After earning a baccalaureate degree, one can either join the workforce or acquire a master’s degree for better employment. To get into graduate school, though, he must review for and take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE); which is a lot more difficult than the SAT.
But really, what is a good GRE score?
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Each university has an average GRE score that an individual has to meet or exceed in order for him to obtain admittance to the graduate program of his choice. Most universities do not publish minimum GRE scores, but they tell applicants that they are expecting a score that is at least above 160.
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) administers the GRE and publishes the average GRE scores, or percentile, so that graduates of an undergraduate degree can see them and decide whether they can reach the figures.
In the old scoring format of the GRE, 800 is the highest score that an examinee can get for both verbal and quantitative tests, while 200 is the lowest he can go. In the revised GRE scoring system, which took effect in 2011, the verbal and quantitative sections were separated.
In the new GRE scoring system, 170 or 99% is the highest attainable score in the verbal section of the GRE, while 130 or 1% is the lowest. As for the quantitative section, 166 or 94% is the highest score and 131 or 1% is the lowest.
Despite the revised scoring format, it has to be understood that to pass the GRE of a particular college or university, one has to reach or surpass its average GRE score for the graduate degree program that he wishes to pursue.
What is a Good GRE Score at Harvard Graduate School?
To further emphasize on average GRE score, here’s a data from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Based on its graduate admission for school year 2012 to 2013, the average GRE quantitative score of applicants who were admitted in university’s school of education was 158 or 77%. Meanwhile, they posted an average GRE verbal score of 168 or 93% and 4.9 for analytical writing.
In Harvard’s Graduate School of Engineering, the average GRE quantitative score is 163 or 87%, 160 or 79% for verbal, and 4.5 for analytical.
Yale University’s Average GRE Score
Now let’s take a look at the average GRE score of Yale University specifically for its School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
The data shows that its average GRE verbal score is 160 or 86%, while its average quantitative score is 166 or 97%. Meanwhile, its average GRE analytical score is 4.5.
Princeton University’s Average GRE Score
Out of 12,077 applicants, only 620 were accepted in Princeton University’s graduate school for school year 2012 to 2013. The average GRE verbal score of those who obtained admission to the university is 162, while their average GRE quantitative score is 160.
According to the data provided in Princeton University’s website, applicants who were accepted for the Master of Humanities and Master of Social Sciences programs garnered an average score of 164 in the GRE verbal section. Meanwhile, applicants who passed for the Master of Engineering program got an average of 165 for the quantitative test.
On the other hand, the university’s graduate admission for school year 2013 to 2014 shows that applicants who were accepted for the Master of Humanities program scored the highest in both the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE. They earned a GRE verbal score of 165 and a quantitative score of 165 as opposed to 162, which was attained by the applicants who passed for the Master of Engineering program.
Obtaining a high GRE score is only one requirement to get into graduate school and to be able to pursue a master’s degree program. If you managed to finish your undergraduate degree with an impressive grade point average (GPA), you can relax because the school you plan to attend will definitely consider your previous hard work.
Should you know what is a good GRE score, we would definitely love to hear from you.