Hi,
Is there anyone from India applying to Columbia? I just wanted to check if we will need to submit TOEFL scores, or whether the fact that our education has been solely in English will suffice. I am a little confused because their LSAC form seems to suggest that your education needs to be solely in English and you need to be from an English speaking country. I am not sure if India would qualify to be an English speaking country. Please let me know.

Thanks.

Hey there! there are two ways to view this.
1.if u see the admission form it asks you for ur native/mother tongue. since it is not going to be english, it is better that you appear for the toefl. although i assume u have done ur schooling/ law college in the english medium, it is better to submit a toefl score and be on the safe side. if u have read the website of columbia law, they need a minimum of 105 on the toefl test, which should not be a problem if you are fluent in english.

2.some schools offer a waiver form, like for example penn law. they have a very transparent and easy system of getting a waiver IF U qualify for the same.

my suggestion to you would be to take the toefl, as u still have time and its not a very tough exam. i have heard , mind you, that the down side of not appearing for the toefl, would be compulsory english language classes once college starts, which can be frustrating and expensive and may seem a total waste.

Hey thanks Anushree.

Also, when Columbia says that it needs original LoRs- does this mean that I need to ask my referees to write LoRs specifically for Columbia and the original will be sent to them, and that I can't get general recos addressed to the Admission Committee and assign them to Columbia along with other law schools (like NYU for instance)?

I think that Columbia generally frowns upon so-called "general" letters of recommendations. This is from their application webpage:

To Whom It May Concern letters (which tend to be very general), letters from family friends, and letters from prominent persons who have not taught you or supervised your work are not helpful.