Matching GRE Subject Averages with Rankings

[marco]

So I was thinking that it would be a good idea to try to match the rankings of a university with the average percentile of the students admitted. I am sure that this matching would be very rough but Im guessing there are certain affirmations that can be made. For example: for top ten schools I'm pretty sure that the percentile would be well over percentile 80.

Based on your experience what would the average percentile of students admitted to programs in the top 20 be? What about top 25?
How much is the bar lowered (in terms of GRE Math percentiles) for top ten schools in programs in Applied Mathematics (like the PACM at Princeton)?

My input is that for top 20 schools the average percentile would be in the 70's. Also IMHO the average percentile for programs in Applied Math at top ten schools would still be over percentile 80 because there are probably a lot of mathematicians interested in these programs. But then again, my opinions would be that of a newbie so that´s why I would like to hear from others (more in the know) ? I think that since our percentiles are already out it would be wise to have a thread like this because it could help us identify our main targets.

[Colman]

Bit lower in Statistics: Stanford is almost certainly the most selective school for Statistics, and one of the few Stats departments requiring the maths subject test: Average was 82nd percentile in 2011 I think (according to their website) for PhD entrants.

[functor]

University of Pennsylvania
Scores on the Advanced Math Subject Test of the GRE should be at least 750, though applicants with somewhat lower scores may be admitted if the rest of their application is sufficiently strong. The average GRE scores of the students who entered our Ph.D. program in the recent past were: Verbal: 597; Quantitative: 789; Advanced Math Subject Test: 820.
Source: http://www.math.upenn.edu/grad/graddata.html

Cornell
Most successful applicants score 700 or above on their GRE subject test.
Source: http://www.math.cornell.edu/Graduate/app_details.html

UIUC
There is no minimum GRE score required for admission. In 2012, the median math subject GRE score for entering Ph.D. students was 740.
Source: http://www.math.illinois.edu/GraduatePr ... y-phd.html

Georgia Tech
In 2006, average GRE subject score of 795 for entering PhD students.
Source: http://www.math.gatech.edu/academics/gr ... ons#MINGRE

I suspect that since UPenn has a minimum requirement of 750 it places a fair bit of emphasis on the GRE, hence the high average.

[gromov]

It has been my impression that top 25-ish programs whose initial qualifiers/prelim exams are mainly dependent on undergraduate coursework might be a bit more likely to stress the subject test.

There are some strong programs which seem to place less emphasis, and more so on grades and success in fundamental coursework, who view success on the subject test as a matter more of the fact that a lot of strong students will ace the test, even if their ability to truly succeed in graduate school correlates better with other factors.

[Jenn]

Info from Ohio State. The median percentile for international students admitted by and attending (!) Ohio State (! not Harvard) is very close to 95. Oh my goodness...

http://www.math.osu.edu/graduate/apply

There are no a-priori minimum scores for the test set by our program. However, admissions become rare below the 50th percentile. The distribution of percentiles of subject test scores of Ph.D.-applicants we admitted between 2009 and 2012 is depicted below.

The data over the four admission cycles includes 125 domestic (in red) and 129 international (in pink) applicants. The median percentile for domestic students is 67, the one for international students is 95.

Between a quarter and a third of those admitted accepted offers and joined our program, with medians for the incoming classes very close to those above.

[ppham27]

From PSU (http://www.math.psu.edu/grad/phd/faq.php),

Year V Q A AW* Subject
2011 531 796 3.8 781
2010 551 787 3.9 774
2009 360 800 3.0 720
2008 507 775 4.0 677
2007 524 783 4.0 794
2006 510 779 705 4.0
2005 570 783 733 5.0 814
2004 540 792 770 3.81 776
2003 556 758 729 4.0 654
2002 585 770 682 718
2001 542 778 637 890
2000 554 772 673 844

Scores are all over the place.

[Gasquet]

Info from Ohio State. The median percentile for international students admitted by and attending (!) Ohio State (! not Harvard) is very close to 95. Oh my goodness...

I remember reading that.
Domestic 67
International 95

They should just write International below 90 shouldn't bother applying.

Another point worth noting in this is that a lot more International students would have a MS before applying. So we have more proof that we know our basics reasonably well, but still the standards for MGRE are higher!

[Jenn]

They should just write International below 90 shouldn't bother applying.

Only left to hope that being a girl does help here