How Many GRE Scores Should I Submit?

[historyguy0289]

Hello:

I am currently a graduate student at the University of Cambridge pursuing an MA. I recently took the GRE for the second time as I am applying to PhD programs in Political Science.

Unfortunately, the scores didn't really chance. My new vocab score went up 2 points, but my math went down 1 point. Other than that, they are the same score.

Should I simply submit one score on my application? Wouldn't it appear negatively if I submitted 2 scores that were relatively the same (and did I mention that they are not the best scores?).

I feel as if I should only submit one score....but please lend me some advice.

Thanks!

[TakeruK]

If you have to pay extra to submit only one score, then don't do it. That is, your four free schools will probably receive all the scores (the default choice?) so don't do anything about them. However, for any additional scores, you will have to pay anyways and you get the opportunity to choose which score to send. Based on your program description as "Political Science", it sounds like Vocab score might be more important than Math, so maybe send the new scores instead?

I don't think it's a bad thing to submit two scores that are relatively the same though! But if I was in your shoes, I'd do what I said above!

[chaetzli]

Actually, it would be helpful to know what your GRE scores are . It they are both relatively high, it does not matter. If one of them is rather low, plus/minus one point could make a difference.

[Instigate]

I think it is the oposite of what swisschocolate said. I dont think there is a lot of difference between 156 and 158 in verbal, but there is between 166 and 168, even more so between 170 and 168

[TakeruK]

I think both swisschocolate and Instigate are right for different reasons! It might be useful to look at the tables on page 23 of this: http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide.pdf. It shows the percentile score for each scaled score. This lets us know how many test takers scored in which range.

In the ranges of scores 145-160, each scaled score point is between 3 to 5 percentile ranking. This means that every extra point earned means you just scored higher than a lot of people (e.g. if there were 1000 test takers, getting one more point puts you up 30 to 50 rankings higher). However, at the top level, say between 165-170, an extra scaled point is only 1-2 percentile rankings -- scoring higher only means you move up 10 or 20 spots in the overall rank. So, an extra point in the mid-ranges mean a lot more in terms of absolute ranking! Assuming that the pool of applicants to a certain school can be represented by the GRE score distribution (not perfect, especially not for the highest ranking schools), this means that if a school was ranking the profiles by GRE scores, having an extra point in the mid ranges is more likely to move your application upwards on the pile than an extra point at the 165+ level. This makes sense -- if you scored, say 168, you're probably at the top of the pile, so having 169 doesn't really mean you'll move up.

In addition, depending on program, some places treat GRE scores as a "cutoff". The cutoff would be nearer to the middle of the score ranges so having an extra point there might help you pass the cutoff, or come close enough so that they at least look at other factors. If you're 165+, you're well above the cutoff, so having more points won't really make a difference.

So, in these practical respects, I think swisschocolate is right -- an extra 1 or 2 points might make a bigger difference to your outcome if you're in the mid-ranges instead of the high ranges.

However, Instigate is also right in a different sense. In terms of ETS Test Taking Ability, scoring a 168 instead of 166 is much harder than scoring a 158 instead of 156. It's basically "diminishing returns" -- at the tails of the distribution, it's a lot harder to move upwards.

In terms of "making a difference in admissions", I agree with swisschocolate. In terms of "difference between scores", Instigate is correct.

With all that said, admissions are decided on much broader aspects of the application than just GRE scores!!

[iowaguy]

Submit only 1 test, the one with your higher verbal (which is your overall higher score as well). Don't submit both, it gives the impression that you retook the test but didn't really improve, is that the impression you want to sent to the admissions committee?