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Last Updated on April 24, 2023
You’ve taken the GRE and earned a score you’re proud of (nice job!). Now what? Sending your GRE scores is not as daunting as it may seem, but there are a few different options to consider when deciding when to send your scores to graduate programs and which scores to send.
In this article, we’ll go through the process of sending GRE scores step by step and answer key questions such as how to send your GRE scores for free, how many schools you can send your GRE scores to, what the ScoreSelect feature is, and whether you need to know school codes to send GRE scores.
We’ll also give you some simple strategies for putting your best foot forward when sending GRE scores to schools.
- What is on My GRE Score Report?
- How Do I Get My GRE Score?
- Using ScoreSelect
- Sending Scores on Test Day
- Sending Scores After Test Day
- What if I Canceled My Score?
- When is the Best Time to Send My Scores?
To start, let’s review the basics of what your GRE score report contains and how you will receive your score report.
What is on My GRE Score Report?
There are actually two types of score reports that ETS (the GRE-maker) generates: a Test-Taker Score Report and a Graduate Institution Score Report. These two reports contain a lot of the same information, but there are a couple of key differences between them.
The Test-Taker Score Report is private to you and contains the following:
- Identifying information such as your contact info, birth date, gender, and intended graduate major.
- Your most recent GRE test information, including the test date, your Verbal, Quant, and Analytical Writing scores, and your score percentiles for each of those sections.
- Your test score history, which includes the dates, scores, and percentiles for any previous GREs you’ve taken.
- Scores for any GRE Subject Tests you’ve taken.
- A list of your score recipients that includes the test date that corresponds to the score you sent, the date you sent the score, and the name of the school/department to which you sent the score.
The Graduate Institution Score Report contains the same information as the test-taker’s report EXCEPT that the school receiving the report will see only those scores you’ve chosen to send, NOT your entire score history (unless you choose to send all your scores — we’ll discuss that more later) and will not see the names of the other schools to which you’ve sent your scores.
KEY FACT:
The score report you send to schools is different from the score report provided to you in that a given school will see only the GRE scores you choose to send and will NOT see the names of the other schools to which you’ve sent scores.
If you’d like to get a better idea of what these score reports look like, you can check out a sample copy of a Test-Taker Score Report here and a sample of a Graduate Institution Score Report here.
Now that we know what information is in a GRE Score Report, let’s take a quick look at how you’ll receive your scores.
How Do I Get My GRE Score?
Immediately after you complete your GRE, you will be shown your unofficial Quant and Verbal scores on the computer — unless, of course, you choose to cancel your score (more on that later). Since the Analytical Writing section is not scored by the computer, you won’t see that score on the computer.
Your Analytical Writing score will be available when your official scores post to your online ETS account, about 10 to 15 days after your exam date. You’ll receive an email notification from ETS when your official scores are posted. At that point, you’ll be able to view your GRE scores online for free anytime by logging into your account.
Keep in mind that GRE scores are valid for up to 5 years after your test date (or test year, if you took the GRE prior to July 1, 2016), so any scores that are more than 5 years old will be removed from your online score report and no longer available to view or send to schools.
Another thing to note is that the “unofficial” Quant and Verbal scores you see at the end of your exam should be the same as the scores that appear in your official score report, so there is no reason to fear a score drop (or hope for a score increase) from your unofficial to your official scores.
KEY FACT:
You’ll receive an email from ETS when your official Quant, Verbal, and Analytical Writing scores are posted to your online account, about 10 to 15 days after your exam.
So, you know when you’ll receive your scores, but what about when to send them? There are actually two opportunities you’ll have to send your GRE scores to schools, at the end of your exam and after test day. But before we discuss each of those scenarios, let’s look at an important feature that GRE test-takers can use to their advantage when sending GRE scores to schools: ScoreSelect.
Using ScoreSelect
Whenever you send GRE scores, whether on test day or at a later time, you are given three options for which scores to send, via a feature called ScoreSelect. The options differ depending on when you send your scores, so let’s look at both scenarios.
ScoreSelect Options on Test Day:
- Send NO scores
- Send ALL scores from the last 5 years
- Send only your MOST RECENT score
ScoreSelect Options After Test Day:
- Send ALL scores from the last 5 years
- Send ANY scores from the last 5 years
- Send only your MOST RECENT score
If you choose to send ALL scores, the score report sent to schools will include your official score information for every GRE you’ve taken in the past 5 years, excluding canceled scores.
If you choose to send only your MOST RECENT score, the score report sent to schools will include your official score information for your latest GRE. The score report will not include test dates or any other information related to prior GREs, so schools won’t know you’ve taken the GRE multiple times if you choose to send only your most recent score.
The “any” option is where things really get interesting because it allows you to send scores from whichever test dates you choose in your score history. So, say you’ve taken the GRE 3 times in the past 5 years, but you want schools to see only your highest score, which happens to be the score from your second test.
ScoreSelect gives you the flexibility to send only that score. Schools will never see the scores from your other GREs or even know that you sat for the GRE more than once. Likewise, you could choose to send just the scores from your first and third GREs, or your second and third — you get the idea.
The one thing you can’t do using ScoreSelect is “mix and match” scores from different GREs. In other words, if your Quant score was higher the first time you took the GRE and your Verbal score was higher the second time you took the exam, you can’t send just the Quant score from your first exam along with just the Verbal score from your second exam. When you select scores to send, you’re selecting all of the scores associated with that test date.
Nevertheless, you can see how the ScoreSelect feature could make waiting until after test day to send your scores the more strategic option.
KEY FACT:
ScoreSelect gives GRE test-takers the flexibility to send scores from ALL, ANY, or just their MOST RECENT exams; however, test-takers can’t “mix and match” section scores from different GREs.
Now that we’ve covered your options regarding which scores to send, let’s talk about when and how to send GRE scores to schools.
Sending Scores on Test Day
When you sit for your GRE, you’ll have the option to select up to 4 schools to send your official GRE scores to. The schools you select will receive your scores about 10 to 15 days after your test date, when your latest score is posted to your online account. This process is the same for both GREs taken at a test center and GREs taken at home.
Fortunately, you do not need to know school codes in order to send your scores. The codes will be in the computer system, so you can simply search for each school by name to select the school.
Some schools have multiple departments associated with them, so just be sure you select the department of the program to which you’re applying, if applicable. Check with the graduate programs to which you’re applying if you’re not sure of the exact names to search.
The great thing about sending GRE scores to schools as soon as you finish your exam is that this service is completely free. So, if you’re happy with your GRE score and you know which schools you want to receive your scores, you may as well save yourself a few bucks and take advantage of the free option.
Remember, the option is to send scores to up to 4 schools. If you’ve decided on only 1 school you want to send scores to, you can select just that school on test day, and send your scores at a later date to any additional schools you decide on. You don’t need to have 4 schools picked out in order to send your scores for free.
TTP PRO TIP:
If you’re happy with your GRE score and you know 1 to 4 schools you want to send your score to, take advantage of the free option to send scores right after you complete your exam.
Sending Scores After Test Day
Depending on your situation, waiting until after test day to send your GRE scores may be the most practical choice for you. Perhaps you’re not happy with your GRE score and you think that you can score higher on a retake. Perhaps you haven’t yet decided which programs you want to send your scores to, or you’re applying to more than 4 schools.
Whatever the reason, in the event that you don’t select any score recipients on test day or your list of recipients grows as time passes, you can order Additional Score Reports to send your scores after test day. Additional Score Reports are $27 per recipient and look exactly like the Official Score Report that would be sent to score recipients selected on test day. The only difference between the reports (aside from the cost) is when you choose the recipient.
You can order Additional Score Reports by logging into your online ETS account. On the “My GRE Home” page, you’ll see a section called “Scores” and an option called “Send Additional Score Reports” in that section.
Clicking on that will take you to a page where you can update your personal info or simply click “Next” to go to the page where you’ll select your score recipients. As is the case at test centers, you’ll be able to search for each school (and department, if needed) by name and select the school when it appears in the drop-down menu. You also can search by school code or consult ETS’s Approved Institutions and Fellowship Sponsors list if you’re not sure what name to search under.
Once you select the appropriate school name, click “Select” under the “Which Scores to Send” column to view all your available GRE scores. From that window, you can select particular test dates or check the box next to “Test Date” to select them all. Remember, no mixing and matches section scores from different tests; when you select a test date, you’re sending all of the scores associated with that test.
Voilà! Repeat that process for each score recipient. When your list is complete, click “Add to Cart and Checkout” to be taken to the page where you can review your order before you complete the checkout process. You can pay for your Additional Score Reports by credit card, debit card, or Paypal.
One thing to keep in mind is that ETS takes around 5 business days to process requests to send Additional Score Reports, so if you have deadlines approaching or your scores are about to expire, make sure you factor in that extra time to send your scores. And, of course, you cannot order Additional Score Reports for scores that are more than 5 years old (expired scores).
TTP PRO TIP:
Make sure to factor in the processing time of 5 business days when sending Additional Score Reports to schools.
What if I Canceled My Score?
Canceled scores are not included in your score history; neither you nor any school can view them. However, if you decide within 60 days after your test date that you want to reinstate your canceled score, you can do so on the ETS website (or by mail or fax) for a fee of $50.
When you reinstate a GRE score, you will have the option to send that score for free to up to 4 schools, as you would have been able to do on test day had you not canceled the score. It takes about 2 weeks for a GRE score to be reinstated, and the reinstated score is sent to your designated schools shortly after that, so keep that timeline in mind if you have upcoming application deadlines.
If you do end up sending a reinstated score to schools, either at the time of the reinstatement or at a later date, there will be no indication on your score report that the score was canceled and then reinstated.
However, as we just discussed, with ScoreSelect, you never have to send any scores you don’t want schools to see, so even if you think that you performed far below your potential on test day, canceling a GRE score provides little value. Perhaps you’ll save yourself a humbling blow to your ego by canceling what you think will be a very low GRE score.
Even so, you’re probably better off using that low score as motivation and as a baseline to work from in preparing for your retake. In fact, the score may not turn out to be as horrible as you imagine it is in the heat of the moment. If you cancel it, how will you ever know?
TTP PRO TIP:
Since ScoreSelect allows you to choose which of your scores schools see, canceling a GRE score provides little value, even if you think that you performed poorly on test day.
So, with all this in mind, is there a “best time” to send your GRE scores?
When is the Best Time to Send My Scores?
As you may have already gathered, there is no one “best time” for test-takers to send their GRE scores to schools. The key point is to have a strategy in place before test day, so that you don’t have to make important decisions on the spot about when and where to send your scores. Have a mental list of score recipients ready and a cutoff point for the lowest scores you’re comfortable with sending to schools.
If you’re not sure what your cutoff point should be, check out this article on what a “good” GRE score is to learn about the GRE score scale, the importance of knowing GRE average scores, and how to determine a score range you should shoot for.
TTP PRO TIP:
Have a strategy for sending GRE scores in place before test day, so that you don’t have to make important decisions on the spot about when and where to send your scores.
Remember, when in doubt, you’re not obligated to send any scores on test day, but if you hit your score goal (and especially if your application deadlines are not far off), there really is no reason to wait to send your scores. You’ll cut down on your GRE-related costs and have one less thing to worry about!
Now that you know how to send GRE scores to schools, check out this article to learn about how the GRE is scored.
