WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY TOEFL CERTIFICATE?
Have you already taken the TOEFL and don’t know when your scores will arrive? Or do you want to know how far in advance you need to take the test so that your TOEFL certificate arrives on time? Waiting for the TOEFL results can cause some anxiety, especially if you have tight deadlines to send your score to an institution. For this reason, in this article we are going to explain what you can expect after taking the test.
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TOEFL IBT Scores: Online or By Mail
Waiting times to receive your TOEFL scores online are quite short. However, they vary somewhat depending on:
- Whether you took the test at an authorized center or from home.
- If you want to download the PDF of your score report.
- If you have requested that your results be mailed to you.
To make all this information a little clearer for you, we are going to classify it in the following box:
Would You Like to Know How to Prepare for the TOEFL in 4 Weeks?
Specifically, you should ideally take the TOEFL test at least two weeks before your deadline to receive your scores electronically to your ETS account.
To find out when your scores are ready, all you have to do is wait for ETS to send you an e-mail notification and verify that they are already posted to your account. Remember to check your spam folder if you have not received the email within the deadline or check your ETS account directly.
I Want to Send My Grades to Universities or Other Institutions
From the time you register to take the TOEFL iBT until the day before the test, ETS offers you the option to include up to 4 recipients to send your TOEFL scores to for free. After the test, you will also be able to send your scores to additional recipients, but you will have to pay an additional $20 fee.
As in the previous case, score delivery times also vary depending on whether you have entered the institution’s code for ETS to send them electronically, or whether you have requested that they be sent by regular mail. In the former case, delivery times can take 6 to 10 business days. On the other hand, via regular mail, shipping times can be in excess of 10 business days within the United States, and 4-6 weeks for shipments to other parts of the world. As you will note, this second option is not highly recommended unless the institution only accepts results via postal mail.
How Do I Know the Institution Code?
If you already know to which institution or entity you want to send your TOEFL scores, we recommend that you search the ETS website for the institution code to verify that you can send them electronically in the shortest possible time. To find the code, you can follow these steps:
- Enter the ETS website (www.ets.org). Go to the section called “Sending Your TOELF IBT Scores.” At the bottom of this section, you will see a link called “I need to look up a TOEFL Destination Code“.
- Once you have clicked on that link, you will see an institution code search engine called TOEFL IBT Destination Search.This search engine will give you the option to find the codes you need by either typing in the name of the institution (Search by Institution) or the geographic location (Search by Location).
For example, if you already know that you want to submit your score to Harvard University, you can select “Search by Institution“, type “Harvard“, and you will get a list of all Harvard departments with their respective codes. If instead, you want to study in Boston and apply to 3 different universities, you can select “Search by Location“, type “Boston“, and you will see a list of all the ETS registered institutions in that city.
Closing Note
Even if ETS does a good job of sending your score results in a timely manner, you should always wait 1 week to 10 days to get your certificate. The TOEFL is not a test that you should procrastinate unnecessarily. On the contrary, taking the test a little in advance will help you reduce anxiety or nerves while waiting to receive your scores.
If you still have more questions about the TOEFL iBT test, how to prepare for it, and how to successfully complete the entire process, EPIC SPAIN will be happy to help you.
Hopefully this blog post has resolved all your doubts. However, if you have questions in regards to your TOEFL preparation, get in touch and we will let you know how EPIC PREP can help you achieve your goals. Differently, if you prefer to continue reading here is the link to our TOEFL courses page.
