pursuing a degree in the USA

Here is an email question I received and my answer follows.  The advice comes only from our personal experience from the 15+ students we have hosted in our home from about 8 countries.  

Question:

There is a student who would like to get his master's degree in America. He hasn't taken TOFEL or GRE yet. I know one of the requirements you have to meet is to pass these two tests in order to get accepted. Since he hasn't taken/passed any of the tests, he was wondering if he could come and study at an English language school for a while, and then take the test, then apply for a graduate school.

I looked up online and found numerous language schools/institutes. Some of them are private schools, some of them are institutes under universities.  Personally I don't really trust those private schools, the institutes sound more reliable. So I was thinking about recommending him those institutes. What do you guys think? Do you guys know any other ways for him to be able to come to study here in America? The students you hosted so far, how did they come to the U.S.?

Thank you.

Answer: 

Here is what I know/my advice:

Each school and each Master's program have different requirements for entrance.  Some take any test (GRE, TOEFL, IELTS) some require a specific score, others just require that you take them, without requiring a specific score (although, of course a better score increases your chance of acceptance).

Also, almost every school (whether it is public or private) has there own intensive language programs associated with the school.  Most of the time they will supplement passing the language school for the test requirement.  For example, if you pass all the levels of the intensive English program, you don't need to take the TOEFL or GRE.  Or, some students just enroll in the intensive program for a few months until they can improve their English enough to pass the TOEFL or GRE or IELTS.  

The downside of the intensive English programs is that they are often VERY expensive $2000-3000 per month plus another $800 to $1000 if you live in their dorms or homestay.  http://languageandculturalservices.com/homestay

Many of the students we have hosted have used some kind of agency to help them get connected to a school here.  I'm not certain, but I think it works like this:  the student provides the agency with their credentials and desired plan of study, and the agency helps to pair them with a school that offers his/her major and will accept his/her credentials.  I don't know any of these agencies and I'm sure you need to pay a fee.  

My advice is that it will be much easier if he already knows what program he wants to study and a few schools that offer it so that he can know the specific requirements of that school.  Then, he can decide if it is better to try to take the GRE, TOEFL, IELTS before he comes or take an intensive program instead of the test.  

We have tutors who could work with him online to help him prepare for the TOEFL, GRE or IELTS or to improve  his score if he has already taken it.  http://languageandculturalservices.com/tutoring

Let me know if you have other specific questions.  Most of our very specific answers only apply to Oklahoma City schools, but I hope our general knowledge can help a bit.