Band 7: Describe a problem that you had to deal with. You should say what the problem was when the problem was who and what were involved and explain how you solved the problem. (User-Submitted IELTS Speaking Answer)

78% Accuracy The overall pronunciation accuracy of your speech, reflecting how well a native speaker can comprehend it.

Polished transcript:

Male Female

A problem that I had to deal with recently was which university to choose for my PhD. In the US, there are many universities that specialize in different areas of research. I had an interest in a particular topic called Plasmonics and Photonics. Many universities offer research in this domain, but I was very confused about which university would suit my research interests the best. It was around one month ago that I felt very depressed about this problem. I had some anxiety attacks. Then I shared this with some of my friends, and they came to help me. First of all, I needed to calm down because there were so many options, and it was making me stressed. I would like to say that the more options you have, the better your chances of getting into a good university. I also talked with some of my alumni who are at different universities. I got in touch with them and asked what facilities are provided in their labs. As a result, I received some good feedback from them, and I compiled it in a document so that I could review it for my university application process. Some of my professors in my department also helped me in this regard. I needed some letters of recommendation, and they were generous enough to provide them. Additionally, my colleagues at my job helped me a lot in this process. I needed someone to review my CV. Initially, my CV had some weak points that needed to be addressed. One of my colleagues who sits beside my room helped me with the revision of the CV. He pointed out some words that should not be highlighted. Overall, my CV was very good, and I was able to shortlist a university.

Actual audio transcript (What native speakers are likely to hear):

A problem that I had to deal with recently was which university to choose for my PhD. Now, in the US, there are lots of universities that specialize in different areas of research. I had an interest in a particular topic named Plasmonics and Photonics. Many universities offer research in this domain, but I was very much confused to which university would suit my research interest the best. It was around one month ago that I was very much depressed with this problem. I had some anxiety attacks. Then I shared this with some of my friends and they came up to help me. First of all, I needed to calm down because of the fact that there are lots of options and it was making me stressed. I would like to say that the more options you have, the better your chances to get into a good university. Now, I also talked with some of my alumni who reside in different universities. I got in touch with them and asked them what are the facilities that are being provided in their lab. As a result, I got some good feedback from them and I compiled them in a doc file so that I can review them for my university application procedure. Some of my professors at my department also helped me in this regard. I needed some letter of recommendations and they were generous enough to provide me that. Also, my colleagues at my job helped me a lot in this process. I needed someone to review my CV. Initially, my CV had some weak points and they needed to be addressed. One of my colleagues who just beside my room helped me with my revision of the CV. Particularly, some words you should not highlight and he mentioned that. Overall, my CV was very good and I was able to shortlist a university.

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Band 7+: Describe a problem that you had to deal with. You should say what the problem was when the problem was who and what were involved and explain how you solved the problem.

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