Scores on the Graduate Record Examination® (GRE®) can be interpreted in several ways. Most people agree that comparing GRE® scores to those of others who took the test at the same time is the best way to interpret them. This can be done examining the percentile ranking given to each score on the score report, which will be indicated next to each score. It’s also a good idea to compare your percentile ranking to the percentile rankings of examinees in a similar field of study who took the test at the same time. This is due to the fact that people of various majors tend to score similarly on different sections of the test.
The GRE® is a standardized test used to determine whether or not a student is prepared for graduate-level university coursework. The GRE® General Test is divided into three sections: analytical writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. The test’s analytical writing section is graded on a scale of 0 to 6, with half-point increments. The verbal and quantitative reasoning sections are graded on a 10-point scale ranging from 200 to 800. The examinee receives a report about two weeks after taking the test that includes the score on each section of the test as well as percentile rankings for each score.
Percentile rankings are generally thought to be the simplest way to interpret GRE® scores because they show how an examinee’s scores compare to those of others who took the test at the same time. Your percentile rankings show you what percentage of test takers scored lower than you on the GRE®. A percentile ranking of 52 on the quantitative reasoning section, for example, means that 52 percent of people who took the test during the same time period got a lower score on the quantitative reasoning section than you did.
It’s also a good idea to compare your percentile score on each section of the test to the average percentile score for people in similar fields who took the GRE® around the same time. On the quantitative reasoning section of the test, people who work in the fields of science, math, and engineering tend to do better. On the verbal reasoning section, people who work in the humanities and social sciences tend to do better. Comparing your GRE® scores to those of others in your field will help you understand how you compare to your peers.