Published TOEFL minimums lie by omission. The headline numbers are tidy: most US universities want 80 to 100 on the iBT for graduate admission, top 30 programs want 100 or higher, often with per section floors like 25 in speaking. MBA programs abroad cluster around 100 to 109, and they mean it, because you'll be talking in class from day one. That's the brochure version.
The real version lives at the department level. Engineering departments sometimes accept 85 while the same university's journalism school wants 105. And then there's the hidden filter nobody warns you about: teaching assistantships. Many schools require a speaking score of 26 or higher before they let you near undergraduates, whatever your total is. If you're counting on a TA stipend to fund the degree, the speaking section is your real exam, not the total.
PhD applicants get the strictest read of all. The minimum TOEFL score for PhD admission by department usually runs 100 to 110, but advisors don't read totals, they read shapes. A 95 with a 28 in writing beats a 102 with a 22 in writing for most advisors I know, because they can picture you writing papers and presenting at conferences.
So how do you actually plan? List your target departments, write down each section minimum, then aim five points above the highest total. That buffer absorbs a bad test day. And build your prep around your weakest section, not the total. A TOEFL study plan app that splits your day into reading, listening, speaking, and writing blocks will do more for you than another month of random full practice tests.
Want that section by section plan built for you? The 8-week study plan at internationalstudyhelp.fyi targets your weakest TOEFL sections first.