What GRE score should I be aiming for?

[CBG321]

Obviously the higher the better but what is a decent score at most universities.  I am doing personal research into each school i'm applying to but online their GRE range seems to be very wide/unclear.  I've heard 5 and above for the written section pretty frequently.

 

I don't really understand the grading scale so that's why i'm hoping for a little help steering in the right direction.  Like being in the 80% percentile would that be dependent on your test day since you're scored against ppl who took it the same day or is a certain score always a certain percentile.  My brain is mush trying to figure this out.

 

Just if anyone can give me a small ballpark as to if you get this score you should be okay in the GRE area of applications for most schools.

 

THANK YOU soo so much ahead of time if you have a number for me!

[Vene]

This lists the percentiles, they're not just based on your test day: http://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide_table1a.pdf

 

 

In general, aim for at least the 75th percentile. Depending upon your field the standards will vary, of course.

[JFFA]

Probably you will get a lot of different answers that all have their merits, but as a very very loose guideline, at or above a the 50th percentile is a good mark aim for if you are looking to be taken seriously (ie not thrown out simple due to your scores without any consideration) at a broad range of schools. Since the 50th percentile can be seen as the average, by scoring at it or above it you will be seen as scoring at the mid range of all students who took it or as better than the majority/ half the students who took it. To my understanding, the scaled score will not change since it reflects the number of correct answers, but the percentile might vary very slightly over a long period of time as more students take the test and at different times so the norms change a little.However, the change is so small I think it makes little difference (for example, I got a scaled score of 156 on the quantitative section and over the course of a year the percentile shifted from the 65th to the 64th.) 5 is a great score on the writing (actually the 93rd percentile), and I wouldn't be too concerned if you score below even if you want to be competitive at top schools. I had a 4.5 and got into schools that were ranked highly (not that that means anything in particular). Probably below a 4, the 56th percentile, (the next would be a 3.5 at the 38th percentile) would be worrisome, but still okay at certain schools if you had strong other components. If you are looking not just to be considered, but more competitive at more competitive schools, a good (but again very loose) rule is above the 75th percentile (in the top quarter of those who took the exam). And of course, year of application, individual school, other application strengths and weaknesses and certainly field/type of program all play a role in what is considered decent to very competitive to each individual. 

[CBG321]

Thank you so much!  This is really helpful information for me!  And happy to hear that a 4 and up on the writing is okay depending probably on the rest of your scores of course.

 

So 50th percentile and up to not be thrown away (in theory) and 75th and above is really good and probably a good aim even if I don't quite reach it.  
 

Thank you!  I just didn't want to be staring at results and not knowing if I should send a few to schools or immediately sign up for the next test haha.

[debster]

My daughter got a 4 on writing, but had really high verbal and quantitative scores, grades, etc., and got into all six of the top 20 schools she applied to.  One score a bit lower seems OK, if the other parts of your app are high.  Good Luck!

[CBG321]

Congratulations to your daughter she must have felt very proud to see such great results!  I will keep that in mind if there is a weak area (I'd guess quantitative in my case due to not loving math haha) but good to know ahead of time just in case!