Taking the GRE twice

[BrianM]

Im thinking of taking the gre in 2 weeks and then the week after, is this a good idea?

I just want to see if I can manage a better score out of one of the 2.

What I want to know is when I finish the first test do I HAVE to send the scores out or do I just get emailed and mailed the scores?

Thanks!

[Tall Chai Latte]

Judging from your location, you might be taking the computerized GRE right? So the rule in US is that once you take the GRE, you cannot register your next one until the next calendar month. This also applies even if you cancel the scores. The test is going to ask you to specify which four schools you want to send scores to BEFORE you even start the exam, but you don't have to say anything. If you decide the cancel the scores, you won't get to see how well/bad you do. Sending scores afterwards costs 20 dollars per school, and once you do decide to send your scores, scores from every GRE exam you've taken will be sent altogether. So do your best and good luck!

Edited March 17, 2010 by Tall Chai Latte

[BrianM]

Judging from your location, you might be taking the computerized GRE right? So the rule in US is that once you take the GRE, you cannot register your next one until the next calendar month. This also applies even if you cancel the scores. The test is going to ask you to specify which four schools you want to send scores to BEFORE you even start the exam, but you don't have to say anything. If you decide the cancel the scores, you won't get to see how well/bad you do. Sending scores afterwards costs 20 dollars per school, and once you do decide to send your scores, scores from every GRE exam you've taken will be sent altogether. So do your best and good luck!

Yea I'll be taking the pc version.

I'm already registered for April 7, and want to register for March 31, so there shouldn't be any conflict right? Yea its only a week apart but technically they are two different months:P

So if I dont tell them what schools I want to send it to I'd have to waste 100 bucks total cause I'm applying to five schools, anything to rob a buck huh?

What if I want to choose 5 instead of 4 schools before the test?

So the scores would be automatically sent after the first test to the schools and I cant replace those scores with the gre grade I would get the week after?

[yoshimoshi]

Yea I'll be taking the pc version.

I'm already registered for April 7, and want to register for March 31, so there shouldn't be any conflict right? Yea its only a week apart but technically they are two different months:P

So if I dont tell them what schools I want to send it to I'd have to waste 100 bucks total cause I'm applying to five schools, anything to rob a buck huh?

What if I want to choose 5 instead of 4 schools before the test?

So the scores would be automatically sent after the first test to the schools and I cant replace those scores with the gre grade I would get the week after?

BrianM, why don't you just check this link http://www.ets.org/gre/general/scores/index.html I think it would answer some of your questions.

[Tall Chai Latte]

Yea I'll be taking the pc version.

I'm already registered for April 7, and want to register for March 31, so there shouldn't be any conflict right? Yea its only a week apart but technically they are two different months:P

So if I dont tell them what schools I want to send it to I'd have to waste 100 bucks total cause I'm applying to five schools, anything to rob a buck huh?

What if I want to choose 5 instead of 4 schools before the test?

So the scores would be automatically sent after the first test to the schools and I cant replace those scores with the gre grade I would get the week after?

Agreeing with Yoshimoshi, you can check the ETS website for all these details. Registering March 31st after you already have an appointment on April 7th sounds a bit dangerous, I wouldn't do it because if you get caught, they can ban you from taking GRE again (you don't want that right?). If you specify four schools when asked, you can get those free. I actually decided to send scores later, and that costed me 7x20=140 bucks (I applied to 7 schools). The schools will see every GRE score you have, but which score they use in determining admission is entirely their decision. I'd say, try it out the first time, see how you do and then decide how much time you need to prepare for the next one. ETS says there's a risk of getting lower score if you take the GRE again, so proceed with caution. Just my two cents... Good luck! I took mine three times in total, with one score canceled. Hope that helps.

[DrFaustus666]

Agreeing with Yoshimoshi, you can check the ETS website for all these details. Registering March 31st after you already have an appointment on April 7th sounds a bit dangerous, I wouldn't do it because if you get caught, they can ban you from taking GRE again (you don't want that right?). If you specify four schools when asked, you can get those free. I actually decided to send scores later, and that costed me 7x20=140 bucks (I applied to 7 schools). The schools will see every GRE score you have, but which score they use in determining admission is entirely their decision. I'd say, try it out the first time, see how you do and then decide how much time you need to prepare for the next one. ETS says there's a risk of getting lower score if you take the GRE again, so proceed with caution. Just my two cents... Good luck! I took mine three times in total, with one score canceled. Hope that helps.

I've been a serious, and sometimes frantically desperate, student of the GRE (and SAT, which I tutor part-time) if you're interested; I've found some very interesting information.

The chances of improving your score significantly in such a short period are near zero, even if they DON'T realize you took it twice within seven days (-----and it's a near certainty they WILL notice, they're very sharp about such things-----). BTW, I define "increase your score significantly" in terms of percentiles rather than reported scores.

Assuming you are a statistically median ordinary vanilla college graduate with a median vanilla ordinary 3.25 average, you'll receive a "first" score of approximately

V-480

Q-570

AW-4.0.

Very close to the 50th percentile in all three.

It is worth supposing hypothetically that something goes catastrophically wrong for/with you during the test (such as a sudden and acute attack of food poisoning or narcolepsy during the test). You will almost certainly score far below your true ability. In that case it's worth it to try again soon.

But most test takers, as it appears from both reading all the postings and from my own self-experimentation, (three full-length computer exams in the last five years, plus a paper exam back in 1976) need at least two months review between tests to improve their scores more than 20 percentile points. That would give you greater than or equal to 70th percentile, which is approximately:

V-550

Q-670

AW-5.0 (actually about 75th percentile)

(all info based on 2003-2004 statistics from ETS).

Bottom line is, I'd say you should spend your time studying and save your money for a while. My two cents.

[lily_]

Brian,

I admire your tenacity to improve your practice GRE scores! However, if you want my advice, (regardless of the ETS rules concerning how often you take the test) I would either take it once, and see where you need to improve (ie if the verbal section was particularly hard, then practice vocab), or simply continue to study and periodically retake the practice tests until you start seeing scores that you (and your potential programs) would be satisfied with. I wouldn't schedule back-to-back tests, because if you end up doing poorly the next time that would leave you an extremely limited amount of time to prepare for the second attempt. And taking the GRE is not cheap (especially if you're looking at spending the next decade on a grad student's stipend!). I'll spare you my rant about giving money to ETS on a test that only really tests your ability to take said test and how silly it is that it is a part of the application process...but yeah. In this economy you don't want to just throw your money away particularly if you're looking at spending quite a bit of time working on a graduate degree where your earning potential until you graduate will be slim-to-none.

Just buy yourself a couple practice books, make yourself some flashcards, read some 19th century lit (I've been told that they use a lot more words that appear on the GRE than current novels do, plus if you ever want to be a contestant on Jeopardy! it would help) practice practice practice, take a couple more practice tests, see where you stand, then take the GRE once you're totally confident. No use wasting your money on multiple tests in the mean time! That's just my two cents.

Again, best of luck!

[BrianM]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I'll take it once and that'll be that, I won't have time to take it again cause some my schools I'm applying to have a deadline of May 1.

I took just the verbal practice today and raised it by 80 points so four days after having taken that horrid first practice test, I think its a great imporvement in only 4 days.

I also raised my math score just by guessing, 100 points higher, cute huh?

[DrFaustus666]

Brian,

I admire your tenacity to improve your practice GRE scores! However, if you want my advice, (regardless of the ETS rules concerning how often you take the test) I would either take it once, and see where you need to improve (ie if the verbal section was particularly hard, then practice vocab), or simply continue to study and periodically retake the practice tests until you start seeing scores that you (and your potential programs) would be satisfied with. I wouldn't schedule back-to-back tests, because if you end up doing poorly the next time that would leave you an extremely limited amount of time to prepare for the second attempt. And taking the GRE is not cheap (especially if you're looking at spending the next decade on a grad student's stipend!). I'll spare you my rant about giving money to ETS on a test that only really tests your ability to take said test and how silly it is that it is a part of the application process...but yeah. In this economy you don't want to just throw your money away particularly if you're looking at spending quite a bit of time working on a graduate degree where your earning potential until you graduate will be slim-to-none.

Just buy yourself a couple practice books, make yourself some flashcards, read some 19th century lit (I've been told that they use a lot more words that appear on the GRE than current novels do, plus if you ever want to be a contestant on Jeopardy! it would help) practice practice practice, take a couple more practice tests, see where you stand, then take the GRE once you're totally confident. No use wasting your money on multiple tests in the mean time! That's just my two cents.

Again, best of luck!

"read some 19th century lit (I've been told that they use a lot more words that appear on the GRE than current novels do"

Absolutely true.

There are also some good vocabulary sources in modern literature: My favorites are Vladimir Nabokov (of Lolita fame), Faulkner, James Joyce, and of course, non-fiction, such as The Economist or the editorial pages of The New York Times.

[arabfoam]

Agreeing with Yoshimoshi, you can check the ETS website for all these details. Registering March 31st after you already have an appointment on April 7th sounds a bit dangerous, I wouldn't do it because if you get caught, they can ban you from taking GRE again (you don't want that right?). If you specify four schools when asked, you can get those free. I actually decided to send scores later, and that costed me 7x20=140 bucks (I applied to 7 schools). The schools will see every GRE score you have, but which score they use in determining admission is entirely their decision. I'd say, try it out the first time, see how you do and then decide how much time you need to prepare for the next one. ETS says there's a risk of getting lower score if you take the GRE again, so proceed with caution. Just my two cents... Good luck! I took mine three times in total, with one score canceled. Hope that helps.

Just to clarify, the rules on repeating the GRE indicate that you take the test once per calendar month. Posts like this started freaking me out that I had done something wrong by taking the test at the end of august and again at the beginning of September. (I earned surprisingly low test scores in august which I knew were an aberration, so I took it again a few days later in the following calendar month and received a much higher score that was within my practice range.) I called ets today and they confirmed for me that the policy is what it sounds like: you can take the test once during any calendar month regardless of how many actual days have passed. The example the very polite gre rep gave me was that it is perfectly acceptable to take the test on 31 Nov and again on 1 Dec.. I wanted to spare any one else the unnecessary worry this caused me.

[Jayder]

Just to clarify, the rules on repeating the GRE indicate that you take the test once per calendar month. Posts like this started freaking me out that I had done something wrong by taking the test at the end of august and again at the beginning of September. (I earned surprisingly low test scores in august which I knew were an aberration, so I took it again a few days later in the following calendar month and received a much higher score that was within my practice range.) I called ets today and they confirmed for me that the policy is what it sounds like: you can take the test once during any calendar month regardless of how many actual days have passed. The example the very polite gre rep gave me was that it is perfectly acceptable to take the test on 31 Nov and again on 1 Dec.. I wanted to spare any one else the unnecessary worry this caused me.

[Jayder]

Wow, u don't know how much better this makes me feel. Thanks so much. By the way did u improve in the short time. I have improved significantly on the practice test, hope it is analogous to tge real thing. Thought I would throw in a GRE word, hopefully I used it right, lol.