Average GRE scores for Stanford University

GRE scores for Stanford MS in Engineering, Computer Science, Education etc

Stanford, one of the top elite universities located strategically in California’s Bay area with a sprawling 8,180 acre campus would be a dream school for many applicants. This top-notch research university known for its innovation and entrepreneurial spirit has more than 7,032 undergraduates and 9,304 graduates enrolled in the various schools across the campus.

Getting into Stanford University is difficult

The seven Stanford schools include Business, Engineering, Education, Humanities and Sciences, Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Law and Medicine.

Getting into Stanford would require an exceptional application and outstanding credentials as you may be in competition with other highly qualified and well-deserving candidates. The acceptance rate being low, you’d need to put your best foot forward while working on your application. The latest university data reveals that around 14% of all MS applicants and 10% of external MS applicants were admitted.

You can choose to apply for MS from more than 60 departments and programs. During an academic year, you can apply to only one program.

Prior work experience is not required for applying to the MS programs. An average GRE score may not work in your favour, especially if you have a prestigious school like Stanford on your radar.

A high GRE score would be highly recommended and would greatly improve your chances of getting in; however you’d also need to spend sufficient time and effort on the other components of the application.

Three recommendation letters are required; at least one should be an academic recommendation letter in addition to your resume and transcripts. Your SOP (Statement of Purpose) need to be impactful and succinct covering various aspects including your reasons for applying, your preparation level, your interests and future plans.

International applicants may submit TOEFL scores if applicable or request for TOEFL waiver. IELTS scores are not accepted.

In 2022, Stanford reported an average verbal score of 161, quantitative score of 167, analytical writing score of 4.5 for those admitted in the Master’s of Science programs.
[Note: Since the Covid pandemic, test requirements have been altered. Please refer to the department website for GRE requirement updates]

(Source: Stanford.edu)

What are the average GRE scores for Stanford?

Here’s a list of average Stanford GRE scores across the various programs:

Department	Average Verbal	Average Quantitative
Engineering	161	167
Computer Science	Not required. Historical average: 154	164
Psychology	Not required. Historical average: 159	157
Physics	Optional Historical average: 163	169
Chemistry	Optional Historical average: 160	166
Mathematics	Not Considered Historical average: 160	169
Education	Optional Historical average: 160	157

Table source: US News, Magoosh

From the above table, it is clear that the average GRE scores, and the requirement of GRE itself, at Stanford University vary across the various disciplines. For any university, you cannot have a standard average GRE scores as it differs depending on the choice of your program.

Traditionally, you’d need a highly competitive quantitative score to be able to get into fields like engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and mathematics whereas fields like education and psychology sees a slightly lower average quantitative score. Do keep in mind that optional GRE scores indicate that you will be allowed to submit the GRE scores but not having a GRE score will not negatively affect your application. On the other hand, GRE Not Required strictly excludes GRE scores from all application considerations.

The Stanford mechanical engineering page states that there is no minimum GRE score requirement; it also specifies that those who manage to get in are the ones with a high score, especially in the Maths section.

The average GRE percentile score in statistics is 92% for verbal, 97% for the quantitative section and 82% for Analytical writing. The Data Science field sees a much higher score with both the verbal and quantitative averages (percentile score) at 97% and analytical writing at 82%.

(source: Stanford.edu)