Concept of Average GRE, TOEFL Score

What is the Concept of Average GRE, TOEFL Scores for Graduate Schools?

The first thing any student who is planning on applying to US Graduate schools asks someone is

What score should I get in GRE ?

What is a best GRE score to scholarship ?

What is the best score for TOEFL to get admission ?

similar questions all talking about best score. No one really talks about average scores or asks about average scores.

What are average GRE , TOEFL Scores ?

Typically, Graduate schools or Stat department at US Schools (Not every school), publish the average scores of GRE and TOEL of admitted applicants into grad school.  If you go to the Graduate school website and search for the scores, you will get an idea. They would list the average scores dating back to few years some times.   Also, if you go to the academic department website, they would also list the average scores for that particular major.

For instance, check the Average Scores of MIT  Graduate School

Sometimes, schools list a range of scores of accepted students. In fact, the range gives you the minimum and maximum of scores  of their accepted students

For instance, at Harvard Business school, they say “50% of the Class of 2009 scored between 700 and 740 on the GMAT.” This is just a hint for you.

Why is it Important to look at Average GRE and TOEFL scores ?

It is very important to look at these averages scores because it gives you a baseline for you to judge if you should apply to that school or not.  It is like the minimum score that you should have to apply to a particular school.  If you have less than the average scores they list, you may have to have stronger academic percentage or grades to offset the score.  It is not guaranteed that you will get admission if you have the average score, but it just make sure you possess the minimum skills they require.  As you know your admission decision depends on many factors and not just your score. For instance, check the article: What do you need to get Scholarship for MS in US for info on variety of factors they would look at for similar decision.

The overall key thing to takeaway is to be realistic and apply to schools where the average scores of their accepted students fall in your score range, if you have less scores, you need to have other parts of the application to be strong to offset the shortfall.