Test Scores

You may be required to submit one or more of the following test scores. Click on each link below to learn more about each test and how requirements are determined:

• Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
• English Proficiency Test (TOEFL/IELTS)

We encourage you to register early to maximize the chances of securing your preferred test date and location and to ensure that your scores arrive by your graduate program’s application deadline.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Each graduate program sets its own policy on GRE General Test and GRE Subject Test scores — required, optional, or not considered. Refer to the Explore Graduate Programs page to view each program’s testing policy.

Reporting GRE Scores

If you are applying to a graduate program for which the GRE is required or optional, all GRE scores we receive will be made available to the admission committee. The admission committee may decide how they wish to evaluate the scores provided. If your graduate program does not consider GRE scores, any GRE scores we receive will not be displayed to the admission committee.

Self-Reported Scores

To self-report your GRE scores, list all GRE tests you took within the past five years that you wish to be considered by the admission committee. Do not enter “superscores” (a single entry that includes your highest section scores from multiple test dates). The application system will automatically display to the admission committee the highest score you earned in each section as well as all reported scores.

Any scores you self-report on the application are considered unofficial but sufficient for the initial review process.

Official Scores

If GRE scores are required by your program, you must report your official scores directly to Stanford from ETS. Stanford’s ETS institutional code is 4704. If a department code is required, it does not matter which one you choose. As long as you select the institutional code of 4704, the score is electronically delivered to Stanford.

Upon successful receipt of your official scores, they will appear on the Test Scores page of your application with a status of “Verified.”

Scores expire after five years and will not be available from ETS. See below for the earliest test date Stanford considers to be valid.

Graduate programs may enforce a stricter validity period (e.g., based on their application deadline). Refer to the program’s website.

English Proficiency Test (TOEFL/IELTS)

To be eligible for graduate study at Stanford, you must demonstrate sufficient proficiency to read English with ease, understand rapid idiomatic English as used in lectures and group discussions, and express thoughts quickly and clearly in spoken and written English.

You are not required to submit English proficiency test scores if you meet one or more of the following criteria:

• You are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Your first language is English.
• You earned a U.S. bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree, or international equivalent from a university where all instruction was conducted in English.
• You have two or more consecutive years of full-time professional or educational experience in English, in the past 10 years.

You will not be required to submit English proficiency test scores in the application if your responses on the Personal Background page reflect that you meet the above criteria; no additional documentation is required at the time of application. If you are offered admission and accept the offer, you may be required to submit supporting documentation as a condition of admission.

If you do not meet any of the criteria listed above, then at the time of application you are required to submit an official test score from the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT) or the International English Language Testing System Academic Test (IELTS Academic) that meets the university’s minimum score for admission consideration.

Minimum Score Requirements for English Proficiency

*Each graduate program may set a higher minimum score for admission consideration as appropriate for the specific field of study. Refer to your graduate program’s website to check whether it requires a higher minimum score.

**The English Placement Test is required for incoming students who earned a score below 109 (TOEFL) / 8 (IELTS) at the time of application. There are no exceptions to this requirement, even for those who score just below the cutoff. The test takes place shortly before the first quarter of graduate study and is administered by the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program, who will determine whether language courses are required or recommended to support the student’s success in the graduate program.

Stanford considers English proficiency test scores to be valid for two years. See below for the earliest test date Stanford considers TOEFL/IELTS scores to be valid.