“In 2010 I checked the dental licensing requirements in America and the specific scores needed by different universities. They all needed at least 20/30 in each section. So I took the exam that year, and got 82. I hadn’t really studied much though, so I spent one month studying really intensely, and then I took the exam again and I got 95!!”

But soon after she got the 95, she moved back to Brazil to work as a dentist. When she came back to the states several years later, her TOEFL score had expired.

So, her challenge became meeting the dental licensing requirements for the TOEFl a second time…

Not long after she returned, she started looking for universities to apply to. What she found was that most schools require a score of at least 100! But she had her sights set on UCLA. And they require at least a 25 in the writing section to get accepted.

That’s when she decided to start searching for a solution to get the 3 digit TOEFL score that she needed…

“I registered for the NoteFull 12-Step Writing program in mid-February, and for 3 weeks I studied so hard! I wrote practice essays and my husband corrected the grammar and showed me my mistakes. When I took my exam in early March, my writing score was 22, still below what I needed. I needed to know what I was doing wrong!”

Spelling and grammar are important. But the TOEFL goes much deeper than that.

Tais needed help from someone who knew what the TOEFL graders are looking for. That’s when she chose to sign up for 4 Tutoring Sessions and a couple of Writing Reviews. She worked with Mathew and Nayyer once a week through the month of April. They helped her find where she was lacking and how to improve her scores.

To hone her writing skills, she would write up to 6 essays a week! And she even studied in a crowded Starbucks to mimic the TOEFL testing environment. The sound of all the students speaking had hurt her focus on her last attempt. So she wanted to be ready for it the next time.

By the end of April, Tais took what would be her final TOEFL attempt. Thanks to all her hard work, she was able to get a 28 in the writing section. And a total score of 110!

So, what’s next for Tais? She’s now applying to two dental schools here in the US. One in California and the other in Boston. And thanks to her high score of 110 she now has a leg up on all the other applicants!

She has a long road ahead of her. But we know without a doubt she’ll achieve her dreams of being a dentist in America. We’re so proud of you, Tais!