The GRE General is optional; the GRE Subject is recommended but optional as well. Please note that, if you send scores, they must be sent directly by Educational Testing Services, and they should be recent (within 5 years). 

Our school code is 5814; our department code is 0702.

For more information on the exam, please see http://www.gre.org.

The General GRE Examination

The general GRE examination (optional) gives you a chance to demonstrate your proficiency in verbal, quantitative, and analytical skills. While high GRE scores are no guarantee of success in a graduate program, they do correlate well with success in graduate coursework. Your scores will be evaluated in the context of your background. For example, someone with more exposure to advanced technical courses with mathematical content will generally have a higher quantitative score than someone with less. Someone for whom English is a foreign language will generally have a lower verbal score than native English speakers.

The general GRE examination has three parts: verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing. Prior to August 2011, the scores for the first two parts was reported on a 200-800 scale with 10-point increments. The analytical writing section is scored from 0-6 with half-point increments. For students who are admitted, the average scores are 590 verbal, 796 quantitative, and 4.6 analytical writing. For exams taken after August 2011, the verbal and quantitative scores are reported on a 130-170 scale, with 1-point increments. Admitted students have average scores of 159 verbal and 165 quantitative.

GRE Subject Examinations

A GRE subject examination is not required; however, it is typically strongly recommended to increase your competitiveness in our applicant pool. You can submit a score from any technical subject exam, not just the math subject exam. 

For example, if your undergraduate major was physics, you can take the physics subject exam. The GRE subject examination gives you a chance to demonstrate your mastery of advanced material. A good score indicates you have retained a high level of mastery of this material and greatly strengthens your application.

We realize that taking a GRE subject examination may be both a logistical and financial burden on our applicants. This is one reason we do not require it. Applicants who do not take a GRE subject examination can try to demonstrate their retention of mastery of advanced material through other components of their application.