Admissions Standards and Statistics

The selection process is carried out in order to limit the incoming cohort such that reasonable advising relations may be maintained, graduate seminars can be kept small, and adequate financial support can be provided to all students.

No one aspect of the application material is valued more than another; the admissions committee seeks to gain a holistic understanding of the applicant and, therefore, equally considers all pieces of the application. The department evaluates prior academic performance as indicated by an applicant's undergraduate GPA and the results of their Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

For admission, the Graduate School requires a cumulative GPA of 3.0. However, based on average scores received by applicants admitted in recent years, the department generally chooses students with an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.6. If your GPA is not of this quality, it will benefit you to address this deficiency in your personal statement. We no longer require GRE scores, though you may choose to submit them if you feel they will help us in a holistic assessment of your file. In previous years, our matriculating students typically had verbal and quantitative scores of 160 or higher, and analytical scores of 4.5 or higher.

The admissions committee also evaluates letters of recommendation, written works, and personal statements. Additional considerations of the committee include the interest areas and strengths of our faculty compared to those of the applicant, and the quality and strengths of the applicant's undergraduate and/or graduate program(s). The following table summarizes GRE and GPA averages for the last three cohorts.

Average GRE/GPA of Admitted Students

Admissions Statistics