Hello,
I am an undergraduate at a top ten university and am looking into going to economics or math grad school. Therefore, I was wondering if anyone could tell me what are the mean and median GPA and GRE for economics and mathematics masters and PhD programs at MIT. I understand that there are factors other than grades and test scores that go into consideration, but I am only interested in knowing the grad/test stats so that I can strive for a reasonable GPA target.
In general, you’re going to want to get a perfect score in math and a creditable score in verbal. The math on the GRE general test is very easy, and I doubt the GRE math scores are different between applicants and admits.
Everybody who applies is going to have a great GRE score and GPA. You should focus on making other aspects of your application (letters of recommendation, scholarly work) as stellar as possible.
The reasonable GPA target you should strive for is 4.0. Grad school is hard - real doggone hard - and the best way to show the admissions committee that you can handle the work is to show them that you could excel as an undergrad. Not to mention that the whole point of a university education is to learn as much as you can. One way of interpreting the question is “how low can my grades go without causing me problems?” and it’s really better to think “how can I best take advantage of the opportunities I have.”
Just fyi, the GRE scoring system has changed to be 130-170, and a 165 is 90th percentile (I assume that the recommendation to have a perfect GRE score is true for the old system where the top score of 800 was like 89th percentile or something).
Yes, everyone getting into a top school has GREs in the 90s percentiles. Econ programs take the GRE scores more seriously than other social sciences programs. Strong letters from better-known faculty can be helpful, too.
@shravas, yes, sorry. I would say minimum 165+ under the new system, then.