TOEFL/IELTS

If you are not a citizen of the United States or do not hold official United States Permanent Residency status, you will need to provide the following additional information with your application:

  • Certified English translations of all transcripts and academic records.
  • Official score report sent directly from testing organization which meets the minimum requirements for English Proficiency (see below).

English Proficiency Requirement

Proof of English proficiency is required of all applicants by submitting official results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

This requirement will be automatically waived if you meet any of the following criteria:

  • You are a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, or a citizen of Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom.
  • You have received, or expect to receive, an undergraduate or graduate degree from an institution where the official language of instruction is English. If your transcript does not clearly state that the language of instruction is English, then please upload supporting documentation on institutional letterhead along with your transcript.

This waiver does not apply to students who have earned or are earning undergraduate or graduate degrees from an institution in a country listed above while enrolled in a “dual degree” program with an institution in another country. Studying as an exchange student in an English-speaking country is not sufficient to waive the English proficiency requirement. 

Additionally, candidates must present evidence of language of instruction with the application for admission. Appropriate documentation includes a transcript coversheet, an official statement from the university, or a link to the institution’s website that specifies that the mode of instruction is English. 

Applicants who do not meet the minimum requirements of English proficiency are not eligible for admission.

Minimum TOEFL Requirements

NOTE:  The TOEFL ITP exam is not accepted as proof of English language proficiency.

Official TOEFL score report: An official TOEFL score report should be submitted directly from ETS to institution code 3087 for all international students. Score results may take 2-4 weeks to be received and marked as official and your test registration number must be reported on your application. Please note, our minimum required score for the overall TOEFL exam is a 90 or better.

The TOEFL Bulletin of Information and registration form can be obtained from:

  • TOEFL/TSE Services website
  • American embassies and consulates
  • Offices of the United States Information Service (USIS)
  • U.S. education commissions and foundations abroad
  • Binational centers
  • Certain private organizations

If you can’t obtain the documents locally, request them well in advance from TOEFL/TSE Services, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, NJ 08541-6151, U.S.A.; 609-771-7975.

Minimum IELTS Requirements

Official IELTS score report: Please report your IELTS test information as well as the TRF number on your Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences application. Our IELTS overall minimum required score is 7.0. Please request an official IELTS report be sent electronically to Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. 

Duolingo Requirements

Official Duolingo score report: The Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences will also accept scores from the DuoLingo English Test. To share those scores with the admissions committee, please email cds-admissions@bu.edu with the unique link to your DuoLingo English Test results.