Change in GRE percentiles

[pastette]

I took the GRE right when the new test came out and sent my scores to certain schools. Since then, the percentiles for two of my scores have changed. Some of those schools asked me to report the scores myself on the application, and I gave the new percentiles (which is also what it lists on my score report on the GRE website now), which are different from the official score report two years ago.

 

What should I do? In the future, should I just report the old percentiles even if they're wrong now? Or is that misleading? 

[eragon]

Give the new percentile scores. Its okay if you have given the old already but from now on give the new one.

[peachypie]

I'd give the new ones that you know.  I had even contacted ETS about it and they say that the percentiles change always and that the schools are very aware that what you report may be different than what they will report.  I.e. schools know the percentages change so as long as your numbers are good it means you weren't lying so no issue there.  Kind of frustrating though!  Goes to show though its more about the number than the percentile, huh?

[TakeruK]

Extra (and perhaps unnecessary) explanation: The percentiles are updated every year (I think in May) because they always reflect how your scaled score (out of 170) compares against the pool of test takers in the last 3 years. Therefore, with each year, your percentile score may change each year because the set of scores you're compared against gets updated each year. It is especially true that scores from 2012 and 2013 are more likely to be affected because the Revised GRE was implemented August 1, 2011, which is just barely 3 years old now so the "baseline" of the 2013 percentile scores is shorter than normal.

 

The official GRE score report will show the "new" percentiles, so like others said, you should report the latest values from now on. You don't have to worry about them changing again until next spring. But if you already reported old values, it won't really matter--schools understand that numbers change and they will have the official report to use anyways.

[pastette]

Extra (and perhaps unnecessary) explanation: The percentiles are updated every year (I think in May) because they always reflect how your scaled score (out of 170) compares against the pool of test takers in the last 3 years. Therefore, with each year, your percentile score may change each year because the set of scores you're compared against gets updated each year. It is especially true that scores from 2012 and 2013 are more likely to be affected because the Revised GRE was implemented August 1, 2011, which is just barely 3 years old now so the "baseline" of the 2013 percentile scores is shorter than normal.

 

The official GRE score report will show the "new" percentiles, so like others said, you should report the latest values from now on. You don't have to worry about them changing again until next spring. But if you already reported old values, it won't really matter--schools understand that numbers change and they will have the official report to use anyways.

 

Thanks. Yes, that's exactly right about the percentiles. I'm not sure if you caught what I was trying to explain the first time around, though: the official sheet that they have reports the old values (because that official sheet was sent to these universities two years ago in 2012 when I had applied before.) Now when I self-report on the web application, I was putting the new percentiles, which differ from those on the official score report which they might check it against.

 

Either way, from you and others it sounds like I need not worry about the discrepancy and everyone is aware of the problem! Big relief, thanks so much for the explanations!

[Taeyers]

I was in the same situation as you: I applied to the same place two years in a row, and the percentiles had changed between applications and after I had my score report sent to the school. I figured I needed to report the new percentiles (they were ever so slightly better too), and since I didn't want to worry about stumping anyone with a mismatch between self-reported percentiles and the official report, I just re-ordered the report. Probably didn't need to do that (and I don't necessarily advise that you do the same), but it saved me any worries about it later...

Edited December 16, 2014 by Taeyers