Chris Swimmer

GRE Scores for Science Programs


Aiming for a science program, like Computer Science or Chemistry, and looking for what GRE score you’ll be expected to have to get into your dream school? Here’s the info from ETS chart that tells us the average GRE scores for science programs’ applicants based on survey data they collect from test takers.

GRE Scores for Science Programs (Intended Applicants)

Specialty Verbal Quantitative
Physical Sciences (General) 151 158
Chemistry 153 158
Computer Science 148 158
Earth, Atmospheric, and Marine Sciences 154 155
Mathematical Sciences 153 163
Physics and Astronomy 156 162
Natural Sciences—Other 151 152

The scores above are intended majors. What does “intended” major mean? It simply means that that these are the average scores of people planning on applying to graduate school in a specific major.

Finding a Real Score Range for Physical Sciences Programs

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Using a scale drawn from the limited score data in the US News & World Report’s report on graduate schools, here’s a range of scores you could expect:

GRE Scores for Science Programs by Program Rank

Specialty Program Rank #1-10, Verbal Program Rank #1-10, Quantitative Program Rank #11-50, Verbal Program Rank #11-50 Quantitative Program Rank #51-100, Verbal Program Rank #51-100, Quantitative
Physical Sciences (General) 160-164 165-169 157-161 161-165 154-158 158-162
Chemistry 162-166 164-168 159-163 160-164 156-160 157-161
Computer Science 158-162 165-169 155-159 161-165 152-156 158-162
Earth, Atmospheric, and Marine Sciences 163-167 160-164 160-164 156-160 157-161 153-157
Mathematical Sciences 162-166 169-170 159-163 165-169 156-160 162-166
Physics and Astronomy 164-168 168-170 161-165 164-168 158-162 161-165
Natural Sciences—Other 160-164 158-162 157-161 154-158 154-158 151-155

If you are viewing this chart on a mobile device and cannot see all of the columns for schools ranked #1-50, try turning your device horizontally or view this page on the web.

GRE Scores: 50th/70th/90th Percentiles

You can learn more about percentiles in this score percentiles post, but for quick reference, 50th percentile scores are average, 70th percentile is considered good, and 90th percentile is considered great.

Program Verbal
Mean Score
(50th
percentile)
Verbal
Good Score
(70th
percentile)
Verbal
Great Score
(90th
percentile)
Physical Sciences (Overall) 151 156 162
Chemistry 153 158 164
Computer Science 148 154 160
Earth, Atmospheric, and Marine Sciences 154 159 165
Mathematical Sciences 153 158 164
Physics and Astronomy 156 160 166
Natural Sciences—Other 151 156 162
Program Quant
Mean Score
(50th
percentile)
Quant
Good Score
(70th
percentile)
Quant
Great Score
(90th
percentile)
Physical Sciences (Overall) 158 160 167
Chemistry 158 159 166
Computer Science 158 160 167
Earth, Atmospheric, and Marine Sciences 155 155 162
Mathematical Sciences 163 164 170
Physics and Astronomy 162 163 170
Natural Sciences—Other 152 153 160

What Can We Take Away from Science Programs’ Average GRE Scores?

While getting into a top science program can be tricky, a GRE score of 160 or higher in both Verbal and Quant will make you a competitive candidate in many top 100 programs. However, this varies highly by specialty and program rank, so be sure to check yours above!

Remember that you will be applying to a hard science program, so applying to graduate school is anything but easy; this is just a “good-enough” approach that should put you in a decent position to create the appropriate study goals. So if you’re interested in a PhD in Physics from MIT, or a Master’s in Computer Science from NYU, then this is a good place to start.

 

Author

  • Chris Swimmer

    Chris Swimmer is an analyst at Magoosh who divides his time between marketing and research projects and helping folks out with their math hang ups while studying for the GRE and the GMAT. Follow him on Google+! And you can follow him @chrisrswimmer on Twitter.

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