Last Updated on April 27, 2023
A common question often asked by GRE students is whether ETS school codes need to be memorized in order to send out free score reports after the GRE. Luckily, there is a tool provided to you at the end of your GRE to look up school codes. However, there are some considerations to be aware of, so that you don’t end up sending your score to either the wrong school or the wrong department within a particular school.
In this article, we’ll discuss the score-reporting process that occurs at the conclusion of the in-person or the online GRE, and how to ensure that you send your GRE scores to the correct schools.
- My GRE Is Over – Now What?
- The ETS School Codes
- What Happens If I Choose the Wrong Code?
- Should I Memorize My School Codes?
My GRE Is Over – Now What?
At the conclusion of your GRE, you will have the option to either report or cancel your GRE scores. If you decide to cancel your scores, the test will end, and you will not see your GRE scores from that exam. (If you later change your mind and want to see your score, you can reinstate your score for a 50-dollar fee.)
If you decide not to cancel, you will be able to see both your quant and verbal scores. Your Analytical Writing score will be posted to your ETS account a few weeks later as part of your official score report. After viewing your scores at the test center, you have the option to select up to 4 schools to which you can send your GRE scores for free. When selecting the schools, you have to select the appropriate school code to ensure that your GRE score gets to the appropriate department at the appropriate school. Let’s discuss what school codes are and the process of selecting them.
The ETS School Codes
The purpose of an ETS code is to ensure that your GRE score gets to the correct destination. When you land on the screen to find your code, you will be presented with a search field in which you can type in a school name. Then, you will be presented with a list of options from which to select.
This is where things can get interesting. As you can see from the linked list of ETS codes, there are more than 1,600 basic school codes. So, if you do not have specific information about a particular school or program, it’s quite possible that you will send the report to the wrong school or department.
So, let’s discuss some safeguards that can help eliminate any mistakes that you may make when finding your 4 schools.
KEY FACT:
There are more than 1,600 ETS school codes, so you need to learn which ETS codes are correct for your situation.
Mistake #1: Choosing a Different School With the Same Name
Sometimes different schools have similar or even identical names. Let’s say one of the schools you plan to apply to is Loyola University in Louisiana. You need to be careful when selecting this school because there are actually 5 schools with “Loyola” in the name:
- Loyola Marymount University (located in California)
- Loyola University (located in Illinois)
- Loyola University Chicago (located in Illinois)
- Loyola University (located in Louisiana)
- Loyola University Maryland (located in Maryland)
The good news is that when you enter a school name, you will see all schools containing that name as well as the school’s location. So, at a bare minimum, if you know the state where the school is located, you will have an easier time selecting the right school to send your score.
Mistake #2: Choosing the Wrong Department Code
Many schools have multiple department codes. So, although you may know the names and locations of the schools you’d like to send scores to, you still need to ensure that you know where within those schools your scores should be sent.
For example, say you want to apply to the University of Michigan in Dearborn. There are 10 different line items from which to choose when you search that school. The first line item is the generic school code of 1861. But the next 9 options are for specific graduate programs, such as MBA in Health Administration and MS in Accounting. You need to know which ETS code to choose for the specific program to which you’re applying.
Mistake #3: Not Understanding CAS Designations
In addition to locations and departments, specialized codes in capital letters may appear in school listings. For example, let’s say you plan to apply to Chapman University in California. Before sending your scores, you need to know whether you are sending them to Chapman U, or Chapman U ATCAS, or Chapman U CASPA (or several other “CAS” entities at Chapman U). These CAS codes simply refer to an agency that collects a student’s application, transcripts, letters of recommendation, GRE scores, and any other required documents.
There are many CAS designations, among them PSYCAS for behavioral science, PTCAS for physical therapy, and CASPA for physician’s assistants. If you are in doubt about what a particular CAS abbreviation stands for, you can google it.
Graduate programs that use CAS will instruct you where to send your documents and advise you of the particular code to use for reporting your GRE scores. For example, while Chapman U’s overall school code is 4047, the Chapman U school code for the physician’s assistant program is 3681, and it is designated as Chapman U CASPA.
TTP PRO TIP:
Make sure you choose the correct CAS for your graduate program, if applicable.
What Happens If I Choose the Wrong Code?
College officials do understand that sometimes students incorrectly send scores to a school instead of a specific department, and admissions offices make every effort to ensure that your score is channeled to the correct program. However, if you discover that you sent your scores to the wrong place, then it’s quite possible that you will have to order an additional score report to be sent via the correct school code. You would have to order this additional score report after test day for a 27-dollar fee.
So, if you have any doubt about whether you are sending your scores to the correct place, give the folks in admissions a call before test day and get the exact information regarding where your scores need to be sent.
TTP PRO TIP:
You can avoid reporting delays or having to pay extra fees by ensuring that you know the correct school codes. Call the admissions department if you’re unsure of the code.
Should I Memorize My School Codes?
None of us want to add more stuff to our plates for test day. However, if sending your scores to the wrong school or wrong department is a financial or time-critical mistake that you would regret, then the safest move is to have the school codes you need memorized. For example, if you know that you want to apply to SUNY College Courtland, Michigan State University, University of California Davis, and Oakland University, rather than messing around on test day on the school code screen, just memorize the 4 codes for those schools.
If you would like to memorize the school codes, you can head over to ETS School Code search feature on the ETS website. This feature allows you to research the school codes and CAS codes, so you can save yourself any unneeded stress on test day. Alternatively, you can access the same list of school codes as a 50-page pdf here.
Of course, memorizing school codes, while perhaps advisable in some cases, is not required. If you feel confident that you can easily search for each school or department and find the appropriate ETS code, then perhaps memorizing your 4 codes won’t be necessary. At the end of the day, you just need to be able to ensure that you can easily find your 4 score recipients and select the appropriate codes.
