Apart from a bustling urban setting, the University of California (UC) Berkeley also offers a fantastic destination to pursue your graduate programs. However, just like any other top notch school, admissions to UC Berkeley are one of the most competitive in the country. Berkeley has an admission rate of about 18%, making it one of the toughest places to get admission into. Needless to add, you need a good GRE score to make the cut for UC Berkeley.
We will give you the bad news first. UC Berkeley does not specify any minimum cut-off for GRE scores. Of course, you already know that the GRE scores for different programs vary widely across UC Berkeley.
For instance, the Graduate school of Education at UC Berkeley states,
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“We do not set minimum GRE scores that must be achieved to be eligible for admission. The amount of emphasis placed on GRE scores varies by program within the Graduate School of Education, but all programs consider many factors in determining a candidate’s competitiveness.”
UC Berkeley GRE scores
However, we have prepared a table which gives you an indication of GRE score requirements for some programs at UC Berkeley. The requirements are listed based on historical data and information present on different program websites at UC Berkeley.
Program/School |
GRE Score Requirements |
| UC Berkeley – Haas | 326-330 (Combined GRE Score) |
| Materials Science and Engineering | 85th percentile or higher |
| Mechanical Engineering | 90th percentile or higher |
| Energy and Resource Group | 80th to 90th percentile |
| Group in Asian Studies – MA Program | 90-99th percentile in verbal |
| Psychology | Verbal – 160, Quant – 158, Analytical Writing – 4.96 |
| Statistics | Verbal – 70th percentile and above, Quant- 94th percentile or above, Analytical Writing – 48h percentile and above |
| English | Verbal – 97 percentile, Quant – 88 percentile |
| The Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science | 80th percentile or higher |
| Chemistry | Verbal – 158, Quant – 163 |
| Sociology | Verbal – 157, Quant – 155 |
Depending on the table above, you can determine the UC Berkeley GRE requirements for your own target programs. As you can see, Berkeley GRE scores are at the higher end of the spectrum for most programs. Most of these scores signify the benchmarks of admitted students at these programs. As a general ballpark figure, try to get a 158+ on both verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE to be competitive in your UC Berkeley admission. If your intended program is not on this list, feel free to connect to the admission officers of your schools. In addition, some programs may also require you to take a GRE subject test. So, ensure that you study the admission requirements across your target programs before applying.
If you are targeting UC Berkeley, sign up for free GRE preparation. UC Berkeley also takes into account GPA, recommendation letters (LORs), personal statements (SOPs) and other components of your application. So, make sure that these are also in good shape while applying to programs at UC Berkeley.
