GRE Score Conversion

When ETS changed the format of the GRE exam, we received a number of emails asking about how to interpret scores received on the New GRE. Four years later, this GRE score conversion post is still one of our most popular on the Magoosh GRE Blog – which means the New GRE point scale is still confusing, to say the least. After taking the GRE, you’ll receive a score from 130 to 170 for each section math and verbal rather than a score based on the previous scale of 200 – 800. What do those scores mean? And what are you supposed to do with them…?

GRE Score Conversion: New Scale to Old Scale

Many colleges and universities still publish average GRE scores based on the old scale for their admitted students. In order for you to truly understand your score in context you need to convert your new score back to the old scale. I’ve included tables for math and verbal below which will help you with this process. This information comes from the 2016 GRE Guide to the Use of Scores – Concordance Information.

Math Conversion Table

Verbal Conversion Table

GRE Conversion: Understanding Your Score Percentile

In addition to knowing your score based on the old scale, it’s also important to understand what your percentile rank is. This score percentile table which comes from the concordance table over at ETS, the makers of the GRE, provides you with the percentiles for each score. You can also see your percentile rank on your official score report.

Should You Retake the GRE?

Now that you have a better sense of what your score on the new GRE means, you need to decide whether or not to retake the GRE. If your score is above the average for math and verbal for your target program and school, you should focus on the rest of your application. However, if you are at or below the average, I recommend re-taking the test. In fact, we’ve seen such great improvements from students who have used our online GRE prep prior to retaking the GRE, that we are now offering a GRE score improvement guarantee or you’ll receive your money back.

This is a difficult decision to make, so I highly recommend reading the following posts as you think about whether or not to study for a retake:

• GRE Scores
• To Retake or Not to Retake: ETS Has the Answer
• Should I Retake the GRE?
• How to Study for a GRE Retake
• ETS Practice Tests: POWERPREP II and The Official Guide

Editor’s Note:

This post was originally published in January 2012 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

We’ve decided to close comments for this blog post so that we can focus our time on providing support and service to the paying customers of our Magoosh GRE Prep. Between the blog post and the answers to the comments below, we hope that you’ll find an answer to your question, as most questions and answers fall into only a few categories. You can also reference the article and comments available here for more information about a good score. Thanks!