Your GRE Score
As soon as you complete the GRE, you will have the option of either canceling your scores (in which case neither you nor anyone else will ever know how you did on the test) or accepting your results. Official scores will typically be reported 10 to 15 days after the day you take the test due to the Analytical Writing Section, which is graded by a real person. However, those taking the test between August and October 2011 will not receive an official score report until November 2011.
Scores you will see on your GRE score report:
- Overall scaled GRE Verbal Reasoning score (130-170 points)
- Overall scaled GRE Quantitative Reasoning score (130-170 points)
- GRE percentile scores (1-99)
- Scaled Analytical Writing score (0.0-6.0 points)
Analytical Writing Score
Your performance on the GRE Analytical Writing Section results in a scaled score ranging from 1.0-6.0 points, which is reported in 0.5 point increments (possible Analytical Writing scores are 4.0, 4.5, or 5.0 points, for example). This score is calculated and reported separately from your overall GRE score.
What your GRE score means to Graduate Schools
Although many factors (such as your undergraduate major, grade point average, and the college or university you attended) play a role in graduate school admissions decisions, your performance on the GRE is an important part of the admissions puzzle. In addition, many graduate programs rely on GRE scores when making decisions about how much financial aid to award accepted applicants.
However, graduate programs often vary widely in how they use GRE scores when making admission decisions. For example, if you are applying to a master’s degree program in English Literature or History, your score on the Verbal section of the GRE is likely to be more important than your score on the Quantitative section. On the other hand, if you are applying to a Ph.D. program in chemistry or engineering, your GRE Quantitative score will probably be more important. .