Preparing for graduate school is challenging. There are a lot of things to consider, such as whether you should take the GMAT vs. GRE, and which schools to target. One of the biggest factors of all is your GRE scores: great scores open up better schools, while weaker scores can make applying to those schools more difficult. Knowing how the GRE is scored is key.
Below, we walk you through how to choose a test, understand what score you need, and evaluate what you need to do to reach your target GRE score. If you want more logistical details about how to sign up, et cetera, you’ll want the official guide to the GRE General Test (ok, it’s ours, but it’s pretty darn good).
The most significant difference between the GMAT and the GRE is that the GRE is used as part of admissions for a wide variety of graduate school programs, while the GMAT is only used to apply to business schools.
The GRE also doesn’t have the same focus on logic and reasoning as does the GMAT, particularly the GMAT Quantitative section. Removing this added complexity makes the GRE an easier test for most test takers.
GRE generally offers better admissions chances – in the most prestigious business schools, the median accepted GRE scores are an average of 9 percentile points lower than median GMAT scores:
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania: 96th percentile for GMAT; 85th percentile for GRE
Stanford Graduate School of Business: 96th percentile for GMAT; 91st percentile for GRE
Harvard Business School: 96th percentile for GMAT; 88th percentile for GRE
On average, the GRE to GMAT conversion for similar percentiles makes the GRE the more attractive and attainable option.
We feel pretty strongly that the GRE exam is the best choice. For more detail, read our post on GMAT vs. GRE.
The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) tests verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills.
The GRE General Test is administered as an adaptive, computer-based exam. How long is the GRE? The test is three hours and forty five minutes long, divided into six sections. Test takers receive one minute breaks after each GRE section, and a ten minute break halfway through the exam.
First is analytical writing, with two separately timed issue and argument essays. In the GRE format, the next five sections consist of two verbal reasoning sections, two quantitative reasoning sections, and an experimental section – in any order. The experimental section does not count towards your score, but there is no way to tell it apart from the other sections while you’re sitting for the exam.
The exam is typically proctored at an official testing center. However, since COVID-19, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which owns and administers the GRE, has been letting students take the test at home.
GRE scores are valid for five years.
Whenever you take the GRE, you decide whether to send those scores to schools and what scores you want them to see. You are allowed to retake the test up to five times in a calendar year, provided you wait three weeks between subsequent administrations. These are all part of the ScoreSelect® option, only available with GRE tests.
So how hard is the GRE? And what qualifies as a good GRE score? The GRE is composed of three main sections, scored individually:
Verbal Reasoning: Scored between 130 (minimum) to 170 (perfect), in 1 point increments
Quantitative Reasoning: Scored between 130 (minimum) to 170 (perfect), in 1 point increments
Analytical Writing: Scored between 0–6, in half point increments
The GRE’s max score is 340 (combined scores range from 260-340). A combined 50th percentile scaled score is a 304, constituted by a 151 on Verbal and a 153 on Quantitative. The Analytical Writing average is 3.6.
However, it is the average GRE score for your particular program at your target school which is much more important and should be the score you aim to exceed. These scores are determined by school, but to give you some context, here’s nationwide averages for popular majors:
Masters Degree | Average GRE Verbal | GRE Verbal Percentile | Average GRE Quant | GRE Quant Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Business | 150 | 50% | 153 | 50% |
Social sciences | 153 | 60% | 151 | 40% |
Physical sciences | 151 | 50% | 158 | 60% |
Life sciences | 151 | 50% | 151 | 40% |
Arts and humanities | 157 | 70% | 150 | 40% |
Notice a pattern? Verbal is pretty consistent, while Quantitative is the difference between majors. If you’re pursuing a math-based degree, you will need to do well in the Quantitative section.
Getting into business school, graduate school, or other programs that require a GRE score are incredibly competitive. The top 10 business schools have an average acceptance rate of just 10.9%, and top tier graduate programs have similar rates. Getting a top GRE score percentiles for both Quantitative and Verbal gives you a big advantage when applying to graduate schools.
GRE percentiles:
GRE Score Percentile | Quantitative | Verbal | Analytical Writing |
|---|---|---|---|
99% | 170 | 169 | 6.0 |
90% | 167 | 162 | 5.0 |
80% | 162 | 158 | 4.5 |
70% | 159 | 155 | |
60% | 156 | 153 | 4.0 |
50% | 153 | 151 | |
40% | 150 | 148 | 3.5 |
30% | 148 | 146 | |
20% | 145 | 143 | 3.0 |
10% | 142 | 139 | 2.5 |
Source: ETS.org
To put this into context, let’s share the GRE score percentiles for a couple top programs:
What GRE score do I need to get into Harvard?
Degree | Average GRE Verbal | GRE Verbal Percentile | Average GRE Quant | GRE Quant Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Business (MBA) | 165 | 96% | 163 | 82% |
Engineering | 160 | 85% | 167 | 92% |
Computer Science | 155 | 69% | 161 | 78% |
Mathematics | 165 | 96% | 167 | 92% |
Psychology | 163 | 93% | 154 | 53% |
Physics | 167 | 98% | 167 | 90% |
Chemistry | 154 | 64% | 163 | 82% |
Education | 163 | 93% | 158 | 67% |
Source: Thecareerslab.com
What GRE score do I need to get into Stanford?
Degree | Average GRE Verbal | GRE Verbal Percentile | Average GRE Quant | GRE Quant Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Business (MBA) | 165 | 96% | 165 | 86% |
Engineering | 159 | 82% | 167 | 93% |
Computer Science | 160 | 86% | 164 | 87% |
Mathematics | 165 | 96% | 167 | 92% |
Psychology | 163 | 93% | 154 | 53% |
Physics | 167 | 98% | 167 | 90% |
Chemistry | 164 | 94% | 163 | 82% |
Education | 161 | 88% | 156 | 60% |
Source: Upgradabroad.com
As you can see, you don’t need to be above the 90th percentile for even the top schools. But it is important to understand the target score needed for your top school and your target program.
Now that you have a sense for your target GRE score, you need to understand how much work you have to do to get there. Taking a practice test at the beginning of your studies is essential for understanding how far you have to go and how long you should be prepared to study. It is best to take the test uninterrupted and time it to ensure you get the most accurate score.
By comparing your practice test scores with your goals, you will know what areas to work on to improve. You can use the incremental difference to adjust your study hours, depending on how far away you are from your target scores.
The industry estimate is that increasing your score 5 points on the GRE takes 40 hours. Study habits vary and learning speed depends on the individual, but it’s good to put the numbers down to be realistic about how much work you have ahead of you:
To take these hours into perspective, map out how much you plan to study per week (5-10 hours a week is realistic for a busy professional, while more is possible for students and recent grads). Keep in mind that more work may be required as you approach the ceiling of the test.
The first and most important thing to decide when choosing a prep program is how you want to prepare. At a high level, there are four main paths (ordered from most to least expensive):
In all of the above options, the quality of your course is going to vary depending on the instructor you get and the firm you work with. For online courses, the quality of the software product you’re using also makes a big impact on your studies.
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