Brown University Waives GRE Requirement For 24 Programs

PROVIDENCE, RI — Approximatley half of Brown University's doctoral programs will no longer require that applicants submit GRE scores, the school announced Monday. By eliminating the requirement, the university hopes to attract a wide pool of applicants.

Under the new requirements, 24 of the 49 doctoral degree programs offered will no longer ask applicants to submit GRE scores. They are:

• American Studies
• Biotechnology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Comparative Literature
• Computational Biology
• Computer Science
• Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• English
• French Studies
• German Studies
• Hispanic Studies
• Italian Studies
• Mathematics
• Modern Culture and Media
• Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry
• Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology
• Neuroscience
• Pathobiology
• Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
• Religious Studies
• Slavic Studies
• Theatre and Performance Studies

Andrew G. Campbell, the dean of the graduate school, told Brown News that the listed degrees do not need GRE scores to determine if a potential student will be a good fit for the program.

"The future success of graduate education at Brown depends on the diverse, innovative and intellectually independent candidates we admit and the varied skill sets they bring to their disciplines," Campbell said. "By removing the Graduate School’s GRE requirement and allowing programs to decide whether to require the exam, we will broaden the talent pool of students who apply to and have access to graduate education at Brown."

According to the university, research has shown that GRE performance is not always a good indicator of program success. Additionally, the cost of preparing for and taking the test can prevent lower-income students from applying to advanced degree programs.

This is the latest in a series of steps the school has taken to make higher education more accessible to underrepresented and lower-income populations. In April, Brown expanded its pilot program to cover textbook costs from 85 students to 1,100.