How important are GREs for admission and funding?
It must be said honestly: we have a very competitive admissions process. We see dozens of applications — most from highly qualified applicants — for 2 to 4 funded positions – we don’t admit students without funding them — in our program each year. Therefore, everything counts. We care primarily about your score on the verbal GRE exam. At a minimum, you should earn around a 600 score on that exam if you are a native speaker of English. Lower scores raise red flags. Scores above 750 can be helpful. Scores between 600 and 750 are simply expected except in unusual cases where other qualifications are outstanding, or where a diagnosed and recognized disability explains a lower test score. If you do poorly, take a course, study a guide, and take it again. It’s worth it.
