Have you recently taken the GRE or are you intending to take it soon? Then you must understand how GRE score interpretation works. In this article, we discuss how to interpret GRE scores using averages and percentiles, how to set a GRE goal score depending on theschools you're applying to, and what GRE scores imply about your intelligence, ability to succeed, and acceptance chances.
Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning Scoring Measures
The reported scores for the GRE General Test's Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures are based on the number of right responses to all of the questions contained in the operational parts of the test.
The Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning assessments are adaptable at the section level and are each scored out of 170. This means that the computer chooses the second operational segment of a measure based on how well you performed on the first. All questions within each section count equally to the final score.
A raw score is computed for each of the two measures. The raw score is the number of questions correctly answered.
Equating is a procedure that converts a raw score to a scaled score. The equating procedure takes into consideration slight differences in difficulty between test versions as well as variances in difficulty generated by section-level modification. As a result, regardless of whether the second portion was chosen or when the exam was taken, a given scaled score for a certain measure represents the same level of performance.
Analytical Writing Scoring Measures
Each essay in the Analytical Writing component is scored by at least one qualified rater on a six-point holistic scale. Raters are trained in holistic scoring to offer scores based on the overall quality of an essay in response to the prescribed task. The essay is subsequently graded using e-rater, an ETS computerised software capable of identifying essay qualities associated with writing proficiency. If the human and e-rater scores are almost identical, the average of the two is utilised as the final score. If they disagree, they earn a second human assessment, and the final result is the average of the two human scores.
The combined final results for the two essays are then averaged and rounded to the nearest half-point interval on a 0-6 scale. The Analytical Writing measure yields a single score. The Analytical Writing portion focuses on your critical thinking and analytical writing skills rather than grammar and mechanics.
During the scoring process, your Analytical Writing part essay submissions will be examined by skilled analysts using ETS essay-similarity detection algorithms and experienced essay raters.
Understanding your GRE Score
The GRE Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning parts are assessed on a scale of 130-170 in one-point increments. On this scale, 130 is the lowest possible score and 170 is the highest possible score. The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section is graded in half-point increments from 0.0 to 6.0.
According to 2018 ETS statistics, the following are the current average scores for each GRE section (rounded to the closest whole point for Verbal and Quant):
Verbal: 150
Quant: 153
AWA: 3.50
Aside from average scores, percentiles can show you how your GRE results compare to those of other test takers.
To know more about GRE Scores, check out the Score Table below:
Percentile | Verbal Score | Quantitative Score | GRE Score Interpretation |
99th | 169-170 | 170 | Excellent |
90th | 162 | 166 | Very Good |
75th | 157 | 160 | Good |
50th | 150-151 | 153 | Average |
25th | 144-145 | 147 | Below Average |
10th | 139-140 | 141 | Poor |
1st | 132 & below | 134 & below | Very Poor |