Conditional Admission--English Proficiency

On the recommendation of the Graduate School, Ohio State is implementing a graduate conditional admission policy for international applicants whose English language proficiency is marginally below the university’s required levels, i.e. below TOEFL 79-80 iBT, or 550 PBT.

Such conditional admission is premised on the applicant’s successful completion of Ohio State’s American Language Program (ALP).

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to facilitate the admission of academically qualified, degree-seeking international graduate students that have not yet met Ohio State’s English proficiency requirement but are otherwise qualified and are being considered for admission by an Ohio State graduate program.

At their discretion, graduate programs can decide if they wish to pursue students in this category. Graduate programs are expected to be selective when pursuing students whose English language proficiency falls within this category; that is, within the 61-79 iBT or 500-550 PBT range.

Process

Graduate programs will need to petition the Graduate School to conditionally admit a student based on English language proficiency in the same manner as with petitions for conditional admission. Further, conditional admission can only be granted by the Graduate School if Ohio State’s ALP program has confirmed that ALP can accommodate the student.

Summary of conditions

The Office of Graduate and Professional Admission, working with the American Language Program, will facilitate jointly the processing of conditional admission. The terms of this conditional admission require that the student will

• study full-time in Ohio State’s American Language Program for a period of one to two quarters (or one semester);
• complete the ALP satisfactorily;
• demonstrate proficiency on the basis of TOEFL or an alternative standardized test.
• Further, the student cannot enroll in any other Ohio State course while studying  in Ohio State’s American Language Program.

Following attainment of the required proficiency certification, the student will then enroll in the admitting degree program not later than the third quarter (second semester) after starting in ALP.

For those conditionally-admitted applicants who do not fulfill their language proficiency requirement during the specified period, the conditional admission is revoked. Such students may choose to continue studying at ALP or elsewhere and reapply for regular admission at a later time.

More details regarding conditional admission based on English proficiency

Contacts

Graduate School: Scott Herness, associate dean, (614) 292-0185, herness..1@osu.edu

American Language Program: Russell Clark, executive director, ESL Programs, (614) 292-9432, clark.1823@osu.edu

Graduate and Professional Admissions: Susie Ward, 292-1548, ward.228@osu.edu