Hi,

I'm from India and I'm considering applying to universities in the US and the UK this year. I gave my TOEFL last year and obtained a decent score. However, the cost of sending your score to each university is $75! That's not very affordable for me. Some of my friends tell me that submitting a toefl waiver letter usually works with most universities. I'm considering applying to Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, Oxford, Cambridge and LSE. Can someone tell me if any of these universities have a problem with a waiver letter? Also, what is the usual form of these waiver letters?

I applied to Harvard, Columbia and Oxbridge. I think on the Columbia and Oxford forms you are allowed to say that English is your first language (as long as your university education was in English). Harvard requires a specific letter. You should just point out that your entire education has been in English and also point out any other factors indicative of your command over the language. I can't remember the Cam form requirement. I was never asked for a TOEFL/IELTS score by any of these universities.

I think as long if your SOP/written work sample is good enough they don't bother with a TOEFL score.