3 Common Misconceptions About the GRE

It’s possible to get GRE scores that are below the minimum for the university you apply to. But you can’t “pass” or “fail” the GRE in the same way that you could pass or fail a university exam or professional certification test.

In fact, you won’t even get a “whole test” score. In older versions of the test, students did receive a single score for the whole exam. But the redesigned GRE only gives section scores. Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and the Academic Writing Assessment are all scored separately.

Moreover, every graduate program has different GRE scoring standards. A GRE score that is too low for one program may be high enough for admission into another program. There are no universal “pass” or “fail” GRE benchmarks that apply to all schools.

It is even sometimes possible to exceed a school’s minimum GRE score requirement and still get waitlisted or turned away. This is because the GRE scores are not the only factor that schools consider. Where university admissions are concerned, “passing” is not simply a matter of your GRE score. For that matter, you can have a low GRE score and still get accepted, if you have a good undergrad GPA, impressive work experience, and so on.

OK, this misconception is partly true. Certainly, some GRE prep resources do cost a lot of money. But the best GRE study materials – the official ones from the makers of the exam – are surprisingly affordable. If you search the web for “GRE PowerPrep”, you’ll get a wonderful free study resource from ETS. ETS’s web-based GRE PowerPrep service offers tons of practice questions. And ETS’s Official Guide books for the GRE are US$20 new, and much cheaper if you buy them used.

David Recine is a GRE Expert at Magoosh, a website that helps students prepare for the GRE and other exams. David and his colleagues know that GRE fees can add up quickly, so they offer affordable GRE prep and lots of free resources.