Waiting for your GRE scores can be very frustrating. You find yourself tensed and restless as it is with waiting for the results of every exam. You can’t help but wonder; how long does it take to get your GRE scores? Now, knowing how long it takes to get your GRE scores are essential, and this article will guide that effect.
Table of Contents
Getting Your GRE Scores
After your exams, you will be receiving three (3) test scores as follows:
- The Verbal Reasoning score graded on a 130–170 score scale, in 1point increments.
- The Quantitative Reasoning score graded on a 130–170 score scale, in 1point increments.
- The Analytical Writing score graded on a 0–6 score scale, in half-point increments.
Sections left unanswered by the test-taker are graded as No Score (NS).
How Long Does It Take to Get Your GRE Scores?
Unofficial GRE Scores
After your exams, you are going to receive your unofficial scores first. The unofficial Score is displayed on the computer screen immediately after you conclude your test. You will be asked to Report (view) or cancel your scores. When you choose to Report, your unofficial Score pops up on the screen. It consists of the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores which are graded between 130 -170.
What makes this an Unofficial score is that it is just a demonstrative score and does not include the Score of the Analytical Writing section which needs to be graded by an expert, not by a computer.
However, the unofficial Score usually ends up being the same as the Official Score. Even if a difference were to occur, it would only vary by a few points. With the unofficial Score, a test-taker already knows where he stands.
Official GRE Scores
After seeing your unofficial scores on test day, your official GRE scores take up to 10-15 days after the exam to reach you. The official scores will include your Analytical Writing score, which is not included in the unofficial scores. The official GRE scores have all three categories you were tested on, i.e. Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Analytical Writing.
You will be sent an Email by ETS (Educational Testing Service) informing you that your GRE scores are ready and can be checked on your ‘My GRE Account’. If you have taken the GRE, you should have a My GRE Account.
The scores report that you will see on your account will contain your percentile on each test and will allow you to compare your performance with your previous GRE scores and that of others that took the test. It also contains a list of schools you have designated to receive your GRE scores. You can also get a hard copy of your official GRE scores by using the print functionality in your My GRE Account.
Did You Take the Paper-Based GRE?
The first thing you’ll notice is that there are no Unofficial Scores for Paper-Based GRE. After writing the exam, it takes longer to receive your scores, unlike the Computer-Based GRE that takes 10-15 days. The paper-based GRE scores up to five weeks to be sent to you and the schools designated by you to receive your scores.
An Email will be forwarded to you when your scores are ready as it is done in the case of Computer-Based GRE. You will be asked to check your results on your My GRE Account. Here you can choose to send your scores report to designated schools after viewing it. When you place an order for the scores report to be sent, it will arrive at the school after five business days.
Worthy of your attention is the fact that the paper-based GRE stays longer than the computer-based GRE but has a disadvantage to it. It is not flexible in regards to when you can take the test. It is only taken three times every year, i.e. in April, September and, October. Without proper planning, you might end up not meeting the deadline of the designated schools as you will be waiting for your scores. It is advised that you take the test at least two weeks from the application deadline of selected schools.
Diagnostic Service
The GRE Diagnostic Service is set up to help you review your performance in the test. It becomes available to test-takers four days after the GRE scores have been sent and it can be accessed even six months after the GRE has been taken.
It has been designed in a manner that allows you to see the questions you answered correctly, and those answered incorrectly, the amount of time spent on each item, and the difficulty of the problem.
For anyone who plans to retake the GRE, this will be very useful as it will help such a person realize their strengths and weaknesses and to better prepare for the next exam.
When Will My School Receive My GRE Scores?
The decision is up to you. Immediately after your test on the test-day, you are at liberty to send your unofficial test scores to your choice schools or to do so at a later time. If you decide to send them immediately at the test centre, you will be able to send them to up to four schools for free but choosing to do so at a later date will cost you as you will be charged $27 for every score report you send.
Your designated schools will receive your official GRE scores the same day as you if you send your unofficial scores on test-day. This is usually between 10-15 days for the computer-based test while it takes up to five weeks for paper-based GRE.
If you decide to send it at a later date, you will have to wait till you receive your official GRE scores. When you receive it, order for it to be sent to your designated schools will have to be placed, and the schools will receive it after about five business days from the day the order was placed.
Conclusion
To know how long it will take to get your GRE scores is very important because it will help you meet up application deadlines of designated schools. When you know when your scores will be sent, you can determine when to take the GRE. If you plan on taking the paper-based GRE, knowing that it takes up to five weeks for the results to be ready, you can select schools whose application deadlines you can meet up with.
