TOEFL vs IELTS vs PTEA

Comparison of  TOEFL, IELTS and PTEA exams. 15 Factors have been used to compare Exams taken by Non Native English speaking students applying for admission to Colleges Universities.

	TOEFL	IELTS	PTEA
What is	Test of English as Foreign Language	International English Language Testing System	Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic
How Much?	Internet Based Test – $170 USA; $165 – India	USA – $185 from Dec 3, 2009; RS 7200 – India	$170 – USA; $160 – India
Test Content	Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing
Reading	60 to 100 Minutes	60 Minutes	32 to 41 minutes
Listening	60 to 90 Minutes	30 Minutes	45 to 57 minutes
Speaking	20 Minutes	11 to 14 Minutes	77 to 93 minutes
Writing	50 Minutes	60 Minutes
Total Score	0 to 120	Overall Band Score, on a scale from 1 to 9	10 to 90
Score Reports	Printed score reports. Mailed approximately 2 weeks after your test . Online Results Available too.	Results just 13 days after the test. Reports Mailed. Some centers send SMS alerts or Online Results.	Online Score report ONLY. Scores available 5 Business Days after test.
Score Forwarding	4 Universities for free	5 Universities free of charge.	Scores can be reported online.
Additional Reports	$17 per University	Cannot find info in website	Free to any number of Universities.
Accepted at?	7,000+ colleges, universities and licensing agencies in more than 130 countries	2,000 US universities;	About 50 US Universities ( We manually counted), More Universities are added.
Scores Reporting Time	Online orders mailed 4-7 business days after request. Mail or fax orders, mailed 2 weeks after request.	Cannot find Score forwarding infor from website.	Test Reports will be available in 24 hours after reporting the scores online.
Website Usability	Very Easy to find the required Info	Can be improved. Some of the required information for test takers are hard to find.	Website much better then IELTS, but having sections like ETS site will make job easier for test takers.
Comments	Widely Accepted; Online Score Reporting; Takes longer to get scores.	Recently US Universities are accepting IELTS. Might take longer time for students to consider taking IELTS for US atleast in India, unless they make it real cheap.	Free Score forwarding. Faster Scores availability, Online score reporting. It will take time to reach to students. TOEFL and IELTS sounds easier to pronounce than PTEA. Less expensive compared to TOEFL and IELTS.

Information in above table was taken from respective test websites. Refer to actual exam website for more detailed information. If any info is incorrect, leave a comment.

Biomedical Engineering Rankings

List of universities in USA that offer Graduate degree programs (Masters and PhD) in Biomedical and Bioengineering listed based on NRC rankings. Click here to see additional US University Rankings and difference between S and R Ranks.

No	University	R-Rank	S-Rank
1	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[1-5]	[3-17]
2	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO	[1-2]	[1-4]
3	BOSTON UNIVERSITY	[2-9]	[7-28]
4	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[2-12]	[1-3]
5	UC BERKELEY/UC SAN FRANCISCO	[2-8]	[1-6]
6	DUKE UNIVERSITY	[3-12]	[4-22]
7	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	[3-9]	[4-17]
8	UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR	[4-14]	[5-25]
9	CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY	[6-18]	[17-44]
10	RICE UNIVERSITY	[6-20]	[4-21]
11	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	[6-15]	[5-25]
12	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	[8-19]	[5-24]
13	YALE UNIVERSITY	[8-20]	[2-11]
14	GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[9-23]	[8-35]
15	UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA	[9-19]	[7-28]
16	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	[10-21]	[11-38]
17	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES	[12-31]	[5-31]
18	UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK	[12-27]	[7-27]
19	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH CAMPUS	[12-26]	[13-41]
20	UNIVERSITY OF UTAH	[12-24]	[18-49]
21	VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY	[15-28]	[25-56]
22	RUTGERS-NEW BRUNSWICK AND UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY OF NEW JERSEY-PISCATAWAY	[16-32]	[34-62]
23	UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA-TWIN CITIES	[17-34]	[27-56]
24	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS	[17-32]	[7-32]
25	GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY – EMORY UNIVERSITY	[19-38]	[10-33]
26	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE	[20-44]	[9-39]
27	COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	[21-40]	[10-41]
28	OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY	[21-48]	[9-31]
29	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	[21-42]	[12-46]
30	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS	[22-41]	[26-54]
31	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN	[22-47]	[18-49]
32	PENN STATE UNIVERSITY	[25-51]	[9-38]
33	TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY	[25-55]	[33-62]
34	THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY	[25-56]	[6-33]
35	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	[25-48]	[37-62]
36	UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL	[25-48]	[40-64]
37	ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY	[26-51]	[37-65]
38	PURDUE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[26-47]	[25-53]
39	TULANE UNIVERSITY	[26-53]	[68-72]
40	UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO	[26-55]	[27-59]
41	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON	[26-49]	[16-43]
42	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	[27-61]	[35-62]
43	UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER	[27-50]	[26-57]
44	CORNELL UNIVERSITY	[28-49]	[16-49]
45	OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[28-50]	[32-60]
46	UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA	[28-51]	[35-61]
47	CLEMSON UNIVERSITY	[29-52]	[30-63]
48	UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA	[32-56]	[36-63]
49	STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK	[34-62]	[11-42]
50	UNIVERSITY OF IOWA	[35-56]	[26-55]
51	UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN	[38-61]	[26-56]
52	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT	[40-60]	[36-64]
53	RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE	[42-64]	[34-60]
54	VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY	[43-63]	[33-65]
55	VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY	[44-64]	[42-65]
56	UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS	[45-63]	[37-66]
57	CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK GRAD. CENTER	[46-66]	[16-45]
58	CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY	[49-69]	[40-64]
59	OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS	[49-71]	[52-70]
60	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI	[50-69]	[24-55]
61	UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY	[51-68]	[26-60]
62	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER AT DALLAS	[52-67]	[52-68]
63	MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY	[53-69]	[60-71]
64	MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY	[53-69]	[52-69]
65	NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	[54-70]	[12-40]
66	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON	[54-70]	[72-73]
67	UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO	[56-71]	[67-73]
68	UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA	[58-72]	[57-71]
69	UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO	[58-71]	[43-67]
70	UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – COLUMBIA	[59-71]	[43-68]
71	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	[67-73]	[64-72]
72	WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY	[68-73]	[63-72]
73	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	[69-73]	[48-69]
74	UNIVERSITY OF AKRON	[73-74]	[74-74]

Source – NRC Data Based Survey – 2010