TOEFL Preparation

TOEFL stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language. This test is generally taken for any course admissions in USA and Canada but now many other countries are also using this test for admissions to various courses.

The main purpose of TOEFL exam is to test the English proficiency of the candidates from other countries. Even candidates from English speaking countries may be asked to take this test since American English is different from English spoken in many countries including UK.

TOEFL includes the following sections:

1. Listening Comprehension : The purpose is to test your ability to understand regular conversations in American English. This test includes vocabulary and idiomatic expressions in spoken English and special grammatical constructions commonly used in speech.

You will hear short conversations as well as long conversations as the part of the test. After the short conversation, you will be asked one question and multiple choices of answers will be given. You have to choose one answer.
In the long conversations, you will be asked multiple questions based on the conversation. You have to choose the correct answer for each question.

2. Structure and Written Expression : This section includes sentences to test your knowledge of important structural and grammatical elements of standard written English. These sentences include a variety of topics and not specific to any specific field of study.

Many of the topics may refer to the United States or Canadian history, culture, art, or literature. However, you do not need to have a prior knowledge of these topics to answer these questions.

3. Reading Comprehension : In this section, you will be provided with several short passages. You must read and understand and the passage and then answer the questions based on the passage.

4. Writing :Tests the ability to write an Essay on a given subject.

GRE Preparation

GRE Syllabus
Section 1 & 2: There are two sections of Analytical Writing in the GRE test. The total duration for this to be completed as part of the Analytical Writing section lasts 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes).
Section 3: The third section is objective type- verbal questions section. This section consists of 30 questions and you will have 30 minutes to complete them. The GRE Verbal section comprises about: 6 Sentence Completion questions + 7 Analogy questions + 8 Reading Comprehension questions + 9 Antonym questions=30.
Section 4: Fourth section is a 45 minutes - 28 questions Quantitative section. The Quantitative section of the GRE test comprises 28 questions. About 14 of these questions are problem solving questions while the other 14 are quantitative comparison questions. Data analysis questions also form a part of the quantitative section of the GRE test.
Please remember as GRE is a computer adaptive test, you will not be allowed to skip a question or come back to the previous question. Take a lot of care before you mark an answer.
GRE Analytical Writing Ability
It tests the ability to analyze issues as well as the writing ability through 2 essays. Watch this space for forthcoming material on preparing for these essays.

Tips for the Prospective Students

1.Make sure you have a signed, valid passport and visas, if required. Also have the copies of your passports and visas in case of emergency.
2.Read the Public Announcements or Travel Warnings, if applicable for the countries you plan to visit.
3.Keep your family members, friends informed about your program. Keep copies of your itinerary, passport data page and visas with family or friends at home, so that you can be contacted in case of an emergency. Keep your host program informed of your whereabouts.
4.Your insurance should cover your emergency medical needs (including medical evacuation) while traveling and at the desired place.
5.Familiarize yourself with local laws and customs of the countries to which you are traveling. Remember, while in a foreign country, you are subject to its laws!
6.Do not leave your luggage unattended in public areas and never accept packages from strangers.
7.While abroad, avoid using illicit drugs or drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages, and associating with people who do.
8.Do not become a target for thieves by wearing conspicuous clothing and expensive jewelry and do not carry excessive amounts of cash or unnecessary credit cards.
9.Deal only with authorized agents when you exchange money to avoid violating local laws.
10.When overseas, avoid demonstrations and other situations that may become unruly.

Preparation guidelines for the Trip Abroad for Study

Know about the country that you plan to stay.
It is always better to do some analysis and study about country, about the people and their culture, the geography, the day-to-day expenses and the common problems that the other people or students are experiencing. This may prepare you mentally better to face the onsite challenges.
Take care of the passport and visa well before the actual travel: In all the developed countries the passports are required to enter and/or depart. Apply for a passport as soon as possible. Students may require to the visas as well, if they do not have one (unless they have Green card o citizenship). Check with the embassy of the foreign country that you are planning to visit for up-to-date visa and other entry requirements.
Check what information your college offers. It is better to check whether your college offers additional information for students who are planning to study, travel, or work abroad. Many student advisors can provide you with information about studying or working abroad. They may also be able to provide you with information on any travel benefits for students (e.g. how to save money on transportation and accommodations, and other resources.) Some times better to contact somebody already studying in the college to get the information from the horse’s mouth. This can solve most of your problems easily (like, how to go from air port to the college, the distances, fares etc.)
Do the complete analysis and comparison among the different colleges and universities. The majority of colleges, their programs for vacation, study or work abroad are reputable and financially sound. However, some charge exorbitant fees, use deliberately false "educational" claims, and provide working conditions far different from those advertised. Even programs of legitimate organizations can be poorly administered. So be careful about it.
Calculate the expenses versus the scholarships/monthly income
Many times students go to abroad without analysis and then suffer due to insufficient funds. It is very important to do the analysis of the living cost in a particular city versus the scholarships or loan etc.
Plan about what to carry in the travel
Better to plan the things to be carried in the travel. Know the rules about the air travel baggage carrying. Know about the extra charges that the air travel agencies may apply on the excessive luggage.
Books
It is generally useful to know the curriculum well before and plan accordingly. Books are costly in the developed nations. Sometimes you may find them cheaper at your origin. It is better to plan and purchase some of the books and carry.