Starting your graduate school journey and wondering what it takes to get into an Ivy League-level school? Trying to figure out just how much the GRE matters at programs like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford? You’ve come to the right place. In this post we’ll cover just how important test scores are at the Ivies and then show you some average GRE scores for top universities.
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GRE Scores and Top Universities
A common thought among prospective graduate students is that you need perfect or near perfect GRE scores to get into the best universities in the country. It makes sense, right? The best schools would definitely want the best scores – how could anything less than 167+ in both Verbal and Quant get someone into Harvard? But is it true?
The answer is, unfortunately, not totally clear cut. The truth is that top universities are, in general, looking for good to great GRE scores. Often they are looking for very good to great scores. Why? Partially because of the GRE’s ability to predict future performance and readiness for graduate study. But, a big part of the reason that these schools are looking for high GRE scores is because of how competitive they are to get into. Top universities attract lots of applicants to their programs. In 2023, 13,580 people applied to a PhD program at Yale. Only 1,217 received admissions offers. That’s an acceptance rate of about 9%. With numbers like that every part of your application matters.
When aiming for a top university a good rule of thumb is to set a score goal in the 160s for both sections of the exam. Applicants to science and math heavy programs will want their scores to be higher in the Quant section. And applicants in the humanities and other writing and reading heavy disciplines will want their Verbal scores to really shine. But crossing the 160 threshold in both sections will really help boost your application’s chances.
A Note on Program Rankings
Many people think about graduate school rankings the same way they do about undergraduate program rankings. This can mean following the U.S. News and World Report rankings closely. This isn’t altogether a bad strategy, but it can be a little misleading for prospective grad students. Let’s look at why.
Graduate school is all about specialization. While this is the case in more professional type programs like business and law, it’s particularly true for research oriented programs. Think of it this way: you begin your educational career in elementary or primary school. Here you learn the basics of language, mathematics, science, humanities, and social sciences. As you progress through your education things get more complex and specialized. In high school you’ll take classes on specific kinds of subjects like Biology or Calculus or American Government. By college you’re still taking some general education classes, but you are really focusing on your major and, possibly, minor. You’re learning more in-depth about a particular field. By the time you get to graduate school that study has become even more in-depth. Instead of studying English Literature like you did in undergrad, you are focused on the work of a particular novelist or a certain decade or decades in British Literature.
So what does this have to do with rankings? Well, the USNWR rankings do take into account broad subfields like Modern American History or Biochemistry. But their rankings are still fairly broad and based on program reported general data. They don’t account for factors a prospective graduate student should be thinking about like: who is doing research on the specific topic I am interested in? What labs are doing the experiments I want to do and where are they? What program has the best archives for my particular project?
Rankings are a good place to begin making your school lists, but they shouldn’t dictate them entirely. They aren’t a good substitute for the kind of in-depth program research you’ll need to do to find the perfect fit for your needs. It’s absolutely true that the top universities provide access to resources and alumni networks that other schools can’t. But it’s also true that the number one ranked university on a school list may not be the number one program for you.
How Does the GRE Relate to Other Parts of Your Application?
Like we said above, the GRE scores at top universities matter in large part because the schools are so competitive. This is true for the rest of your application. When competition is so tight, every single part of your application can matter a lot. This ranges from having a competitive GRE score to a strong GPA to error free application essays. You want to spend time and effort on each component of your application!
With all that said, there are ways that a strong GRE score can help offset weaker parts of your application. Maybe your GPA isn’t quite where you want it to be. A strong performance on the GRE can show the admissions committee that you are capable of excelling at graduate level work. Don’t have as much quantitative course experience as you would have liked? Nailing the Quant section of the GRE with a 165 or above can help get your application noticed at a top university. The GRE can be a prime opportunity to help make your application more competitive for these ultra competitive programs.
It’s important to note that not every program at every top school accepts the GRE. This can mean different things at different schools. Some truly won’t accept it, meaning they won’t look at scores at all. If you are only applying to programs that don’t take the GRE that means you can skip the exam. However, for many, if not most, students it will be hard to put together a list of enough viable schools that don’t accept the GRE to mean you can completely skip it. Especially if you are aiming for top programs. Remember how low the acceptance rates at Yale are? With competition this intense, we usually recommend students target at least five programs they feel they would be a great fit at.
Alternately, some programs you come across will truly be test optional. In these cases, you really do get to decide whether to submit a test score or not. We’ve already discussed how a strong GRE score can help mitigate weaknesses in your application. But let’s also consider a test optional school where admissions are very competitive. In this case, even with a stellar all-around application, a strong GRE score can be something that helps you stand out from the pack. It’s hard to say exactly what an admissions committee is thinking when deciding between two similar candidates, but to imagine one having excellent GRE scores can push that candidate forward.
Average GRE Ranges for Top Universities
GRE scores vary enormously depending on which school and which program you’re applying to. However, if you just want to know the general GRE ranges for these schools, we’ve averaged out the GRE scores for top universities in the table below.
Keep in mind that these are only rough ranges. For precise GRE scores, look on the admissions websites of the particular programs you’re applying to. Be sure to check not just for any minimum score requirements they might have, but also for information on the scores of average admitted students.
| University | Average Verbal Range | Average Quantitative Range |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia University | 155-164 | 153-170 |
| Cornell University | 157-164 | 153-170 |
| Harvard University | 155-164 | 158-170 |
| MIT | 158-164 | 162-170 |
| New York University | 154-161 | 150-166 |
| Princeton | 158-164 | 156-170 |
| Stanford University | 158-164 | 156-170 |
| UC Berkeley | 157-164 | 155-170 |
| UCLA | 155-164 | 154-170 |
| University of Pennsylvania | 154-164 | 150-170 |
| University of Southern California | 151-161 | 147-166 |
| Yale University | 158-164 | 158-170 |
Takeaways
While the top universities for graduate study do often place a high premium on top-notch test scores, they are just one piece of the admissions puzzle. But, for programs that take the GRE it’s a good rule of thumb to aim for at least a 160 in both Verbal and Quant sections. Consider a Magoosh Premium Plan to help take your score from good to great.
