Graduate

Information for International Students and Non-native English Speakers

Admission

The deadline for graduate applications is December 15 for the following
academic year. International applicants must fill out a set of special application forms for foreign students. Foreign applicants must submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores as evidence of proficiency in English, and they must submit certification of financial resources. The TOEFL requirement is waived for certain countries and institutions where the medium of university instruction is English, such as Great Britain, Australia, Nigeria, and Ghana. An International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score is acceptable in lieu of the TOEFL.

English language proficiency test

Who Should Take the Test

Only students who have been admitted to the University of Pittsburgh may take this English test. The scores will not be reported to any institution outside the University of Pittsburgh.

International students who have TOEFL scores between 550 (213) and 600 (250) or IELTS scores between Band 6.5 and Band 7 are required to take this test. Academic departments also may ask students with higher scores to take the test.

Test Procedures

Test schedule

  1. Students do not have to register ahead of time. However, no more than 30 students will be permitted in any one testing session.
  2. If it is not possible for a student to take this test at one of the regularly scheduled times, the student’s academic advisor or a department staff person should contact the English Language Institute (ELI) testing supervisor at liw@pitt.edu or 412-624-6077.
  3. Students must come to the test with a photo ID and a copy of the letter of admission to the University of Pittsburgh. Students will not be admitted to the test without these two things.
  4. Students should bring pencils or pens. This is not a computer test.
  5. Students should come a few minutes before the test is scheduled to begin. No one will be admitted after the test has started.
  6. The test is approximately three hours, and there is no scheduled break during the test.

Score Reports and Recommendations

  1. Tests will be scored and recommendations will be completed by noon of the day after students take the test.
  2. Departmental and student copies of the report form will be sent by campus mail to the department or school to which the student has been admitted. Students may get their copy of the score report from their academic department.
  3. If the student and the academic advisor need the report form more quickly to make decisions about course registration, ELI will fax a copy of the form to the department. Departments or schools also may send someone to pick up the report forms.
  4. Students should not come to the ELI offices for their report forms. ELI will not give score report forms directly to students.

English Language Comprehensibility Test

Who Must Be Tested

All University of Pittsburgh graduate students who are not native speakers of English and who have been appointed as TAs/TFs must be tested before being assigned any teaching duties. This includes students who have attended universities in the United States, including the University of Pittsburgh, and those who have been TAs/TFs in other U.S. institutions.

Complete description of testing program

Testing Schedule

ITA English comprehensibility test schedule

In the fall term, all newly appointed TAs/TFs who are non-native English speakers are tested during the week preceding classes. Additional testing for new TAs/TFs occurs in the week following the end of undergraduate classes in December and April. Retests of TAs/TFs who received scores of less than 4 on a previous test also may take place at these times.

Testing appointments are made for individual TAs/TFs by the department; only a faculty member or staff person may schedule an appointment. In order to request an appointment, please contact:

Lois Wilson
Testing Supervisor
liw@pitt.edu