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Last Updated on September 12, 2023
How long do GRE scores last? Do graduate programs prefer recent GRE scores, or do they consider all valid GRE scores equally, regardless of whether the scores are “old” or “new”?
In this article, I’ll answer the most commonly asked questions about GRE score validity. We’ll cover how long you can access and send GRE test scores, whether graduate programs prefer newer scores, and whether canceling your score affects its expiration date.
- How Long Are GRE Scores Valid?
- What Do Schools Consider a Valid GRE Score?
- Do Schools Prefer Newer GRE Scores?
- Is My GRE Score Still Valid If I Canceled It?
How Long Are GRE Scores Valid?
According to ETS, the maker of the GRE, GRE scores are valid for five years after the date of your exam. For example, if you took your GRE on April 1, 2021, your score will be valid through March 30, 2026.
For as long as a particular GRE score is valid, you will be able to view that score in your score history in your ets.org account and send that score to schools.
Once your scores from a particular exam expire, ETS eliminates those scores from your online record, and you will no longer be able to send the scores to schools. So, any GRE score report you send to schools will never include expired scores, even if you choose to send your entire score history. And the truth is, graduate schools are very unlikely to have any interest in seeing test scores that are more than 5 years old.
Of course, if your GRE expiration is fast approaching, but you send the scores out right before ETS deletes them from your score history, there is no worry that your score recipients will also lose access to that score. Once your GRE score report is in a school’s possession, ETS can’t revoke or delete that report.
That said, there are a few points to consider before sending your scores that are about to expire to schools. Let’s talk about that next.
KEY FACT:
For up to 5 years after your test date, you can view your GRE score in your ets.org account and send your score to schools.
What Do Schools Consider a Valid GRE Score?
Generally speaking, most graduate programs follow the “5-year rule” for GRE score validity. However, occasionally, programs require or prefer scores that are no more than, for example, 2 or 3 years old (I’ll discuss this point further shortly).
Furthermore, if you are using a GRE score to apply to business schools, you should be aware that business schools tend to calculate GRE expiration based on their own application deadlines, rather than use the ETS calculation based on your test date. So, what business schools consider a valid GRE score may change depending on which school you’re applying to and what round you’re applying in.
For example, let’s look at how HBS and Stanford calculated GRE expiration for school admission to the Class of 2023:
Harvard Business School
To apply in Round 1: GRE test date on or between September 8, 2015 and September 7, 2020
To apply in Round 2: GRE test date on or between January 5, 2016 and January 4, 2021
To apply in 2+2 Round: GRE test date on or between April 30, 2016 and April 28, 2021
Stanford Business School
To apply in Round 1: GRE test date on or after September 15, 2015
To apply in Round 2: GRE test date on or after January 6, 2016
To apply in Round 3: GRE test date on or after April 6, 2016
So, let’s say a student planned to apply to both HBS and Stanford in round 1 of 2020. The student planned to submit her applications by the end of August 2020 in order to meet both the round 1 deadline of September 8 for Harvard and September 15 for Stanford. However, the student took her GRE on September 10, 2015. In August 2020, that September 10 GRE score would still be considered valid by ETS, since the test date would be less than 5 years prior, and still be considered valid for her HBS application, since the test date fell after September 8. However, the score would not be considered valid for her Stanford application, since the test date was before September 15. In that case, she would have to take the GRE again in order to have a valid score for her application to Stanford.
KEY FACT:
What business schools consider a valid GRE score may change depending on which school you’re applying to and what round you’re applying in.
If you’re planning to apply to MBA programs within a couple of years after you take your GRE, you shouldn’t have to worry about these varying deadlines because your test date will fall well within them. Furthermore, business schools won’t require that GRE scores be no more than 4 years old or no more than 3 years old, etc. — at least, I’ve never heard of such a requirement. GRE expiration dates may shift according to application deadlines, but the GRE score validity window will still be 5 years.
On the other hand, some other types of graduate programs may have stricter “age limits” for acceptable GRE scores. If programs require or simply prefer that you submit GRE scores that fit within a different time constraint, you should be able to find that information on the program’s website. In fact, either way, the program should state outright what it considers a valid time frame for score reporting. However, if the information isn’t clearly stated on a program’s website and you’re worried about whether your score is too old, you shouldn’t hesitate to give the folks in admissions a call to confirm the time frame they use for GRE score validity.
TTP PRO TIP:
Check the individual graduate program websites to see whether programs have stricter “age limits” for scores or validity windows based on their own application deadlines.
Now, even given that most graduate programs accept GRE scores that are up to 5 years old, you may be wondering whether grad schools tend to prefer newer scores. Let’s talk about that next.
Do Schools Prefer Newer GRE Scores?
As I already mentioned, it’s important to check the individual policies of the schools to which you plan to apply before sending your scores, so you can be sure that you’re sending scores that your targeted schools will accept.
However, if a school states that it accepts GRE scores that are up to 5 years old, then you should not worry that you are going to be penalized for submitting a score that is nearing its expiration date. Generally, unless a program states that it prefers test scores that are no more than a certain number of years old, admissions offices will view scores that are a few years old and scores that are a few days old equally.
Just as you won’t be penalized for older scores, you won’t get “bonus points” for sending scores from a GRE that you took within six months or a year of your application deadline, for instance. As long as your GRE score is considered valid by the school to which you’re applying, your score will be evaluated on a level playing field with the GRE scores of every other applicant.
Of course, if you took your GRE a few years ago and are concerned that your score may not reflect your current skill set, you may want to retake the GRE even though your score is still valid, so that you can apply with a score that reflects your full potential. Retaking the GRE to get an updated score is a personal decision for every student; just know that you won’t be penalized if you decide to stick with your older score.
TTP PRO TIP:
Unless a program states otherwise, admissions will view GRE scores that are a few years old and scores that are a few days old equally.
Now, let’s take a look at whether GRE expiration is affected if you canceled your scores from an exam.
Is My GRE Score Still Valid If I Canceled It?
Technically, a GRE score is considered valid by ETS and most schools as long as your test date falls within the 5-year window. Of course, if you canceled your scores from a particular exam, those scores will not be available for you to view or send to any schools, so the score “validity” only comes into play if you decide within the required window (60 days) to reinstate your scores.
In that case, the important thing to keep in mind is that the GRE expiration date associated with those scores will still be calculated based on your test date, not based on the date when you reinstate your scores. In other words, you can’t extend your GRE score validity by canceling scores and then reinstating them 59 days later.
Of course, since the ScoreSelect option makes it possible for you to send out only those GRE scores that you want schools to see, canceling your scores from an exam doesn’t really offer any benefit, particularly since you can’t even view your scores before you cancel them. Because the ScoreSelect option offers GRE test-takers so much flexibility, I generally recommend to my students that they don’t cancel their GRE scores, even if they think they’ve performed poorly on the exam.
KEY FACT:
If you cancel and then reinstate your GRE score, the score expiration will still be calculated based on your test date, not based on the date when you reinstated the score.
Now that you understand GRE score validity, you may be interested in learning what schools consider a good GRE score and how the GRE is scored.
Just starting to study for the GRE? This article on how to begin your GRE prep can help.
