Percentiles changed?

[MammaD]

Please forgive me if this has been asked before -- I didn't find it on an initial search.

I took the GRE at the end of June in 2012. My score report (which I asked at the test to send to my programs I'd be applying to, so they got sent before I actually applied) indicated I was in the 74th percentile for quantitative and 94th percentile for verbal (156 and 164).

For one program, the website indicated "most successful applicants score at or above the 70th percentile." I figured I was close, but on the right side of the line, and thought I was in the clear (especially since my advisor told me the admissions committee would consider that I'm many years since school math, which is what the GRE addresses, but doing well in quantitatively demanding courses right now in school). Last year, the average GRE percentiles for enrollees to that program (Epidemiology) were 77th math, 78th verbal. In the other program I applied to, they were 60th quantitative and 79th verbal.

THEN I learn that the percentiles changed after the summer and my math 156 is now in the 68th percentile (!!) and my verbal 164 is now in the 93rd percentile. I'm on the wrong side of the line now!

Which score report will the school go by? The original one, or the one since it changed? My paper score report was generated at the same time as the one sent to the school and it has the higher percentiles.

Since my fall grades, my current GPA in my MPH is 3.88. I'm a clinician and writer/educator in my clinical and advocacy field, and I aspire to do research to fill gaps we struggle with on the clinical side. I can't imagine my recommendations weren't decent, my essays were reviewed and coached by a generous colleague/researcher/faculty (somewhere else) in my field ...

Should I have taken that darned GRE again? I'm turning 40 pretty soon and I don't think I have another year of subjecting myself to this process in me. Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can offer, even if it's not comforting!

[iowaguy]

Yes, percentiles do change, but the percentile that you received when you took the test doesn't change.  i.e. when your official scores are submitted by GRE it will say Q156, 74%.  Whereas when an applicant that just took the test (according to the latest percentile chart) will say Q156, 68%.

 

So, in theory, you did make the percentile cutoff, given when you took the test.  But, if the school looks at the hard score for its percentile rankings, then you didn't make the cutoff.

 

IOTW, does the school look at a hard GRE number when they review applications (i.e. only Q scores 157 and above will be accepted into the program) or do they look at percentile rankings (in which case you're fine).  This might depend on the school?  You could always call and ask if you were really concerned about it...  Otherwise your stats look great!

[Queen of Kale]

Yes, percentiles do change, but the percentile that you received when you took the test doesn't change.  i.e. when your official scores are submitted by GRE it will say Q156, 74%.  Whereas when an applicant that just took the test (according to the latest percentile chart) will say Q156, 68%.

Strictly, I'm not sure this is true. I sent half my GRE scores last spring, shortly after taking the test my scores were 87% in Gaunt, 98% verbal, and maybe 84% writing. Those were the percentiles on my actual mailed GRE scores. When I sent my second batch this fall my percentiles had changed to 84% quant, 98% verbal, and 87% writing. (I'm improvising on my numbers, I'm not sure I remember exactly) And these revised percentiles were reflected on my second batch of mailed GRE scores. Although the score was from the same test, my GRE report does have two different percentiles.

I have heard, although not from ETS directly, that a little wiggling in percentiles within the first 3 months of taking your test is typical, as your final percentile reflects your test-taking cohort in the time preceding and after your test whereas your initial scores only reflect the results of those who took the test before you. I hope that helps!

[iowaguy]

[Queen of Kale]

Yeah, what you said was 100% right, I just wanted to add that I wasn't sure it was the whole story. But, I want to clarify, the percentiles are printed on your score report and it is unlikely that they would go to the trouble of looking up your new revised percentiles. If anything they would most likely be comparing raw numerical scores or look at the percentiles on your score report. Just my logic, I don't have any inside knowledge.

[midnight]

MammaD, I don't think it's worth stressing too much over it, and I certainly don't think you should retake unless you're somehow certain that you can significantly improve your quant score--and then there's still the risk that your verbal and AW will go down upon retake.

 

I think you are close enough to 70%. Please remember that grad school admissions are usually holistic, and I truly don't think that a school would flat-out reject you because of your quant percentile if the rest of your application is strong.

[asleepawake]

Percentiles change ridiculously. When I took the GRE in 2009, I scored 50th percentile in math. That is now 39th percentile - clearly, it is being compared to takers of the new test, which includes a calculator and different question types. This would annoy me endlessly, but I'm an applicant in English, didn't study a lick, and I retook it in '12 anyway (and got a better score that regardless dropped 8 points since June, of course). I've got to let certain things go, and my quantitate score will have to be one of those things.

 

The schools I sent free reports to in June got my June scores, and scores I sent later in the year showed the new, mostly lower, numbers. So if you sent early, you're safe, but adcoms know the numbers change and probably look at your overall score, too.

Edited January 11, 2013 by asleepawake

[MammaD]

Thanks so much, everyone! It's really hard to not analyze every single factor right now, isn't it? Hopefully, the school has the same score report that I have, not a "revised" one. In any case, I suppose if the average quant. percentile of enrollees is 77th, odds support there being some above that and some below it (see? Biostatistics stuff is sinking in!). I just have to hope from here. Thanks again to everyone for clarifying and sharing your thoughts with me.

[edgirl]

The percentiles reported on any score reported are representative of a band of recent test-takers. Thus, percentiles move around every time ETS adjusts that band by adding test-takers from a new year and dropping the oldest set of scores. And as the new GRE settles in and folks figure how to teach to it and study for it, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the percentiles are moving around quite a bit. So if you decide three years from now to apply to new programs, you should expect that your percentiles will have changed again.

 

From ETS's website:

Percentile Rank

Each GRE test score is reported with a corresponding percentile rank. A percentile rank for a score indicates the percentage of examinees who took that test and received a lower score. Regardless of when the reported scores were earned, the percentile ranks for General Test and Subject Test scores are based on the scores of all examinees who tested within a recent time period.

 

http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/scores/understand/