How Long are GRE Scores Valid?
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Content Writer at Study Abroad Exams | Updated On - Jan 8, 2024
The GRE score validity is for 5 years. ETS will have your GRE scores for the next 5 years till it expires. For instance, if you have taken the test on July 9, 2023, your GRE scores can be reported through July 8, 2028. It takes approximately 5-6 business days to prepare requests to send your GRE scores. In case, you plan to send GRE scores and the date at which your GRE scores are no longer reportable is nearing, it will allow enough time for your GRE score processing or your scores may not be sent.
How Long is the GRE Valid For?
The GRE score validity is 5 years. Alongside this, a few vital pieces of information about validity for GRE score need to be noted:
- If you have taken the exam on/before July 2017, then GRE scores will no longer valid
- If you have taken the exam sometime between July 2012 to June 30, 2016, then the scores are valid for five years from the time of the end of the testing year. To make it easier, if the candidate has taken the test on the 15th of May 2015 then their GRE score is valid till 30th June 2020. It must be noted that the GRE testing year commences from 1st July;
- From 1st July 2016 onwards - If the candidate has taken or is about to take the exam after the mentioned GRE exam date then the validity is for 5 years after the day of the administration of the test. Again to simplify it, if the test was taken on 6th July 2017, it is valid till 5th July 2022.
How to Get GRE Score?
The official GRE test scores can be obtained within 10-15 days after your GRE test date and the GRE test result will be available in your ETS Account. Though, you can see your GRE verbal and quant scores after taking the exam on the date itself.
Once you complete your GRE General test you will be provided with an option to report or cancel your GRE scores. In case, you choose to report your GRE scores, you will see your unofficial GRE verbal and quant scores. And for the GRE essay scoring rule, you need a person to correct, as you are unable to see your GRE AWA writing score at that time. Only when your GRE official scores are ready, you will get an email notification from ETS.
Hence, you will get your official GRE subject test scores around 4-5 weeks after the actual test date. To get the GRE scores in the fastest way possible to connect through the ETS Data Manager. Before that, you can access your GRE general and subject test scores via online, only once you receive a mail from ETS. The official GRE score report includes:
- Personal Information
- Date of Birth
- Intended graduate major
- Test date(s)
- Detailed GRE test score
- GRE Test Type (GRE general test or GRE subject test)
- Authorized score recipients
Why do GRE Scores Expire?
The main reason behind the formation of the GRE score validity and hence it is expiring after 5 years is, the test-takers don’t possess the fresh knowledge of what they studied. in fact, most of the candidates become distanced from the academic sphere which also adds to forgetting the topics they learned. The universities demand students who are proficient in the preliminary knowledge of the program they are supposed to pursue – and an age-old GRE score of a candidate whose innate skills are washed away is of no use to them. Though, there are times when candidates hone their skills after completion of their GRE exam and indeed gather more knowledge. They grind on their quant skills and practice hard. They learn vocabulary and ace up their verbal skills and writing too. But this is not the case with everyone and in most cases, the 5 years’ time is long enough for the candidates to be oblivious of what they took in the exam.
All the GRE scores which have passed their validity time are deleted by ETS. The candidates will not be able to trace their scores after that specific GRE score validity time, let alone GRE scores sending them to the schools. You can be clever by sending the GRE scores just when it is on the verge of expiring its GRE score validity. Most of the schools accept those scores, but there are certain schools that only accept recent GRE scores (like a 2 or 3 years old score) and in scenes like these, the candidate has to abide by that and try for some other school.
GRE Score Validity Rules
Here are a few GRE score validity rules that one must keep in mind before taking the GRE test:
- Plan the Timing: You need to plan the timing of your GRE exam. In case you want to do multiple-degrees that each needs the GRE score.
- GRE Score Expiry: You need to be aware of if your GRE scores will expire by the time you apply for the second program.
- GRE for College: A situation may appear wherein you might need to take the GRE while all of your college/university knowledge is fresh in your mind. For that, you have to be a more flexible with your class schedule that makes finding GRE prep time easier. Also, remember the GRE validity period and to complete your graduation within the next five years after taking the test.
- Time: The period you’re taking the GRE test is extremely important. If you take the GRE in April 2019, then your score would be valid through the fall application 2024 application cycle. It would expire before the 2025 application cycle began. On the other hand, if take it in October or November 2019, then you could send the scores for the fall 2025 application cycle before they expired.
GRE Score Sending
Candidates often enquire “how to send GRE scores?” Well, you can send GRE test scores to your desired universities by following simple steps given below:
- To begin with, first log into your ETS account.
- Then On the My GRE Home page, you need to select "Send Additional Score Reports" under Scores.
- You will see On-screen: Test Registration,
- Finally, you can Send Additional Score Reports.
ETS send GRE scores offering you the option to select the Most Recent (Send your scores from your current test administration) option or All (Send your scores from all administrations in the last five years) option for up to four institutions for free.
GRE Score Validity for Schools
The GRE score validity is 5 years. However, few programs prefer scores that are not more than, 2 or 3 years.
In case you are applying to business schools using a GRE score, go through their rules to calculate GRE expiration based on their own application deadlines, rather than use the ETS calculation based on your test date.
For instance, go through the GRE score validity calculation at HBS and Stanford for admission for 2023:
For Harvard Business School, the calculation goes like this:
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
For Stanford Business School, the calculation goes like this:
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, what business schools may consider a valid GRE score may change depending on the school you’re applying to and what round you’re applying in.
Also, go through the individual graduate program websites to check GRE requirements also, whether programs have stricter “age limits” for scores or validity based on their own application deadlines.
FAQs
- GRE Scores are valid for five years following your GRE test date.
Q. Is online GRE valid for 5 years?
- Yes, your GRE scores for the General and subject test are valid for five years from your test date.
Q. How long will schools accept GRE scores?
- The GRE scores are valid for up to five years, which is considerate while deciding to apply for graduate school at a later date.
Q. Can I use my old GRE scores?
- No, if your GRE scores are taken GRE before August 2011 then it is not valid.
Q. Why do GRE scores expire?
- Well, this is stated in the above article.
Q. What is the validity of a GRE score considered by universities in the US and Canada?
- The GRE scores are valid for five years by most colleges/universities.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.
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Answered Questions
In case you are enquiring about the CAT percentile let me clarify that ISB Hyderabad does not take into consideration CAT scores. It accepts GMAT/GRE scores only. Most importantly, the ISB Shortlisting process is profile-based. This means even with a lower percentile you can manage to get shortlisted provided you have an excellent profile.
There is no fixed cutoff for GMAT. However, a 700+ GMAT score isn't a must-have for ISB if your application is strong in other areas. According to an ISB spokesperson, candidates were admitted to the 2021 cohort with scores as low as 580, and as high as 780. So the GMAT score range for ISB is 580-780.