Here at Optimus Language School, we try to be different. Many language schools form conditional agreements with local colleges and universities. These agreements generally state that if an international student completes all levels of the English language program at their school, they will be automatically accepted into certain colleges’ programs.
This is a way of avoiding the standard protocol for international students’ acceptance to American universities: the TOEFL iBT Ⓡ exam. Normally, students must score a minimum requirement on this exam in order to be accepted into a degree program. However, students enrolled in the language schools that have agreements with certain colleges can opt to not take the TOEFL exam. They will be automatically filtered into these colleges based on their completion at the language schools.
At first glance, this may seem like a beneficial policy. However, at Optimus Language School, we do not participate in conditional agreements because we believe that these do not actually benefit students. We guarantee that if students complete our program and graduate from Level 5, they will be proficient enough to get an acceptable score on the TOEFL exam. This gives students more options for going to better universities.
Generally, the reason that colleges make conditional agreements with language schools is because they want to increase the number of applicants to their school and receive more money from tuition. Higher quality schools like UCLA or USC - and especially Ivy League schools like Stanford, Harvard, and Yale - do not need to draw in more students because they are already highly competitive. However, they also have competitive TOEFL score requirements. We believe that by providing a higher quality English language education, we will be preparing our students to have higher ambitions and be able to attend better quality universities.
That is why OLS does not participate in any conditional agreements. We do not want to filter our students into less competitive colleges. Instead we inspire and prepare them to dream big, study hard for the TOEFL exam, and apply to competitive and high-quality universities so that they can have more options for a brighter future.
Published on June 6, 2018
American English Language School (AELS) is a CEA-accredited and SEVP-approved English language school authorized to issue I-20 forms for international students. Located in Los Angeles, Orange County (Fullerton), and Irvine, California, AELS offers small classes, conversation-focused lessons, and proven results through individualized learning experiences. If you’re serious about improving your English, join AELS today!