GRE Percentile - Change over time.

[adaptations]

As I gear up for a fresh round of applications, I just reviewed my GRE score report and was surprised by how much the percentile can change over time.

When I took the test in 2007, I scored 690V (96%), 770Q (88%), and 5.0AW (73%). Over three years later, my scores are obviously still the same, but the percentiles are now V-97%, Q-87%, and AW-84%. I was particularly surprised by the 11% change in the AW score. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting to track, and is a good reason to re-check your score report before you self-report older scores/percentiles.

[DrFaustus666]

The ETS website maintains that the reported score represents the same level of academic ability from year to year ..., e.g., a 720 Quant in 1999 represents the same level of math ability as a 720 Quant today ... though the percentile may change, due to variations in the makeup of the test-taking population.

That said, an 11% change DOES seem like a lot, given that almost 500,000 people take the GRE every year. On the other hand, it seems almost universally accepted that the AW is the least important part of anyone's score ... unless it's very low (3.0 or less) combined with great pre-prepared writing samples, in which case it suggests the applicant may have hired somebody to write the writing sample.

[WestCoastChap]

I'm not sure if my GRE Score Report will get here in time with my percentile ranks; can anyone share what a 770V / 730 Q is in percentile terms? Also, I was able to get the GRE powers-that-be to tell me my AW percentile but not score. It looks like 84 = 5.0, is that correct? Help much appreciated.

[Bukharan]

5.0 AW currently stands at 84% indeed.

[waddle]

I'm not sure if my GRE Score Report will get here in time with my percentile ranks; can anyone share what a 770V / 730 Q is in percentile terms? Also, I was able to get the GRE powers-that-be to tell me my AW percentile but not score. It looks like 84 = 5.0, is that correct? Help much appreciated.

770 V = 99^th percentile

730 Q ~ 80-ish^th %ile

[DrFaustus666]

I'm not sure if my GRE Score Report will get here in time with my percentile ranks; can anyone share what a 770V / 730 Q is in percentile terms? Also, I was able to get the GRE powers-that-be to tell me my AW percentile but not score. It looks like 84 = 5.0, is that correct? Help much appreciated.

Those are excellent scores, if you didn't guess that already.