THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
GRE General Test
The GRE General Test requirements vary and are listed in the tables below. Each program is listed as either required, recommended, optional, or not accepted:
- Required: All applicants to the program must submit an official, valid GRE score.
- Recommended: An official GRE score is not required to apply; however, applicants who do not submit a score may potentially be at a disadvantage.
- Not Required/Optional: Applicants who do not submit a GRE are not penalized during the review process. We encourage applicants to GRE-optional programs to only provide a score if they feel it reflects well on their abilities.
- Not Accepted: The program does not accept the GRE and the score will not be included in material provided to the admission committee.
| Program | GRE General Test |
| Anthropology | Not Accepted |
| Comparative Human Development | Recommended |
| Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science | Not Required |
| Economics | Required |
| History | Not Required |
| Political Economy | Required |
| Political Science | Optional, but recommended for methods, international relations, and comparative politics subfields |
| Psychology | Recommended |
| Social Thought | Recommended |
| Sociology | Required |
| Program | GRE General Test |
| Computational Social Science | Required for Economics concentration, not required for all others |
| International Relations | Not Accepted |
| Master of Arts Program in the Social sciences | |
| • Economics | Required |
| • Political Economy | Required |
| • Quantitative Methods and Social Analysis | Required |
| • Psychology | Recommended |
| • All other areas | Optional / Not Required |
GRE scores expire five years after the testing date. For programs requiring the GRE, the score must be valid as of the application deadline. Programs requiring the GRE expect strong scores across every section of the exam, and a high GRE score is an important component of a competitive GRE application. The University does not have a minimum or cut-off score requirement; however, particularly for quantitative programs competitive applicants typically perform very well on the quantitative section of the exam. In the case of an applicant having taken multiple tests, the overall best, valid score on each section of the exam is used.
Official scores are required when the program requires the GRE; self-reported scores may be used at committee discretion but official scores are required if an offer of admission is made and accepted. Self-reported scores will not be used for GRE-optional programs; applicants who wish scores to be considered must provide an official report.