The program director of the English as a Second Language program is available to advise students and place them into ESL courses prior to and at the beginning of each semester.

All international students who are applying to undergraduate programs at the University at Buffalo and whose first or dominant language is not English should contact International Admissions to find details about required TOEFL scores for standard and conditional admission, or to apply to the university.

International undergraduate students who do not meet the university's English requirements for admission are welcome to apply instead for the Intensive English Program, which is a noncredit, fulltime program offered by the English Language Institute (see http://www.buffalo.edu/eli and click on "Intensive English Program" for information).

Students taking ESL courses to meet conditional admission requirements may not substitute transfer courses. For students admitted without any conditions, ESL 407 may be waived based on the transfer of an equivalent course from another accredited U.S. institution. Courses considered equivalent are those which satisfy the regular composition requirements at that institution rather than courses that are prerequisites for composition courses.

ESL 407 may also be waived based on a TOEFL score. Both the total score and the individual section scores will be analyzed. A minimum score of 250 on the computer-based TOEFL or 600 on the paper-based version is required for consideration of a waiver. Waivers based on iBT scores are be possible, as well.