Sending GRE scores before applying

[csheehan10]

I'm planning to reapply to stats PhD programmes this autumn, to hopefully start in fall 2022. I'm sitting the GRE general from home next week, and I'm unsure as to how the free score reports right at the end of the exam works if I won't start my actual phd applications for a few months. Can I choose "Report score to University X" and the university will just keep a record of it for when I apply later in the year?

[bayessays]

Yes, that should be fine.  Note that some schools have specific instructions about whether to send it to the department or just the school in general.  But honestly, it should be able to get there no matter what.  They're just sending an electronic thing that the school can easily check and I've never had an issue.

[untzkatz]

Related to this, if your GRE is expiring this November, does sending it earlier, even if you turn in the app itself later but by the Dec 1 deadline make the scores valid? 

[bayessays]

16 minutes ago, untzkatz said:

Related to this, if your GRE is expiring this November, does sending it earlier, even if you turn in the app itself later but by the Dec 1 deadline make the scores valid? 

I had this situation come up and I think each school handles it differently, though my scores expired earlier, in August, so I didn't look into it that deeply and just retook the test.  For instance UChicago's website says the scores need to be valid the day of the application deadline, whereas Penn State says as long as you have sent them a score before it expired, they will accept it after the expiration date.  So I'd look at the application/FAQ pages of the departments you're looking at. 

[csheehan10]

As a follow up, how strict are the top programmes when it comes to GRE? I ended up getting 168 on the quant section, unsure if I should retake to try and get 170.

[bayessays]

9 hours ago, csheehan10 said:

As a follow up, how strict are the top programmes when it comes to GRE? I ended up getting 168 on the quant section, unsure if I should retake to try and get 170.

I don't think I would ever recommend somebody to retake the GRE if they got a 167+.