration is approx. 2 hours 45 minutes. The candidates get assessed on a scale of 200 to 800, with 550 being the average score.
GRE
Managed by ETS, the Graduate Record Examination or GRE is for people who want to get into graduation schools abroad in Canada, the USA, Australia, and other English-speaking countries. Although most European countries keep GRE scores optional, you can rest assured for more than 1200 colleges worldwide accept GRE scores.
GRE is strictly an online test and is quite strict in assessing students’ quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and writing skills.
The exam fees are currently valued at USD 213, and you can book a slot any time of the year. Once you pass the GRE, the result remains valid for five years from the date of your results. Post-pandemic, GRE authorities have introduced a new initiative that lets students take GRE tests sitting at home.
IELTS
Each year, more than five million students across 140 nations take the International English Language Testing System or IELTS to qualify for studying abroad. IDP and the British Council jointly manage IELTS. It is an acid test to test your communication skills, along with your writing, listening, and reading skills. IELTS assesses you on a scale of 0 to 9, and the worldwide cut-off score is 6.
Post IELTS, you can apply for any undergraduate and post-graduate courses in numerous countries like the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia. There are two types of IELTS exams – general and academic. You can take the test multiple times in a single year by paying the entry fees of INR 14,000. IELTS offers flexibility to students by allowing both online and offline modes, and its score remains valid for two years.
LSAT
Law School Admission Test LSAT is the entrance exam dedicated only to law students. There are two types of LSAT exams – LSAT Indian and LSAT Abroad. As you can understand from the name of the exams, the later helps you to achieve your dream of studying law at a top law college in the USA, Australia and Canada. LSAT happens six times a year; the exam duration is 3 hours 30 minutes. Many reputed law schools, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, McGill Faculty of Law, Columbia Law School, etc., accept LSAT scores.
SAT
Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT is a widely accepted entrance test for getting into undergraduate programs across USA and Canada. SAT tests the mathematical and language tests of students. The College Board administers SAT and has 2 exam formats –with and without essay. The exam duration for SAT is 3 hours 50 minutes, and 3 hours respectively, depending on the format. The exam fees are usually within USD 40 to 60 depending on the format you opt for. Students are judged on a scale of 200 to 800.
PTE
Pearson Language Test is another entrance test you can take to get into many major universities and colleges across the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. PTE looks for proficiency in your language skills and assesses you based on your reading, writing, listening and communication skills.
PTE scores remain valid for two years and are assessed against the global English scale. There is no age bar for appearing for PTE tests. However, the minimum age criterion is 16 years, and you need to pay approx. INR 13000 as the exam fees. This 3-hour long happens only on online mode.
MCAT
The Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT, is a dedicated entrance exam for budding doctors and is conducted and administered by AAMC and Pearson VUE, respectively. You must take this exam if you desire to get into the best medical schools across the USA, Canada, Australia and even the Caribbean. MCAT is valid in twenty one countries and happens twenty five times each year.
MCAT assesses a candidate’s reasoning, analytical and psychological skills along with their biology knowledge. To qualify for the MCAT, you must score between 472 and 528.
Parting Thoughts:
Numerous other entrance exams, like CPE, CAE, ECCE, Duolingo, AP Exams, etc., can help you get into prestigious institutes across the US and Europe. However, none of these exams is easy, and you need months of preparation to hit the cut-off marks. So, go through the blog and learn how you can prepare yourself to ace the exams mentioned above.
Apart from this if you are interested to know about Study in Australia then visit our Education category.
