Last spots for Class of 2026 seniors — get expert college counseling before deadlines. Submit inquiry.

Ten graduate school programs that don’t require the GRE

By Marc Zawel October 5, 2015 < 1 min read

While the GRE is an admissions requirement for most programs in the U.S., there are a select few that do not require the exam. Here is a sample of ten programs that are test-optional across a variety of disciplines.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA): School of Media Arts and Sciences
Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY): Newhouse School of Public Communication, Whitman School of Management
Columbia University (New York, NY): School of the Arts
Cornell University (Ithaca, NY): Sage School of Philosophy
University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA): Graduate School of Journalism
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) M.S. in Computer Science
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD): School of Education
Villanova University (Villanova, PA): College of Engineering
University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA): Master of Environmental Studies
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA): Master of Education Administration

For students concerned with the impact of their GRE score, consider a test-optional program within your intended area of study.

About the author

Marc Zawel

Marc is the author of Untangling the Ivy League, a best-selling guidebook on the Ancient Eight. He earned a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Marc chaired the admissions ambassadors at Cornell and the admissions advisory board at UNC.