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Average and Good GRE Scores for top MS universities in USA

Average GRE Scores for top MS Universities in USA

Good GRE score for Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley

 

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GRE Exam


 
Some common questions we get from international applicants:

  • What are the average GRE score for an MS in USA for Engineering, Computer Science, Maths, Education etc?
  • What’s a good GRE score for top U.S. universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Columbia, UCLA?
  • What’s a good GRE score range?

Read on to find answers to these questions.

If you’re planning to get into a top graduate program in the US, you would be aware of the importance of a good GRE score in the application process. Often applicants are curious to know what a good score would be to get into a particular graduate school of their choice. The GRE scores would differ depending upon the school you choose. Again, within a particular university / school, it would vary depending upon the field you select.

The mean GRE scores for some disciplines as per ETS data are given below:
 

Average GRE Scores for Masters degree in USA

  Masters Degree Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Business 151 156
2. Social sciences 153 152
3. Physical sciences 151 160
4. Life sciences 151 151
5. Arts and humanities 156 150

 
Though the above table represents the mean scores across various schools, the average GRE score for the top ranked schools tend to be much higher. Let’s see how much the average GRE score varies depending upon the school or the program you wish to apply to.
[Note: Many schools have relaxed the GRE requirement during the Covid pandemic. The scores represented are historical trends from the years before.]
 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Engineering

  University Name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
162 167
2. Harvard 80 to 85th percentile – 158 to 160 80 to 85th percentile – 163 to 166
3. Stanford 162 168
4. University of California-Berkeley
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
157 165
5. University of Pennsylvania
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
155 166
6. Princeton
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
162 166
7. Yale 155 167
8. Carnegie Mellon University 153 163
9. University of Southern California 151 166
10. UCLA 158 168
11. Cornell 153 160
12. Columbia University
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
155 166

 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Computer Science

  University name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
160 164
2. Harvard 160 164
3. Stanford 162 166
4. University of California-Berkeley
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
160 164
5. University of Pennsylvania 159 168
6. Princeton
(No longer a requirement during Covid)
164 167
7. Yale 162 166
8. University of Southern California
(Not required during Covid. Will resume in 2022)
155 161
9. UCLA
(Covid update: GRE Requirement for Fall 2022-2023 Admissions Cycle Only)
155 161
10. Cornell 160 164
11. Columbia University
(Not required during Covid. Will resume in 2022)
155 161

 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Psychology

  University name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(GRE not required)
163 154
2. Harvard
(GRE is optional)
163 154
3. Stanford
(Not required)
163 154
4. University of California-Berkeley 163 160
5. University of Pennsylvania 158 151
6. Princeton
(Not required)
165 168
7. Yale
(Not required for Fall 2021. Expected to resume in 2022)
163 154
8. University of Southern California
(Not required for Fall 2021. Expected to resume in 2022)
158 151
9. UCLA 163 154
10. Cornell
(Not required in 2021 application process)
158 151
11. Columbia University
(Not required until Fall 2022)
Combined score >310 Combined score >310

 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Physics

  University name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(Not required during Covid. Will resume in 2022)
167 167
2. Harvard
(Not required during Covid. May resume in 2022)
167 167
3. Stanford
(Not required during Covid. May resume in 2022)
167 167
4. University of California-Berkeley
(Not accepting General GRE for Fall 2022. May resume in 2023. Subject GRE is optional)
167 167
5. University of Pennsylvania 162 164
6. Princeton
(For 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 applications, both General GRE and Subject GRE are optional
168 170
7. Yale 162 164
8. University of Southern California
(No GRE required during Covid)
159 162
9. UCLA
(No GRE required)
162 164
10. Cornell
(Not required for 2022 admissions)
167 167
11. Columbia University 162 164

 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Chemistry

  University name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(Not required during Covid. Will resume in 2022)
164 163
2. Harvard
(GRE not required/optional)
164 163
3. Stanford
(Not required during Covid. May resume in 2022)
164 163
4. University of California-Berkeley
(Not required during Covid. May resume in 2023)
164 163
5. University of Pennsylvania
(Not required but recommended for Physical Chemistry applications)
159 160
6. Princeton
(Not required but recommended)
164 168
7. Yale
(Not required during Covid)
159 160
8. University of Southern California
(No GRE required during Covid)
156 158
9. UCLA 158-160 161-163
10. Cornell
(Not required for 2022 admissions)
164 163
11. Columbia University 164 163

 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Mathematics

  University Name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(Not required during Covid. Will resume in 2022)
165 167
2. Harvard
(General GRE not required. Subject GRE required)
165 167
3. Stanford
(Admission to PhD only. Master’s not offered to applicants from outside Stanford)
165 167
4. University of California-Berkeley
(Not required during Covid. May resume in 2023)
165 167
5. University of Pennsylvania 160 164
6. Princeton
(Not accepted for Fall 2022)
168 168
7. Yale 165 167
8. University of Southern California 157 162
9. UCLA
(Not required for 2022 admissions)
165 167
10. Cornell
(Not required for 2022 admissions)
160 164
11. Columbia University 165 167

 

Average GRE Scores for MS in Education

  University Name Average Verbal Average Quantitative
1. Harvard 163 158
2. Stanford 161 156
3. University of California-Berkeley 159 152
4. University of Pennsylvania 162 156
5. University of South California 161 154
6. UCLA 158 152
7. Columbia University 158 153
8. Northwestern University 161 153

 
Data Source: Individual school websites, U.S. News, Magoosh, PrepScholar, Prodigy
 
The GRE verbal and quantitative sections are scored on a scale of 130-170 in one-point increment in each of the two sections. You can score anywhere from 130 to 170 which means that the number of possible scores that can be obtained are limited to just 41. This range means that even a small jump in your GRE score can give a boost to your percentile ranking.

To read more on how GRE score percentile changes as per your scaled score, check out this GRE score percentile table.

Some programs like engineering put greater emphasis on the quantitative score whereas there’s lesser focus on the verbal score. So, applicants aiming for a top engineering college need to come up with a competitive quantitative score while you may work on getting a good verbal score as well.

The reverse is true for fields like psychology, arts and humanities where you’d need to have a good verbal score.
 

What’s a good GRE score range?

The GRE score forms an important component of the application process. However, you also need to remember, it’s not just the GRE score that matters; there are other components of the application that would be taken in to account. An impressive undergrad score, work experience or extracurriculars would help, and then there are your letters of recommendation as well as your SOP (Statement of Purpose) that can contribute to building a strong application.

As discussed before, there’s no perfect answer to what your GRE score should be to get into a particular program as each school you apply to would have their own averages. So, you’d need to check with the university where you wish to apply to see what the average GRE scores have been for the previous years.

The ETS provides test statistics (test percentage distribution of scores) for different fields for the entire range of scores candidates obtain over a three year period in each of the GRE sections. We’ve arranged this GRE score range (applies to both the verbal and quantitative sections) and provided ratings based on the general perception of what a good or not-so-good GRE score would be.
 

  GRE score range Ratings
1. 165-170 Excellent
2. 155-164 Very good
3. 150-154 Good
4. 140-149 Needs improvement
5. 130-139 Poor

 

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