Exemptions to taking IELTS/TOEFL/Regular GRE?

Question

I haven't read up on IELTS/TOEFL, and I don't want to waste time on that if I don't have to. As far as I know, they are testing your fluency in English. Generally: Is a significant amount of north american/first world universities really that stubborn as to require their applicants to take IELTS/TOEFL without any substitutes to demonstrate fluency in English? Well if you graduate bachelor's or master's from an English speaking country like Canada, the US or the UK, I'm guessing there wouldn't be need to take IELTS/TOEFL if you haven't already, but what about graduating bachelor's or master's from a country whose primary language isn't English? My case: I was born and raised in a first world Asian country but then later on moved to a third world country (where my parents were born and raised) where I got my bachelor's and master's. It's sad but despite the above, I'm monolingual. I even got to a foreigners class for the (third world country) language classes in my university even though I wasn't a foreigner. The school where I got my bachelor's and master's says its medium of instruction is English. My thesis in master's was written in English. All my papers and exams in bachelor's and master's were in English. Given all that, do I still have to take IELTS/TOEFL? Actually, doesn't a subject GRE or the regular GRE assume fluency in English? I'm planning to take the math GRE. **Regular GRE** Do a significant amount of north american or first world universities require applicants to take the regular GRE even if they are going to take the subject GRE? I don't know about the rationale behind taking the regular GRE. It seems that you take such if your intended study doesn't have a subject GRE such as political science or economics?

Answer 1

The best thing you can do is to check with every school you will be applying to, because their language requirements vary a lot. They may sometimes require TOEFL even from those who have a Master’s from an American university if you graduated more than three years ago.

Generally though, you will be required to take IELTS/TOEFL if your primary language of instruction was not English.