GRE Percentile Calculator

The GRE General Test has three measures: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing. Verbal and Quant are each reported on a 130 to 170 scale in 1-point increments. Analytical Writing is scored separately on a 0 to 6 scale in 0.5-point steps, based on one Issue essay and one Argument essay graded by both a trained human reader and ETS e-rater.

ETS released a shorter GRE in September 2023. The full test now takes about 1 hour 58 minutes instead of the old 3 hours 45 minutes. ETS cut the Analytical Writing section to a single Issue essay (no Argument essay), trimmed Verbal and Quant to fewer questions per section, and removed the unscored experimental section. Scoring scales, score validity (5 years), and percentile reporting are unchanged.

ETS moved to the 130 to 170 scale in August 2011 to make small differences in performance more meaningful. The old 200 to 800 scale invited applicants and admissions committees to over-interpret 10-point gaps that were within the test's margin of error. The 130 to 170 scale uses 1-point increments and a narrower range, which more accurately reflects the actual precision of the test. Old 200 to 800 scores expired in 2016 and can no longer be reported.

ETS updates the percentile concordance once a year, typically every July or August. The table is built from a rolling three-year window of all test takers worldwide, so percentile ranks for the same scaled score drift slightly year over year as the test-taker pool changes. A 160 Quant has fallen in percentile over the last decade as the international STEM applicant pool has grown. For high-stakes reporting, pull the table that ETS publishes with your current score report.

Since 2018, every top-50 US MBA program accepts both, and ETS reports that more than 1,300 business schools worldwide accept the GRE. Pick the test that better suits your strengths: the GMAT Focus Edition leans more on quant logic and data sufficiency, while the GRE has more vocabulary and reading comprehension. Most adcoms now publish a concordance table on their website, so a 320 GRE and a 650 GMAT carry roughly equivalent weight. The only edge case: a small number of consulting firms still ask for a GMAT score during recruiting.