stanford phd gre requirements

How to Apply

Main navigation, the online application for 2024 entry is open..

Visit the Apply Now page to start your application for graduate study.

Select One Program

Out of the graduate degree programs listed on the Explore Graduate Programs page , you may apply to only one program per academic year.

The only exception is within the Biosciences PhD programs , where you may apply for two programs within a single application.

Central & Departmental Processes

We work in partnership with your graduate program of interest to ensure a smooth admission experience from the time you start your application until you enroll at Stanford.

Graduate Admissions

• Oversees the online application system
• Determines university-wide admission requirements
• Reviews the official documents of incoming graduate students to verify that they meet university-wide admission requirements

Graduate Program

• Oversees the review of applications
• May supplement university-wide requirements with program-specific admission requirements
• Communicates admission decisions and offers of financial support

Admission Process Overview

Application.

The first step is to prepare and submit your application materials through the online application system, by the deadline set by your intended graduate program. 

After you submit your application, it is routed to your graduate program for review by its admission committee. Some programs conduct interviews as part of the evaluation process.

Your graduate program communicates the admission decision to you once it is finalized by the admission committee.

If you are admitted, you must respond to the offer of admission by the deadline set by your program. Some programs host "visit days" to help you make an informed decision.

Verification

If you accept the offer of admission, you must arrange for your official transcripts and degree documents to be sent to Graduate Admissions for verification.

Matriculation

After Graduate Admissions reviews your official documents, you are matriculated into your degree program. At this point, you are eligible to enroll in courses if you have no enrollment holds on your record. Note: If you are an international student, you have an enrollment hold until you arrive on campus.

Main navigation

MS and PhD application instructions for external applicants, current matriculated graduate students in other Stanford departments, and Non-Degree Option (NDO) students.

Current Stanford undergraduates should see the MS&E Student Intranet (bottom of page) for detailed coterm application instructions.

How to apply for the PhD and MS (full-time, part-time, and remote)  

[1] Application deadline and timelines

[2] Eligibility guidelines

[3] Required materials

[4] Submit application

[5] Check status

Application deadlines and timelines

Eligibility requirements.

Please review the Stanford Graduate Admissions website for university wide policies.

Required application materials

Online Application

- Statement of Purpose; should be no more than two pages single-spaced

- Letters of Recommendation (3); recommenders continue to have access to submit letters after the application is submitted, but must upload their letter no later than two weeks after the application deadline

- Transcripts (scanned)   1) Please include the back of the transcript, if it contains a grading scale. Please also include a class rank, and gpa, if available.   2) For completed degrees, you must include a degree certificate or diploma if the transcript does not show conferral of the degree.   3) You are welcome to include transcripts from schools you attended part-time or less than one year, if that is information you would like us to have. For example, students who have taken courses part-time at Stanford in the Non-Degree Option program should list Stanford as an institution and upload the Stanford transcript.   4) Current Stanford graduate students applying for the MS in MS&E should list Stanford as an institution and upload the Stanford transcript, even if it is contains only the list of currently enrolled courses.   5) See below for information regarding Official Transcripts.

- Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV)

-Select at least one Academic Interest. Please consult the MS Areas of Specialty and PhD research areas

-Application Fee of $125 (nonrefundable). See eligibility requirements for ​ Graduate Fee Waivers .

- Official GRE scores are required of all applicants, regardless of education or work experience.  We accept the At Home GRE Test. The GRE must be taken by (not received by) the application deadline; we realize it will take a few weeks for us to receive the official scores from ETS.

- You may request an exemption from the GRE requirement due to hardship .  Please keep in mind that if you do not have a quantitative degree, recent academic experience, or your qualifications are below our usual MS averages , you may need GRE scores to be competitive.

- Please notify us if the name or birthdate on your application does not match the name or birthdate on your test scores.

- School Code: 4704

TOEFL Scores

- The minimum expected score is 100.

- Please see the Office of Graduate Admissions site for exemption information, the TOEFL Waiver Request form, and information on whether you may use the MyBest, TOEFL Essentials, and TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition scores.

- We must receive the official scores from ETS. Please notify us if the name or birthdate on your application does not match the name or birthdate on your test scores. The TOEFL must be taken by (not received by) the application deadline.

Official Transcripts

We must receive one final official transcript from each institution listed on the application for admitted students who accept the offer of admission .  Do not send official transcripts until after you have accepted an offer of admission.

Please see the Graduate Admissions instructions on sending final official transcripts .

Please : Do not send hard copies of anything to the department.  Applications are reviewed online. Due to the volume of applications that we receive, we are unable to scan and upload anything to your application.

- It is not necessary to consult or correspond with a Stanford faculty member regarding your application.

- We frequently have trouble with Hotmail blocking email from Stanford, so you may want to use a different email provider for your application. We occasionally have trouble with email we send to Gmail accounts being categorized as spam, so please be sure to check your spam folders for email from us.

-Optional Abstract of Paper; no more than two pages single-spaced, including a link to the full paper

Submit application

Review your application and uploads carefully before you submit. We are unable to upload a revised version of your CV or statement of purpose after you have submitted your application.

Check your status

Log back into your online application to view your application status and decision on your application activity page and checklist. We are unable to reply individually to queries about application status, and applicants cannot see if items are received before submitting the application.

Official test scores received after the deadline will not have any negative impact on the review of your application, as long as any unofficial test scores are provided in the online application by the deadline. Letters of recommendation received after the deadline will still be attached to your application, but we cannot guarantee they will be seen by the Admissions Committee if they arrive more than two weeks after the application deadline.

PhD Admissions Frequently Asked Questions

Prospective applicants (phd).

While there are no specific prerequisite courses to complete before applying, previous experience has shown that before starting the core courses students need to have mastered the material in courses such as Stanford's Math113, Math115, Stats116, Stats200, and CS106A (or their equivalents at other universities), as demonstrated by very strong and relatively recent grades. Descriptions of these courses may be viewed on Stanford's ExploreCourses course listings pages. Where this background is missing or not recent, admission to the PhD program will involve working with the Graduate Director to design an individual program to make up the necessary courses.

No, applicants with only a bachelor's degree are eligible to enter our PhD program. Each year's admitted cohort typically comprises both students with and without a master's degree.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford reaffirmed its commitment to perform individualized, holistic review of each applicant to its graduate and professional programs. We recognize that students may have faced significant challenges during the period of disruption caused by the pandemic, and we will take such individual circumstances into account during application review. Importantly, we will respect decisions regarding the adoption of Credit/No Credit and other grading options during this unprecedented period of COVID-19 disruption, whether they are made by institutions or by individual students. Our goal remains to form graduate student cohorts that are excellent and encompass a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences that enrich the graduate educational experience.

No. In the Statistics Department, doctoral students select their advisor at the end of their second year in the program after having the opportunity to work on research with one or more faculty of their choosing.

No, we only matriculate students in autumn quarter and therefore all applicants must meet the annual PhD application deadline.

No. It is not possible to complete a degree online in the Statistics Department. The department offers a small number of courses online through Stanford Online , mostly in summer, but the majority of courses must be completed on campus during normal business hours.

The Bechtel International Center works with students, staff and faculty and their families on issues including immigration policy, academic and financial difficulties, transactions with foreign governments, English proficiency, housing, and adjustment to life at Stanford.

Please visit Estimated Expense Budget for information about the estimated cost of living on-campus as a graduate student (this is only an estimate; your actual expenses may differ).

Please visit Student Housing for information about campus housing at Stanford, including information on eligibility, the application process, and deadlines.

Applicants to any graduate program at Stanford are eligible to apply for this fellowship. Applicants must have applied to the Scholars program by the KHS deadline and must submit their graduate application by the dept/program deadline.

Students with a strong mathematical background who wish to go on to a PhD in Statistics should consider applying directly to the PhD program. Completing the MS in Statistics does not increase one's chances of admission to the PhD program.

No, you may apply to only one degree program per academic year. An exception is within the Biosciences, in which you may apply to up to three PhD programs within one application. However, you may apply concurrently to one departmental program and to a professional school program (law, medicine or business).

We receive approximately 200 PhD applications and usually admit 10-12 new students each year.

Graduate Exam Requirements (PhD)

The general GRE test is required of all applicants applying to a graduate program in statistics at Stanford University, including applicants who have previously attended graduate school.

No, we do not accept any tests in lieu of the GRE general test.

Admission to the Statistics Department requires the GRE general test.

Applicants who have already earned a PhD degree, or have PhD studies in progress with a degree conferral date prior to the intended start quarter, may request a GRE General Test waiver by emailing stat-admissions-PhD [at] lists.stanford.edu (stat-admissions-PhD[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) with the following information and attaching an unofficial copy of your PhD transcript: full name, institution attended, degree earned, and degree conferral date. Use the subject heading 'GRE General Test Waiver Request'.

We do not have a minimum GPA requirement for applicants to the PhD program, but GPAs of at least 3.5 are strongly recommended.

While we have not established any particular GRE test score necessary for admission, the average General GRE percentile scores of recently admitted applicants are Verbal 92%, Quantitative 94% and Analytical Writing 83%. If you submit results from more than one eligible test date we will consider the higher of the scores from each relevant test.

Effective March 2021, the GRE Math Subject Test is no longer required. Applicants to our program are now required only to take the GRE General Test. The GRE Math Subject Test will not be considered during the review of applications. GRE Math Subject Test scores submitted to Stanford University will not be made available to our department.

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores are required of all applicants whose first language is not English. For detailed information, see the TOEFL information in Required Exams.

The University does not accept IELTS scores in lieu of the TOEFL.

A minimum TOEFL score of 100 on the Internet based test (iBT) is required by Stanford University for all Ph.D. applicants.

However, please note that the Graduate Admission's Required Exams webpage also states that incoming students who score below 109 on the TOEFL will likely be required to complete additional English placement testing prior to enrollment. Evidence of adequate English proficiency must be submitted before enrollment is approved by Graduate Admissions.

The average TOEFL score of Ph.D. applicants admitted to the statistics department is 112.

Yes, Stanford accepts MyBest scores, but does not accept TOEFL Essentials test scores or any other English proficiency test (e.g., IELTS, PTE).

You may request a waiver if you (will) have an equivalent degree from a recognized institution in a country other than Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom in which English was the language of instruction. You must submit a Stanford application before submitting a TOEFL waiver request form. Note that U.S. citizenship does not automatically exempt an applicant from taking the TOEFL if the applicant’s first language is not English.

Please make sure to have your electronic scores sent to Stanford prior to their expiration date.

GRE scores are valid for five years from the test date.

TOEFL scores submitted to Stanford must be from a test taken within the last 24 months. Scores expire after two years and will not be available from ETS.

Applicants should have the Educational Testing Service (ETS) send scores electronically to Stanford.

Our university code is 4704. A department code is not required. You will either self-report your scores or indicate the date you will take the test(s) in the online application. Self-reported scores will not be considered official until Stanford receives the electronic record.

Transcripts (PhD)

Official transcripts should be submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office (not to the department) only if you have been offered admission to the program AND have accepted, and then only when they are final and show degree conferral. Final official transcripts that do not show degree conferral must be accompanied by official degree certifications. Instructions for submission are provided on the status page immediately after accepting the offer.

An official transcript must be an original document bearing the institutional seal and official signature of the Registrar or is verified by a school administrative officer or is a certified electronic transcript.

As part of the online application, applicants are required to upload scanned copies of transcripts (either official or unofficial) from all post-secondary institutions attended as a full-time student for one academic year or longer in the 'Academic History' section of the application.

If you have participated in a study abroad program or transferred courses to your home institution, and the individual courses and grades are reflected on the transcript of the home institution, then you do not need to submit separate transcripts for the study abroad/transfer institution.

Copies of your transcripts from continuing studies programs, extension schools, online courses, etc., that reflect less than one year of a full-time degree program do not need to be submitted. However, applicants may choose to include them as part of the online application under the 'Additional Information' section of the application.

Multiple page uploads are allowed for all transcripts. Do not send any official copies of transcripts (print or e-transcripts) to the department. They are not required as part of the application and will not be retained.

If the institution does not issue records in English, original language records must be submitted with official English translations. We accept translations issued by the institution or a professional translating service. Translations must be literal and complete versions of the original records. Transcripts submitted through a credentials evaluation service will also need to be accompanied by the original documents.

International students do not need to submit transcripts via an evaluation service unless your institution does not offer these documents in English.

If you are offered admission and choose to accept, you will find i nstructions provided on the status page immediately after accepting the offer.

Recommendation Letters (PhD)

The online application allows you to submit up to four letters of recommendation. Statistics PhD applicants are only required to submit three letters. It is the quality, not the quantity, of letters that supports and strengthens the graduate application. At least one recommender should be a faculty member at the last school you attended as a full-time student (unless you have been out of school for more than five years). Note: If you have concerns that one of your recommenders will not be able to submit their letter by the deadline, you may want to consider requesting letters from a total of four recommenders. This will increase the likelihood that three letters will be submitted by the deadline and that your application will be considered complete.

You should choose individuals who:

• Know you well through significant, direct involvement with you within the last three years
• Will provide detailed anecdotes and examples to support their assertions
• Are truly enthusiastic about writing a recommendation for you, will spend sufficient time writing a thoughtful letter, and will be able to submit it by the application deadline

Letters must be submitted using the electronic application. As part of the online application, the applicant will be required to register the names and contact information, including e-mail addresses, of each recommender. Recommenders will then receive an email with directions on how to proceed. For additional information, please visit the Letters of Recommendation page provided by the Office of Graduate Admissions. Letters must be received by the published deadline. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that letters are submitted to the electronic application by the published deadline. Do not email, mail, or fax letters of recommendation that have already been submitted through the online application.

Yes, we do accept letters submitted by your university's letter service. If this applies to you, you will still need to enter information for each recommender in the online application, including e-mail addresses which will automatically generate the email to each recommender requesting a letter. It is your responsibility to contact them to let them know to disregard this email and to use the university's letter service. Please use stat-admissions-phd [at] lists.stanford.edu (stat-admissions-PhD[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) when routing through the letter service.

The recommendation process now supports letters submitted via Interfolio. The applicant registers a recommender using an email address that contains “interfolio.com”. Please remember that letters written specifically for your Stanford graduate program tend to be stronger than letters written for general use purposes. Furthermore, the recommendation form displayed for a recommender using Interfolio will not include the evaluation questions displayed and required for other recommenders.

Your recommenders are required to submit their letters through the online application by the deadline of the round in which you apply. You are responsible for ensuring the letters are submitted on time. You will be able to see the status of each letter (either notified, started, or submitted) and you will also be able to send a reminder via the online system to any recommender who has not yet submitted as the application deadline draws near.

• Register your recommenders. Go to the “Letters of Reference” tab on the application, and enter each recommender’s information carefully. It is essential that you enter the recommender’s email address correctly so that your recommender can access the instructions and form. Read the waiver statement for each letter of reference and determine whether or not you will waive your right to review each recommendation. You cannot change this later.
• Your recommender receives an email with log in information.
• Your recommender completes and submits his/her recommendation.
• You and your recommender receive an email confirming the recommendation has been submitted.

Once you are an enrolled student , the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) provides you with a right of access to your education record, including letters of reference if they are retained by the school. The law also permits you to waive that right of access to your letters of reference if you so choose. Waiving your right of access to your letters of reference is optional; your decision to waive or retain that right will have no bearing on the handling of your application.

The recommenders whom you notify will be able to see whether or not you have waived your FERPA right of access during the letter of reference submission process. You must waive or retain your rights of access to your letters of reference (using the online application system) before you invite recommenders to submit information for you.

Application Updates, Transfers, Re-applications, Deferrals (PhD)

Yes, you may make certain updates to your application after submitting it: consult the Grad Admissions FAQs for details . Scroll down to 'Post-Submission'.

Updates made PRIOR to the application deadline will be considered part of the initial application and will be reviewed by the admissions committee. However, although the application system will still allow applicants to make some updates AFTER the deadline, there is no guarantee that the admissions committee will review them.

Applicants who indicate that they would like to be considered for the master's program in the ' Program Selection ' section of the online application are eligible to request that their application be reviewed by the MS Admissions Committee.

In order to pursue this option, applicants must submit an email request within three business days of receiving the PhD admissions decision notification. Note that it is not guaranteed that the MS Admissions Committee will accept your application for review. You will be notified via email whether your request has been approved.

Yes, you must submit a complete application, pay the application fee and submit new letters of recommendation and transcripts.

However, if your GRE and TOEFL scores (where relevant) are valid and still available in Stanford's system it may not be necessary to have them resent. Email stat-admissions-phd [at] lists.stanford.edu (stat-admissions-phd[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu) for confirmation.

No. We do not allow deferral of admission. Students who are accepted but cannot enroll may reapply for a future year when they are available to begin their studies.

Application Requirements

How to apply.

The admissions application is accessible through the  Office of Graduate Admissions .  A complete application consists of the following documentation:

• Stanford online application including statement of purpose
• At least three letters of recommendation
• Unofficial transcripts from each institution you attended for at least one year (Official transcripts are not required at the time of application. If you are offered admission to Stanford and accept the offer, you will be required to submit official transcripts that show your degree conferral.) 
• General  GRE and TOEFL scores reported directly to Stanford (code 4704) - Learn more about these  test requirements . GRE scores are required for the Fall 2023 admissions cycle.  
• Writing Sample : a recent scholarly or critical paper (20-35 pages, double-spaced). Applicants may submit two or three shorter samples if they do not have a long one. Writing samples must be written in English. 
• CV/resume  
• Application fee of $125. Information on Graduate Fee Waivers is available here . 

Please refer to the FAQ for Prospective Students and the Office of Graduate Admissions Frequently Asked Questions for additional information on the application process and requirements.

Application Deadline

December 5, 2023 at 11:59 Pacific Standard Time. Unfortunately we are not able to accept late applications. 

Graduate Degree Requirements

For each Stanford advanced degree, there is an approved course of study that meets University and department requirements. The University's general requirements, applicable to all graduate degrees at Stanford, are described below. University requirements pertaining to only a subset of advanced degrees are described in the  Master's Degree Requirements  or  Doctoral Degree Requirements  pages of this Bulletin.

Policy Statement

Graduate education at Stanford is a full-time commitment requiring full-time enrollment, typically at least eight units in each academic quarter. Unless permission is granted by the degree program (for example, for field work) enrolled graduate students are required to maintain a significant physical presence on campus throughout each quarter a student is enrolled. Prior to requesting approval to be physically distanced from campus, students should consult with the degree program as well as other university offices about potential funding, visa or other implications. Degree programs and individual faculty should include expectations about physical presence on campus in the advising expectations that are made available to students (see  GAP 3.3, Academic Advising ).

When considering a student’s request to be physically remote, the degree program should carefully consider the student’s ability to meet the coursework, research and teaching requirements of the program such that they can make satisfactory academic progress. In cases where the student is not able to make satisfactory academic progress and meet the requirements of the program, a leave of absence may be appropriate. Degree programs are not obligated to approve a student’s request to be away from campus.

Graduate students are required to enroll in courses for all terms of the regular academic year (Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters) from the admission term until conferral of the degree. The only exception to this requirement occurs when the student is granted an official leave of absence (see GAP 5.3,  Leaves of Absence , and GAP 5.4,  Program Discontinuation and Reinstatement ). 

Matriculated graduate students are expected to enroll for at least eight units during the academic year; degree programs may set a higher minimum. Petitions for programs of fewer than 8 must be signed by the student’s degree program and submitted for consideration to the Office of the Registrar. Graduate students are normally expected to enroll in no more than 24 units. (Students in programs in the Schools of Humanities & Sciences, Engineering, Earth Sciences and Education will pay tuition for each unit over 18. The Schools of Medicine, Law, and Business do not charge for units above 18.) Registration for more than 24 units must be approved by the degree program.

Requests to enroll for fewer than eight units during the academic year are approved only in specific circumstances, including enrollment in the Master of Liberal Arts (M.L.A.) program, or the Honors Cooperative Program (HCP) through the Stanford Center for Professional Development (the Honors Cooperative Program). See GAP 5.2,  Part-Time Enrollment .  

Failure to enroll in courses for a term during the academic year without taking an approved leave of absence results in denial of further enrollment privileges unless and until reinstatement to the degree program is granted and the reinstatement fee paid. 

Registration in Summer quarter is not required and does not substitute for registration during the academic year. Degree programs may require students to enroll in the Summer quarter. Students possessing an F-1 or J-1 student visa may be subject to additional course enrollment requirements in order to retain their legal status in the United States.

In addition to the above requirement for continuous registration during the academic year, graduate students are required by Stanford to be registered:

In each term during which any official degree program or university requirement is fulfilled, including qualifying exams or the university oral exam. The period between the last day of final exams of one term and the day prior to the first day of the following term is considered an extension of the earlier term, with the option of considering the two weeks preceding the start of Autumn Quarter as part of Autumn Quarter (rather than as part of Summer Quarter).  

In any term in which a dissertation/thesis is submitted or at the end of which a graduate degree is conferred.

Normally, in any term in which the student receives financial support.

In any term for which the student needs to use university facilities.  

For international students, in any term of the regular academic year (summer may be excluded) for which they have non-immigrant status (i.e., a J-1 or F-1 visa).

Individual students may also find themselves subject to the registration requirements of other agencies (for example, external funding sources such as federal financial aid). Most course work and research are expected to be done on campus unless the degree program gives prior approval. 

Completing requirements in the two weeks before Autumn Quarter

Degree programs have the option to include the two weeks before the start of Autumn Quarter as part of Autumn Quarter for the purposes of completing milestones and programmatic requirements. The following considerations apply to this exception:

The student must enroll in the subsequent Autumn Quarter in the applicable standard enrollment category prior to the completion of the milestone; a leave of absence is not permitted for that Autumn Quarter. 

A student exercising this option will not be eligible for Graduation Quarter status until the following Winter Quarter at the earliest. 

This exception is permitted only for milestones administered by the degree program, such as qualifying examinations or university oral examinations. 

This exception does not apply to deadlines administered through Stanford University, such as filing the Application to Graduate, or Dissertation/Thesis submission.

Degree programs are not obligated to exercise this option solely because a student requests it.

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PrepScholar GRE Prep

Gre prep online guides and tips, what gre scores do you need for stanford gre requirements.

If you want to attend a graduate program at Stanford, how high do your GRE scores need to be to get accepted? As one of the most prestigious schools in the country, with many of its grad programs ranked #1 by US News, it can be very difficult to get into Stanford.  How can your Stanford GRE scores help set you apart? What is a good GRE score for Stanford? And how important really are GRE scores for getting into Stanford? We explain all that and more in this guide, including a chart of average GRE scores for a variety of Stanford grad programs.

What Grad Programs Is Stanford Known For?

As one of the top universities in the country, Stanford’s grad school programs are strong across the board. They are perhaps a bit better known for their STEM programs, but, as you can see below, they’re ranked highly in many liberal arts programs as well.

In the US News’ 2019 rankings of schools , Stanford ranked in the top ten for 18 grad programs:

• Business (#4)
• Education (#4)
• Engineering (#2)
• Medical Schools: Research (#3)
• Biological Sciences (#1)
• Chemistry (#2)
• Computer Science (#1)
• Earth Sciences (#2)
• Economics (#1)
• English (#3)
• History (#1)
• Mathematics (#2)
• Physics (#1)
• Political Science (#1)
• Psychology (#1)
• Sociology (#5)
• Statistics (#1)

Stanford’s Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Economics, History, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, and Statistics programs are all ranked #1 in the country, which shows that Stanford has top-notch programs multiple areas.  Over 9,300 graduate students attend Stanford every year , with about 70% getting their Master’s degree, 22% getting their PhD, and 8% getting a professional degree.

Stanford GRE Scores

Because it has so many graduate programs ranked so highly, and because it has a strong reputation as one of the top schools in the US, Stanford is also one of the most competitive schools to get into, and it’s important to know what GRE you should be aiming for. The current national average for GRE test takers is a 150 on the Verbal section and 153 on the Quantitative section, but you should aim significantly higher than that if you hope to get into Stanford.

Below is a chart showing the average GRE scores of accepted applicants for different Stanford graduate programs. Also included in the chart is if GRE scores are required or optional, the average GPA of accepted students, the program/school’s acceptance rate, and its ranking by US News.

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Programs that don’t accept GRE scores but require scores from a different standardized test (such as the law school, medical school, business school, and ) aren’t included in this chart. Programs that don’t look at any test scores, such as the Psychology program, also aren’t included.

Not every program provided every piece of information.  If the program you’re interested in isn’t included below, you can look for a similar program in the chart to get a general idea of the average GRE score.

What Is a Good GRE Score for Stanford?

As you saw in the chart above, the average Stanford GRE scores depend on which program you’re applying to. The average scores range from 158 to 166 for Verbal, and 157 to 168 for Quant.

Some have higher average Quant scores than Verbal scores (typically STEM programs), while other programs have higher average Verbal scores.  For example, Stanford’s Master’s in Computer Science program has an average Quant score of 166 but an average Verbal score of 162. This makes sense since, as a STEM-focused Master’s program, you’ll be using STEM skills more than verbal skills.

In order to determine the Stanford GRE scores you should set as your goal, we recommend finding the average GRE scores for the program you want to apply to in the chart above . If your program isn’t listed in the chart, look at the GRE scores of the closest program to it, or look up GRE scores of programs with a similar US News ranking. Then, add 2-3 points to both Verbal and Quant scores. Those are your goal scores.

For example, if you want to get a PhD in Chemistry at Stanford (which doesn’t list average GRE scores), you can first look at similar Stanford programs, such as their PhD programs in Engineering (Q=167, V=159) and Computer Science (Q=168, V=165). It’s not a perfect comparison, but since they’re all STEM PhD programs, you can expect average GRE scores for all three programs to be similar. You can further refine this estimate by looking at a similarly-ranked nursing program at a different school.

Stanford’s Chemistry program is ranked #2 by US News, as is Harvard’s program. The average GRE scores at Harvard for accepted Chemistry PhD students is 165 for Quant and 162 for Verbal. Average the three scores together, add two points to each to make sure you’re safely in the “acceptable” zone, and you’ll have your GRE goal scores, which in this case are about 168 for Quant and 162 for Verbal.

If you’re applying to a Stanford grad program that doesn’t have the GRE scores of any similar programs listed in the chart above, you can find the GRE scores of similar programs at two different schools and make your estimate from that. For example, if you want to get a Master’s in Sociology at Stanford, you’d find schools with sociology graduate programs ranked similarly to Stanford’s program (ranked 5th). UNC-Chapel Hill’s Sociology Master’s program is ranked 6th, so just below Stanford’s, and its average GRE scores are 160 for Quant and 162 for Verbal. UC Berkeley’s Sociology Master’s is ranked just above Stanford’s, and its average GRE scores are 154 for Quant and 161 for Verbal. Now find the average of those scores and add to points. This gives you 159 for Quant and about 164 for Verbal as your goal scores.

Adding a few points to the average GRE scores of accepted students ensures that your scores will be high enough above the average to strengthen, not weaken, your application. However, it doesn’t set your goal so high that you’re spending too much time preparing for the GRE at the expense of other areas of your application.

How Important Are GRE Scores for Getting Into Stanford?

Knowing the average GRE score for the Stanford program you want to apply to is an important consideration when you’re working on your applications, but don’t assume that GRE scores alone are the key to getting into Stanford. GRE scores are an important part of your application (for programs that require the scores), but even top GRE scores won’t be enough to get you admitted to Stanford if your application is weak in other areas.

Most graduate programs, including those at Stanford, care more about your undergraduate transcript, research/work experiences, personal statement, and letters of recommendation than GRE scores when making admissions decisions. These are what you should spend most of your time improving in order to have the best chance of getting into Stanford. It also means that, if you have low GRE scores but are outstanding in other areas, such as research you’ve done or work experience you have, you still have a solid chance of getting into Stanford.

However, if you have a score that’s significantly below the average score of admitted students for that program, it may make the admissions committee doubt if you’re really capable of succeeding at Stanford. So spend time preparing for the GRE , but don’t neglect other areas of your application. Your time will be better spent creating an application for Stanford that’s strong across the board.

Summary: Average GRE Scores Stanford

Stanford is a world-renowned university, and you can bet the students that attend it are used to scoring well on exams, including the GRE. The average GRE score for Stanford computer science admitted students is 166 in Quant and 162 in Verbal (for Master’s students) and 168 in Quant and 165 in Verbal for PhD students. If you’re interested in attending business school at Stanford, the average GRE score for Stanford MBA students is 165 in both Verbal and Quant.

Many programs don’t post their average Stanford GRE scores, but you can get an estimate by looking at the average GRE scores of similar programs at Stanford or by looking at the average GRE scores of similarly-ranked programs at other schools.

Your GRE goal scores for Stanford should be 2-3 points higher than the average GRE score for both the Verbal and Quant sections. This ensures your GRE scores are high enough to be a strength on your application. However, your grad school application is much more than just your GRE scores. You’ll also need a strong college transcript, excellent letters of recommendation, and relevant research/work experience in order to be a standout applicant and be accepted to Stanford.

What’s Next?

Need some help raising your GRE score?  Check out our guide to the 17 GRE study tips you need to know! (coming soon)

Thinking about other grad schools?  Check out our guides to GRE scores at Princeton, Yale, and NYU. (coming soon)

Confused about GRE scores? Check out our guide on  how GRE scoring works .

Ready to improve your GRE score by 7 points?

Author: Christine Sarikas

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries. View all posts by Christine Sarikas

Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program

Applicants to the Department of Economics should also consider applying to the  Knight-Hennessy Scholars program .

Applying to Stanford

Applicants to the Department of Economics should also consider applying to the  Knight-Hennessy Scholars program , which annually admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your studies at Stanford.

Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment.

·          The application for the 2024 cohort is open and available at https://kh.stanford.edu/apply .

·          The deadline to apply to the Knight-Hennessy Scholars program is Wednesday, October 11, 2023, 1:00pm Pacific Time

The application for admission in academic year 2024-25 is now closed. Please return to this page in September 2024 when the new application cycle opens for the most up to date information on our admission process and requirements.

Stanford’s  Office of Graduate Admissions  begins accepting  graduate program applications  in late-September for students wishing to be considered for admission to the Economics Ph.D. program the following September.  The application deadline for the Economics Ph.D. is 29 November 2023 (11:59pm Pacific Time).  

The Department of Economics recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision.

Stanford is committed to fostering intellectual excellence in graduate education by enrolling a diverse student body and creating a vibrant and supportive educational environment. The Department of Economics welcomes graduate applications from individuals with a broad range of life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who would contribute to our community of scholars. Review of applications is holistic and individualized, considering each applicant’s academic record and accomplishments, letters of recommendation, and admissions essays in order to understand how an applicant’s life experiences have shaped their past and potential contributions to their field.

As a department, we strive to admit applicants with the potential to excel at economic research and/or the potential to apply economics to benefit society, and who themselves contribute to a rich educational environment for our students.  At least one and usually multiple faculty members serving on our Ph.D. admissions committee gives an individualized and holistic review to every complete application submitted to our Ph.D. program.

Application forms cannot be downloaded, and materials must be submitted online. Applicants must submit the following materials:

1.  A statement of purpose  (not exceeding two pages in length)

2.  Three letters of recommendation

3. Please upload scanned (unofficial) copies of transcripts from every college and university you attended for at least one full year as a full-time student by the application deadline as part of your online application.  Do not send official transcripts at this time and do not send anything by mail, it must all be uploaded to the application online.   Official  transcripts  should be sent to the central university admissions office (not the Department) at the time you accept an offer of admission. 

4 .  To be eligible for admission to graduate programs at Stanford, applicants must meet  one  of the following conditions:

• Applicants must hold, or expect to hold before enrollment at Stanford, a bachelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university accredited by a regional accrediting association.
• Applicants from institutions outside the U.S. must hold the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree from a college or university of recognized standing.  See minimum level of study required of International applicants .

5. For applicants whose first language is not English (with some exceptions as clarified  here ),  TOEFL scores  are required.  Stanford’s ETS institutional code for submission of scores is 4704. 

• Stanford will temporarily accept the TOEFL ITP Plus test with the Vericant interview for applicants from Mainland China who are unable to sit for the TOEFL iBT. This exception is requested only for the 2020-2021 application cycle. Applicants may be asked to re-test at a later time once the Stanford TOEFL iBT becomes available, or applicants may be asked to re-test through the Stanford Language Center.
• To meet the needs of students who are unable to take the TOEFL iBT® test at a test center due to public health concerns, ETS is temporarily offering the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition.

6. The Economics Department DOES require GRE scores for 2023-24 admission. They will be evaluated with your application in a holistic manner.

7. Stanford’s Economics Department also requires that students complete a coursework spreadsheet as part of the online application.  The reason we require this is that we receive and review transcripts from many schools, and it is extremely helpful for us to review applicants’ economics-related coursework in a standardized format.  Stanford's  course catalog  will likely be helpful in determining which Stanford courses are most similar to those you have taken.   

No additional materials that become available after the deadline (e.g. updated transcripts) will be accepted. 

If you have any questions throughout this process, please contact econ-grad [at] stanford.edu (econ-grad[at]stanford[dot]edu) .

The non-refundable application fee is $125, but please note that  fee waivers  are available for individuals needing assistance with application fees.

Stanford’s  Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education  provides several resources about life at Stanford. See also this  statement of support for undocumented students .

Requirements

Graduate study in Chemistry at Stanford stresses the unique needs of the students; basic course and examination requirements are deliberately kept to a minimum to allow each candidate flexibility in fulfilling individual research interests. Graduate students are usually engaged in research by the second quarter of their first year. Many first-year students do two, five-week optional rotations during autumn quarter.  All students join labs by the end of February of their first year and only after meeting with at least six faculty members. Generally, University and Department requirements for the Ph.D. degree can be met in less than six years of residence.

The research groups in Chemistry range from small (only two to three students) to large (twenty or more), including postdoctoral research fellows. Much of the advanced instruction, little of which is formally listed in the course catalog, occurs in group seminars organized within the individual research groups. Distinguished visiting scientists often participate in such special seminars, while research seminars of broader interest are arranged through weekly Departmental seminar programs in all areas of chemistry.

Due to the confidence the Department has in its selection of candidates for admission to graduate study, no departmental or comprehensive examinations are required for the Ph.D. degree. Alternatively, scientific development in the second and third years is normally monitored through individual student discussions with the faculty advisor. The only formal test requirement comprises a set of entrance examinations, taken by the incoming class of graduate students before the autumn quarter to display proficiency and breadth in chemistry at the level of a traditional advanced undergraduate curriculum. Any deficiencies are identified and corrected by the student in conjunction with the appropriate faculty. Once the examinations are taken, possible research problems are discussed with individual faculty members. Subsequent coursework and other requirements are largely determined by the student and research advisor(s).

More detailed information concerning degree requirements and course offerings can be found in the Stanford University general catalog, Stanford Bulletin, under these headings:

• Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry
• Explore Courses

See also the  Graduate Academic Policies and Procedures  for specifics on Stanford University admissions, doctoral program requirements, funding, student records, and more.

PhD Timeline

Schedule for Completion of PhD Degree Requirements

Graduate Degrees: Residency

Main navigation, residency policy for graduate students.

Each type of graduate degree offered at Stanford (for example, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy) has a residency requirement based on the number of academic units required for the degree. These residency requirements and the maximum allowable transfer units for each degree type are listed below. Unless permission is granted by the department (for example, for fieldwork) enrolled graduate students must maintain a significant physical presence on campus throughout each quarter a student is enrolled.

The unit requirements for degrees can represent solely course work required for the degree or a combination of course work, research, and a thesis or dissertation. Academic departments and schools offering degrees may establish unit requirements that are higher than the minimum University residency requirement, but they may not have a residency requirement that is lower than the University standard. In addition to the University's residency requirement based on a minimum number of units for each degree, the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Business may establish residency requirements based on the number of quarters of full-time registration in which students are enrolled to earn a degree. However, in no case may a student earn fewer units than the University minimum for each degree. 

Students eligible for Veterans Affairs educational benefits should refer to the Veterans Educational Benefits .

It is Stanford University's general policy that units are applicable toward only one degree. Units may not normally be duplicated or double-counted toward the residency requirement for more than one degree, with the exception that up to 45 units of a Stanford M.A. or M.S. degree may be applied to the residency requirement for the Ph.D., D.M.A., or Engineer degrees. Other exceptions to this general policy for specified combinations of degree types, known as Joint Degree Programs, may be approved by agreement of the Faculty Senate and the deans of the schools affected, with review by the Committee on Graduate Studies.  Students pursuing a Joint Degree that includes a Ph.D. may not also count a Stanford master’s degree or transfer units towards residency for the Ph.D. degree.  See Joint Degree Programs  policy page for more details.

Only completed course units are counted toward the residency requirement. Courses with missing, incomplete, in progress, or failing grades do not count toward the residency requirement. Courses from which a student has formally withdrawn do not count toward the residency requirement.

Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) is available to graduate students who have met all of the conditions listed in the TGR  policy page.

University Minimum Residency Requirements for Graduate Degrees

1. The University has authorized the granting of the M.A.T., Ed.S., and Ed.D. degrees, but they are not being offered.

2. Up to 45 units completed at Stanford toward an M.A. or M.S. degree or accepted as transfer credit, but not both, in an Engineering discipline may be used toward the 90 unit residency requirement for the Engineer degree. At least 45 units of work at Stanford are necessary to complete the 90 residency units for the Engineer degree.

3.  Enrollment in the M.P.P. degree program is limited to candidates who have earlier been accepted to another Stanford graduate degree program and to recent (within three years) Stanford graduates.

4.  Students eligible for Veterans Affairs educational benefits should refer to the Veterans Benefits section of "Admissions and Financial Aid" in this bulletin.

5. Up to 45 units completed at Stanford toward an M.A. or M.S. degree or accepted as transfer credit, but not both, may be used toward the 135 unit residency requirement for the Ph.D. or D.M.A. degree. At least 90 units of work at Stanford are necessary to complete the 135 residency units for the Ph.D. or D.M.A. degree.

6.  6 units of the total are in an area of scholarly concentration.

7. Up to 35 units completed at Stanford toward a J.S.M degree may be used toward the 44-unit residency requirement for the J.S.D degree. 

University Minimum Residency Requirements for Graduate Degree Combinations

Students with multiple degree programs must complete the residency requirements for all their degree types. Students enrolled in a joint degree program should see this  Joint Degree Program  policy page.

A table of these residency requirements is also available on the  Graduate Degree Residency  policy page. 

* Students eligible for Veterans Affairs educational benefits should refer to the "Veterans Benefits" section of this bulletin.

** Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) students should refer to the CEE program page in the Stanford Bulletin for additional information regarding residency.

*** Up to 45 quarter units of work completed outside of Stanford may be applied towards a Ph.D. via the Graduate Residency Credit petition process. Students may apply up to 45 unduplicated units towards each Ph.D. (i.e., students may not use the same external course work towards both Ph.Ds).

Graduate Residency Transfer Credit

Students pursuing an Engineer, D.M.A., or Ph.D. may apply for transfer credit for graduate work done at another institution. Students in the following programs are not eligible to request graduate residency transfer credit:

• Master's degree students 
• Engineer candidates who also earned their master’s at Stanford
• MD students
• GSB-MBA students

A maximum of 45 units of graduate-level work, either from completion of a Stanford masters degree or taken at an external institution, may be applied to the Stanford requirements for the degrees of Ph.D., D.M.A., or Engineer. Students who earn a Stanford master's degree and are subsequently awarded any amount of external graduate transfer credit will have their doctoral residency requirement raised from 135 to 180 units.

The J.D. program permits 30 transfer units (2.0 terms). 

Students may apply for graduate residency transfer credit following successful completion of their first enrolled quarter of graduate work at Stanford. Students enrolled at Stanford who are going to study elsewhere during their degree program should obtain prior approval of any transfer credit sought before their departure. 

Please review the Graduate Residency Transfer Credit process page for information on assessment criteria, and instructions for how to request credit.

Evaluation of Credit for Students Receiving VA Educational Benefits

Liaison among the university, its students, and the various federal, state, and local agencies concerned with veterans’ educational benefits is provided by the Office of the University Registrar. All students eligible to receive veterans’ educational benefits while attending the university are urged to complete arrangements with the appropriate agency well in advance of enrollment. In addition, students are required to have their degree program approve their study lists as meeting graduation requirements before the Office of the University Registrar can certify the courses for Veterans Affairs.

Subject to current federal and university guidelines, students eligible for receipt of VA educational benefits have their prior education and training evaluated up to the credit limits outlined in this Residency policy. As an exception to this policy, students in master’s programs in the Schools of Earth Sciences, Education, Engineering, Humanities and Sciences, Law, Medicine, and Graduate School of Business are allowed a maximum of 6 transfer (quarter) units.

Analytics Insight

Stanford Graduate Admission Requirements

Navigating Stanford’s Graduate Admissions: Essential Requirements for Aspiring Scholars

Stanford College is eminent for its severe scholastic projects and its alumni affirmations process is no special case. Planned understudies expecting to join the positions of Stanford’s regarded graduated class should explore an exhaustive arrangement of necessities intended to choose the most skilled and various up-and-comers. In this article, we’ll investigate the vital parts of the alumni affirmation prerequisites at Stanford College.

Scholarly Greatness

At the core of Stanford’s affirmation measures is scholarly greatness. Candidates should hold a four-year certification or its identical from a perceived foundation. Stanford looks for people who have exhibited a limit concerning critical scholarly accomplishment and who show a guarantee for adding to the scholarly imperativeness of the grounds.

Government sanctioned Tests

Contingent upon the program, candidates might have to submit scores from government-sanctioned tests like the GRE or GMAT . These scores give a typical measure of contrasting the capabilities of candidates and are a necessary piece of the application cycle.

English Capability

For non-local English speakers, evidence of English capability is required. This can be exhibited through the TOEFL, IELTS, or other normalized English language tests. The capacity to peruse, compose, and fathom English at a level adequate for graduate review is significant for progress at Stanford.

Letters of Proposal

Stanford requires letters of proposal, which are basic to grasping a candidate’s intellectual and expert foundation. These letters ought to come from people who can give knowledge about the candidate’s academic capacities and potential for graduate review.

Individual Articulations and Expositions

Candidates should submit individual proclamations or expositions that articulate their scholarly advantages, proficient targets, and purposes behind chasing after graduate review at Stanford. These composed materials offer a brief look into the up-and-comer’s inspirations and yearnings.

Research Insight

For research-centered programs, insight into exploration can be a huge benefit. Candidates who have taken part in research projects or have significant work experience exhibit their status for the afflictions of graduate-level examination .

Variety and Consideration

Stanford values variety and looks to establish a comprehensive climate. The college supports applications from people with many foundations and encounters, accepting that a different understudy body upgrades the instructive experience for all.

Monetary Assets

While Stanford offers different subsidizing choices, including associations, assistantships, and grants, candidates ought to know about the monetary responsibility expected for graduate review and consider their financing choices cautiously.

Application Cutoff times and Techniques

Each graduate program at Stanford has explicit cutoff times and application techniques. Candidates should cautiously audit the prerequisites for their chosen program and guarantee that all materials are submitted on time.

A few projects might require or suggest interviews as a feature of the confirmation cycle. These meetings permit the entrance advisory board to evaluate the candidate’s relational abilities and fit for the program.

Imaginative Portfolios or Try-outs:

For programs in human expression, candidates might have to present an arrangement of work or partake in a try-out. These prerequisites permit the possibility to grandstand their imaginative gifts and potential for outcomes in the imaginative fields.

Acquiring admission to an alumni program at Stanford College is a serious and multi-layered process. It requires cautious readiness, tender loving care, and a reasonable exhibition of scholastic and expert potential. By meeting these necessities, candidates can situate themselves as a solid possibility for one of the world’s driving organizations of higher learning.

Imminent understudies ought to visit Stanford’s Alumni Confirmations site to get familiar with the particular prerequisites for their ideal program and to start the application interaction. With devotion and a guarantee of greatness, the fantasy of going to Stanford for graduate examinations can turn into a reality.

This article gives an outline of the alumni affirmation necessities at Stanford College. Hopeful understudies ought to involve this data as a beginning stage and counsel the authority Stanford Graduate Confirmations site for definite guidelines and program-explicit rules. The excursion to turning into a Stanford graduate understudy is testing yet tremendously fulfilling, offering unmatched open doors for scholastic and expert development.

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Preparing to Graduate

Main navigation.

Congratulations on almost finishing the MATSCI Major and your Stanford undergraduate career! To ensure that you have fulfilled all of the program requirements, we advise you to take the following steps in preparation for graduation. It is important that you complete each step in a timely manner to avoid delays in degree conferral.

Quarter before graduation

Double check your transcript, program sheet, and the Major requirements to ensure that you will be able to complete all program requirements with passing grades in all courses listed on your program sheet. If deviation petitions are required, make sure to get them submitted ASAP so there’s time for corrective action. Feel free to reach out to an MSE UG Advisor if you have questions or would like to chat!

Graduation quarter

Dates below are assuming Spring quarter graduation; otherwise map to the corresponding date in a different quarter (e.g., apply to graduate deadline).

First, make sure to apply to graduate on Axess by the Spring quarter deadline ( Friday, April 12 , 2024 at 5pm). If you miss this deadline, please contact the UG Advisors .

Please complete the following and send all materials to the Undergraduate Advising Committee ( [email protected] ) by the graduation application deadline :

• To apply AP (or IB or A-Level) credit to your MatSci major, please also attach a copy of the email from Darlene Lazar confirming the credit can be applied to your SoE program. See more information here . 
• You can use any program sheet that overlaps with your UG career. But you must follow all the requirements listed on that single program sheet—no mixing of program sheet requirements from different years is allowed.
• Attach a copy of your current unofficial transcript from Axess that includes enrollment for your graduation quarter courses and course grades from all other quarters.
• If you have any SoE deviation petitions, please also attach a copy of the email, if possible, from SoE OSA (likely Darlene Lazar) confirming approval of the petition.

We will review your degree progress and follow up with you by email once you are all cleared. Please refer to the SoE UGHB website and the Stanford Student Services website for more graduation details and let us know if you have any follow-up questions.

Walk at Commencement prior to degree conferral

For some students, you may not be conferring your degree just yet, but would still like to participate at Commencement, e.g., to be with your entering class. For the main, campus-wide Commencement ceremony, please follow the instructions from Student Services regarding eligibility and petitions. If you'd also like to participate in the MatSci Department Commencement ceremony (where you actually walk across a stage), please email MSE Student Services for a separate walkthrough petition form.

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Unlocking the “Iron Cage” of Corporate Conformity

A scholar of organizations looks at how the pressure to homogenize affects industries — including his own.

April 11, 2024

Organizations are pushed to become more and more alike over time. | iStock/Jorm Sangsorn

As a newly hired assistant professor of organizational behavior and sociology at the Yale School of Management, Walter (Woody) Powell observed a strange phenomenon through his office window. It was 1979. Bold colors and patterns were in style and his students came to campus dressed in jeans and vivid colors.

But then recruiters would arrive from consulting firms like Bain, McKinsey, and Boston Consulting Group. Powell would see colorfully dressed students dash into the bathrooms before their job interviews, emerging in the muted attire of a businessperson: white shirts, navy blue jackets, pencil skirts.

“I was stunned by this transformation,” he says. When it came time to join an organization, these “free spirits” believed they had to put on the right uniform to be taken seriously.

Quote Powell would see colorfully dressed students dash into the bathrooms before their job interviews, emerging in the muted attire of a businessperson.

Powell and another young faculty member, Paul DiMaggio , were interested in understanding what caused this kind of homogenization. From their research and discussions with colleagues across a range of disciplines, a thesis emerged: As a field starts to emerge and take shape, pressures inside and outside organizations push them to become more and more alike. In 1983, they published their argument in an article in the American Sociological Review titled “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” What had started with a few curious observations became the most cited paper in the journal’s history and a seminal moment in the fields of organizational development and sociology.

Now a professor of organizational behavior (by courtesy) at Stanford Graduate School of Business who is also affiliated with Stanford’s schools of education, engineering, and humanities and sciences, Powell reflects on the 40-year legacy of that paper. In a new article , he and DiMaggio, now at New York University, revisit the origins of their “iron cage” model and its continued relevance.

The More Things Change…

By the time they teamed up, Powell and DiMaggio had already studied industries where once diverse and vibrant organizations had cohered and flattened. DiMaggio had looked at cultural organizations in New England. In the mid-19th century, local performance venues offered both popular minstrel shows and more elite fare, such as readings from Shakespeare. Yet these venues standardized their programs over time, dividing elite and popular culture into distinct avenues. Powell noted a similar shift in the publishing industry, where generalist family-owned firms started to differentiate into trade, scholarly, and popular houses as they were acquired by large corporations. He and DiMaggio were curious about which environmental and cultural factors made such homogenization so common.

It was a novel approach during an otherwise quiet moment in organizational sociology, when scholars endlessly focused on the best way to organize a company and how many people should report to a single boss.DiMaggio and Powell brought in influences from the study of culture and other disciplines. The title came from the German scholar and polymath Max Weber, who coined the term “iron cage” to describe the limitations of rationalism and bureaucracy; they combined Weber’s idea with their real-world observations.

Revisiting their original paper, DiMaggio and Powell recall how their research on nonprofits showed the pressures that drive organizations to morph into similar structures, a phenomenon they termed “isomorphism.” They describe watching consultants work with New York’s WNET, the country’s largest public television station, as it struggled with massive budget cuts. The station relied on government funding, which had been slashed under the Reagan Administration. This put it under what Powell and DiMaggio call coercive pressure — in this case, pressure to conform so it wouldn’t upset its critics in Washington.

WNET was also subject to what DiMaggio and Powell call mimetic and normative isomorphism. As industries start to professionalize and as their employees switch companies, their structures begin to look the same. This is particularly true during times of uncertainty, when organizations start to copy their competitors.

DiMaggio and Powell call out consulting firms, which exercise their own kind of isomorphic pressures as they dole out advice. DiMaggio and Powell describe these firms like Johnny Appleseeds, spreading “a few organizational models throughout the land.” At WNET, which had many small, autonomous departments, the consultants suggested a more top-down reorganization to “make the sleepy nonprofit seem modern.” Suddenly, the independent station looked just like any other broadcaster.

Collaboration vs. Isolation

At the time Powell and DiMaggio wrote their original paper, Yale’s management school was building an unusual reputation, focused on sending students into government and nonprofits in addition to private industry. (One joke was that while Harvard MBAs dreamed of driving Porsches, Yale MBAs dreamed of driving Volvos.) Powell was thrilled by the school’s open, collaborative atmosphere and its emphasis on cross-disciplinary scholarship. “I was like a kid in a candy store,” he says. In the social sciences cafeteria, senior and junior faculty from management, economics, political science, and sociology would mix and share lunch tables.

The iron cage paper has since grown to take on a life of its own, Powell says. It reinvigorated the field of organizational behavior, spawning interest in how networks affect companies and how the movement of personnel and hiring practices changes an industry. Now, Powell is interested in the work of younger Stanford GSB faculty like Amir Goldberg , who uses computational analysis to examine the language in corporate emails to predict whether a new hire will fit in.

Ironically, though, Powell and DiMaggio now lament that the structure of academia has itself calcified. “Many scholarly communities are now like suburbs, nice quiet villages that have their own language, their own ways of doing work,” they write in “The Iron Cage Redux.” Young scholars feel such pressure to publish — and are so worried about securing tenure — that their research has grown myopic. “The work is kind of narrow and speaks to a limited audience,” Powell says.

He and DiMaggio also caution against isolation and division among disciplines. “[W]e need boulevards and avenues that run through the suburbs and around the parks,” they write. Talk to your colleagues, seek out influences beyond your department, they urge. You don’t have to wear the same uniform as everyone else.

For media inquiries, visit the Newsroom .

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Public Knowledge Fellows

Stanford Public Humanities is proud to announce a new sixth-year Public Knowledge Fellowship for doctoral candidates in the School of Humanities and Sciences who have demonstrated an interest in the creation and dissemination of humanistic knowledge to a wide public audience. Fellows will have the opportunity to develop a public-facing work of their own vision and to identify a specific community to receive or engage with this work. They will also have opportunities for regular mentorship with Associate Director for Student Programs Laura Goode on their public work.

The fellowship provides a stipend and TGR tuition support for Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters. The stipend amount for 2024-25 will be announced once it has been determined.

We will offer one fellowship in 2024–25, with additional fellowships to be added in future years.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Applicants must be current fifth-year doctoral candidates, in any department or program within Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences, whose research and public scholarship engage substantively with issues and methods in the humanities, arts, or qualitative social sciences. 
• While we welcome applicants from the arts, we are not currently equipped to mentor students who want to engage the public through works of creative art (e.g. performances, musical compositions, visual art, etc.).
• Active Candidacy
• Completed all requirements for the doctoral degree, including any required teaching, with the exception of the dissertation and the University Oral Examination (when a defense of the dissertation)
• An approved dissertation reading committee
• A dissertation proposal approved by their committee
• A strong likelihood of completing the degree within the tenure of the fellowship.
• Applicants must have previously taken Stanford Public Humanities’ cornerstone class “Pitching and Publishing in Popular Media” or else demonstrate equivalent experience.
• Fellows may not hold a concurrent fellowship (such as the Mellon Fellowship). 
• This fellowship is not deferrable to a subsequent year or summer quarter.
• Fellows are not required or expected to teach during the duration of their fellowship. They may, however, take on either a concurrent research or teaching assistantship appointment up to a maximum of 25%, or hourly employment of up to 8 hours per week, but not both. See Administrative Guide 10.2.1 and 10.2.2 for more details. 
• Students who are TGR or in a graduation quarter status must enroll in the appropriate zero unit TGR course.

Application

Applications must be submitted via our online application system by Wednesday May 8, 2024, at 11:59 PM Pacific time. We discourage the submission of additional materials with the application and cannot circulate these to the committee or return such materials.

Applications will be reviewed by Stanford Public Humanities staff, along with the H&S Senior Associate Dean for Humanities and Arts.

Applicants will be notified when their applications have been received, and will be notified of the fellowship outcome by May 20.   

Applications must include:

• Basic student information, including contact info, department, planned graduation date, and any other fellowships you’ve applied for or received. 
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Current unofficial transcript (download from AXESS)
• Detailed timetable for the completion of the degree (e.g. dissertation outline detailing status of each chapter)
• Personal Statement (800 words or less): What are your research goals and priorities, and how would the Public Knowledge Fellowship support them?
• A letter of reference from the applicant’s dissertation advisor. The letter should address the student’s prior experience and promise as a public scholar, the quality of their research, and their progress towards degree completion (referencing the criteria listed above). Letters must be received by the application deadline—consideration of letters received after that date cannot be guaranteed.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Excellence of the student’s research.
• Plausibility of the student being able to bring their research knowledge to a broader public.
• The likelihood of completing the dissertation within the tenure of the fellowship.

Questions?  Email Jeff Schwegman:  jschweg [at] stanford.edu (jschweg[at]stanford[dot]edu) and Laura Goode: legoode [at] stanford.edu (legoode[at]stanford[dot]edu)