The general requirements for students wishing to pursue graduate studies at Mississippi State are a bachelor's degree, a 2.75 or greater GPA (4.0 scale) on the last two years of undergraduate study or on any graduate work, and submission of GRE general examination scores. We do not require the GRE subject area exam. We also do not have a Departmental minimum score for the general exam; however, individual faculty members may have specific expectations for GRE scores or percentiles. You should consult your prospective Major Professor for details. In the recent past, the majority of admitted students have scored in the upper 50th percentile of those taking the GRE general exam.
International students should score at least 550 on the TOEFL (written exam: CBSS, or Computer-Based Score Scale = 213; Internet-based TOEFL = 79-80) or a score of at least 6.5 on the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam. Students with TOEFL scores between 475 and 550 (or IELTS scores between 4.5 and 6.5) may be admitted, but will be required to complete ESL training as specified in the MSU Graduate Bulletin (see Graduate Studies web page).