question about GRE score

[scofield24]

Hi, I am going to take the GRE soon.

I was wondering do I have to get every single question correct on math section to get a 170?

Does not getting a 170 on math hurt me for my applications? I am in civil engineering.

Thanks!

[PhoenixM]

Getting a perfect score (170) is not common, so most graduate schools will not expect you to achieve that. Getting it though would be great for what you're after.

However, I would say that you should aim to have it in the mid-160s.

[alf10087]

Yes, I think you need to have every question right in order to get 170. Down from that, it depends on how hard the question was and the equating of the set of questions you're getting.

Let's say on the first set of questions you get them all right and thus get a harder set for the second time. Let's say you miss 2 questions on this one. You might get, let's say a 168. But if you missed 2 on the first set, and so you get an easier one for the second one, and miss none, you might get 167 or 166.

I think that's how it works. Don't take my word on the exact numbers, but the idea is that missing harder questions hurts less.

[Shostakovich]

166 is equivalent to an 800 on the old exam, and from what i've been hearing there is more of a cutoff to GRE scores (like if the cutoff is 160 for example it doesn't matter too much if u got a 162 or 168 just that you exceeded 160) than it being a scale of measurement of how qualified you are. i guess you can distinguish yourself by scoring a perfect but not sure if it'd help you that much. but then again, just speculating based on rumors...

good luck