Question Agree or disagree with the following statement: Standardized tests like the TOEFL provide sufficient information to determine whether students should be admitted to a college or university.

Every college and university has some criterion for its selection process, and it differs among various academic courses, that the institute offers. In my opinion, the English proficiency tests evaluate the student for four critical communication skills: Reading, writing, listening, and speaking; however, these tests are insufficient to get an idea of whether a pupil must be admitted, or not. I feel this for two reasons, which I will explore in the subsequent paragraphs. Firstly, the test scores of TOEFL only help to shortlist the candidates out of several students who have applies to take admittance in premium institutes. The universities should ask them to submit other documents which provide information about students' academic records. For instance, when my friend was applying for a Doctoral degree course, she was asked to submit her ILETS score and GRE score. Though she had performed well in the GRE, she secured just two marks above the required. In addition, they asked her to submit some other documents: a curriculum vitae, a statement of purpose, and three letters of recommendation. A professor approached her through e-mail. When he interacted with her, he was impressed by her knowledge regarding her subject. As a result, she got an offer letter from a top-ranking university in the US. If that professor had judged her capabilities only based on her TOEFL or GRE score, she would have never got admitted to such a prestigious institute despite being an intelligent graduate. Secondly, exams like TOEFL and ILETS are mandatory to get admitted to foreign universities in European and American Countries. Preparation for this exam helps a person to get equipped with crucial interpersonal skills and improve knowledge of English if it is not his native language. If a person prepares and takes these exams to qualify for cut-off, it implies that he will comprehend the course work, as the mode of communication and learning will be English. Moreover, it shows his seriousness towards his goal. For example, my brother took this exam twice. On the first attempt, he could not apply to top ranking universities of his choice because he was qualified to do so. But, he is a brilliant student, dedicated to taking confirmation in a Master's course in his dream institute. He contacted some of the professors there, and based on his excellent academic record, the lecturer offered him project work; they suggested he should appear on the test again, as it was a requisite. Eventually, he was able to master all the skills necessary for the test, and he got an acceptance letter from his desired college. To sum up, I believe the Toefl exam is not the only parameter to decide whom to admit to college. This is because it evaluates skills and is a criterion to differentiate non-serious candidates from serious ones. Also, this exam is compulsory to ensure that a student is good at the language native in the country he wants to come to.