Standardized Test Scores

Graduate Programs at George Mason University may require any number of the following Standardized Tests:

English Proficiency
Graduate Record Examination
Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)

English Proficiency

Mason students participate in rigorous graduate coursework as part of their university educational experience. Therefore, students at Mason must have a full command of academic English at the graduate level in order to be successful throughout their studies. All new graduate students are expected to accurately comprehend written graduate-level English, clearly understand rapidly spoken English in classroom lectures and in professional settings, write with the proper grammar and syntax, and be able to respond quickly in English using a vocabulary appropriate for collegiate settings.

For this reason, Mason has a high standard of English proficiency for graduate admission. Mason strictly requires all students who have not earned a bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree from a regionally accredited university in the United States, Canada (excluding province of Quebec), United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand to take an English proficiency examination to demonstrate academic command of the English language. All applicants must achieve a minimum score set by Mason in order to be considered for admission.* These examinations measure reading, comprehension, writing, and speaking in a way that will allow admissions committees to measure an applicant’s graduate-level English proficiency fairly and consistently. This requirement will not be waived for individuals regardless of country of citizenship, the length of time they may have lived in the United States, study of English in another country, or the amount of coursework taken at English language learning organizations.

Decisions regarding English proficiency are the sole decision of Mason Admissions offices.
Listed below are the English proficiency examinations that Mason accepts and the corresponding minimum score requirements and submission procedures.

*Individual programs reserve the right to set higher minimum scores.
.

IELTS

On the IELTS exam, Mason requires a minimum score of 6.5 for admission.

Sign up for the exam:

International English Language Testing System
(IELTS—Academic)
For testing information and a list of IELTS testing centers by
country, please visit www.ielts.org.

PTE-Academic

Pearson Test of English (Academic version) is now accepted as an English proficiency alternative. Mason requires a minimum score of 59 for most programs for admission.

Sign up for the exam:

TOEFL

All English proficiency scores are valid for two years from the test date. Official test scores must be provided directly from the testing agency. In general, you may use the institution code 5827 to send your scores to Mason. For IELTS, please make sure you have scores sent to the Mason Office of Graduate Admissions. It is not necessary to use the exact department code as test scores arrive to our institution electronically.

If you believe this may delay your application, send a copy of your score report AND the ETS confirmation that you have submitted the score from the testing agency to GMU. We can temporarily use this to continue processing your application. *TOEFL scores are only valid for 2 years.*

The required TOEFL scores for admission are as follows:

Sign up for the exam:

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
TOEFL Program
Educational Testing Service
Registration: 800-468-6335
Information: 609-771-7100
Fax: 609-771-7500
E-mail: toefl@ets.org
Web: www.toefl.org

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The GRE exam may be required for your program according to the chart below. Contact the department directly to find out specific score requirements.

Only official GRE scores will be accepted from the testing agency. Be sure to send your score to George Mason by using institution code: 5827. You may look up your department code by visiting http://www.ets.org or by using the ETS Department Code List (pdf).

This will ensure that the score comes directly to Volgenau School of Engineering Graduate Admissions in a timely manner. It can take up to 6 weeks for us to receive your GRE score, so please submit it early.

If you believe this may delay your application, send a copy of your score report AND the ETS confirmation that you have submitted the score from the testing agency to GMU. We can temporarily use this to continue processing your application. *GRE scores are valid for 5 years.*

Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)

GMAT scores are accepted by the programs listed below according to their policies. Be sure to send your official test scores to Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason by using the correct program code. This will ensure that the score comes directly to Volgenau School of Engineering Graduate Admissions in a timely manner. It can take up to 6 weeks for us to receive your GMAT score, so please submit it early.