{"id":40,"date":"2013-10-17T12:46:13","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T19:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=40"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:47:44","slug":"should-i-retake-the-toefl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Retake the TOEFL?"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you took the TOEFL, and you\u2019re not happy with your score. What should you do now? How important is your TOEFL score<\/a>, really? Is it important to retake the TOEFL and get a higher score?<\/p>\n

These are good questions, but the answers are different for individual people. Maybe you scored a 96, but you were hoping for over 100. Or maybe you scored a 68, and you don\u2019t know what you need. Those are very different situations. But here\u2019s the good news: it\u2019s not too hard to figure this out.<\/p>\n

Find Your Target Score<\/h2>\n

The first thing to do, if you haven\u2019t done it already, is to research what your target score should be. Conveniently, minimum TOEFL scores are often posted on university programs\u2019 websites. Unlike other admissions tests–such as the SAT, GRE, or GMAT–the TOEFL gives information to schools that isn\u2019t in other parts of your application. Whereas your math abilities might be given by both your GRE score and your grades in classes, your ability to communicate in English is only directly measured by your TOEFL score. So while a program might accept a student with a low GRE (or SAT, or whatever) score because the other parts of the application are good, if your English level<\/a> isn\u2019t high enough, then there is little else to consider.<\/p>\n

My main point is this: you can usually find the scores you need for the programs you want by researching on their websites. If you can\u2019t find a minimum TOEFL score, then if you email the admissions office, they will probably help to answer the question.<\/p>\n

Once you know your target score, you\u2019re making progress.<\/p>\n

Below the Target Score<\/h2>\n

If you didn\u2019t reach your target, but the program you\u2019re interested in says that score is the minimum, then there is no question; you have to retake the TOEFL.<\/p>\n

If the program doesn\u2019t say it\u2019s a requirement<\/i>, only a preference, <\/i>then you might consider 5 points under the preference to be the limit. If the school says they prefer 80 or over, and you got 74, you should retake the test. If you got a 78, then it\u2019s probably a good idea to focus on the other parts of your application.<\/p>\n

You should also consider your deadline and what went wrong the first time. If you must apply to your program within a month, and you already studied a lot for the TOEFL before taking it, then you will probably not make a big improvement so quickly. There\u2019s no point in retaking the TOEFL and getting the same score again. On the other hand, if you didn\u2019t really study the first time, and the format and strategies of the test were new to you, then one month might be enough time to make the improvement you need–but you\u2019ll have to study for it! It\u2019s possible to make a 5-10 point difference from simply learning how <\/i>to take the test<\/a>, rather than by raising your English level very much.<\/p>\n

If you have longer than a month to make an improvement, but you already know the test very well, it really depends on how much you need to improve. Building English skills requires time<\/i> and practice<\/i>–even more than learning to take the test requires. How much time and how much practice varies from person to person, of course. But in general, if you need to make a large improvement and you already know the test format well, then you will probably need anywhere from a month to a year (or more) to bring up your English level. If this is the case, remember to focus on not only grammar. Speak <\/i>and write <\/i>in English as much as possible.<\/p>\n

At the Target Score or Above<\/h2>\n

Unlike the other admissions tests, there\u2019s no real reason to retake TOEFL just to get an extremely high score. If the school wants 70 or above and you get a 70, then you\u2019re fine. You don\u2019t need a 90–it won\u2019t really help you. The other parts of your application are more important!<\/p>\n

So, Should I Retake the TOEFL?<\/h2>\n

Hopefully after reading the above, that’s a question you’ll have a little bit easier of a time answering. Just try to make your decision an informed one!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So you took the TOEFL, and you\u2019re not happy with your score. What should you do now? How important is your TOEFL score, really? Is it important to retake the TOEFL and get a higher score? These are good questions, but the answers are different for individual people. Maybe you scored a 96, but you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13597],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13628],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retake"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould I Retake the TOEFL?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trying to determine whether or not you should retake the TOEFL? Read on to make the right decision about taking the TOEFL again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should I Retake the TOEFL?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trying to determine whether or not you should retake the TOEFL? Read on to make the right decision about taking the TOEFL again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-17T19:46:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-10T21:47:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lucas Fink\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MagooshTOEFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lucas Fink\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Should I Retake the TOEFL?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-17T19:46:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/c06e6a007d0b81117c00610ed88b6c7d\"},\"description\":\"Trying to determine whether or not you should retake the TOEFL? Read on to make the right decision about taking the TOEFL again.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Should I Retake the TOEFL?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/\",\"name\":\"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test\",\"description\":\"Online TOEFL Preparation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/c06e6a007d0b81117c00610ed88b6c7d\",\"name\":\"Lucas Fink\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/23cc892a81aad0b2904e4f690b7e865a\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f798c830d96fa5dd3ad9b315d568569879bff638b794899ecd3c8ce9f5fa932b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f798c830d96fa5dd3ad9b315d568569879bff638b794899ecd3c8ce9f5fa932b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lucas Fink\"},\"description\":\"Lucas is the teacher behind Magoosh TOEFL. He\u2019s been teaching TOEFL preparation and more general English since 2009, and the SAT since 2008. Between his time at Bard College and teaching abroad, he has studied Japanese, Czech, and Korean. None of them come in handy, nowadays.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"TOEFL\",\"SAT\",\"ACT\",\"Data science\"],\"knowsLanguage\":[\"English\",\"Japanese\",\"Czech\",\"Korean\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/lucasvf\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should I Retake the TOEFL?","description":"Trying to determine whether or not you should retake the TOEFL? Read on to make the right decision about taking the TOEFL again.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should I Retake the TOEFL?","og_description":"Trying to determine whether or not you should retake the TOEFL? Read on to make the right decision about taking the TOEFL again.","og_url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/","og_site_name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/MagooshTOEFL","article_published_time":"2013-10-17T19:46:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-10T21:47:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/files\/2016\/09\/Facebook-SEO-Default.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Lucas Fink","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_site":"@MagooshTOEFL","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lucas Fink","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/","name":"Should I Retake the TOEFL?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-17T19:46:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/c06e6a007d0b81117c00610ed88b6c7d"},"description":"Trying to determine whether or not you should retake the TOEFL? Read on to make the right decision about taking the TOEFL again.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/should-i-retake-the-toefl\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Should I Retake the TOEFL?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/","name":"Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test","description":"Online TOEFL Preparation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/c06e6a007d0b81117c00610ed88b6c7d","name":"Lucas Fink","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/23cc892a81aad0b2904e4f690b7e865a","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f798c830d96fa5dd3ad9b315d568569879bff638b794899ecd3c8ce9f5fa932b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f798c830d96fa5dd3ad9b315d568569879bff638b794899ecd3c8ce9f5fa932b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lucas Fink"},"description":"Lucas is the teacher behind Magoosh TOEFL. He\u2019s been teaching TOEFL preparation and more general English since 2009, and the SAT since 2008. Between his time at Bard College and teaching abroad, he has studied Japanese, Czech, and Korean. None of them come in handy, nowadays.","knowsAbout":["TOEFL","SAT","ACT","Data science"],"knowsLanguage":["English","Japanese","Czech","Korean"],"url":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/author\/lucasvf\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":13628,"user_id":42,"is_guest":0,"slug":"lucasvf","display_name":"Lucas Fink","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f798c830d96fa5dd3ad9b315d568569879bff638b794899ecd3c8ce9f5fa932b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Fink","first_name":"Lucas","description":"Lucas is the teacher behind Magoosh TOEFL. He\u2019s been teaching TOEFL preparation and more general English since 2009, and the SAT since 2008. Between his time at Bard College and teaching abroad, he has studied Japanese, Czech, and Korean. None of them come in handy, nowadays."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}