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      Understanding how the scoring breaks down

      On the GRE, you can score a maximum of 340 points on the multiple-choice and 6 points on the essays. Here’s the scoring range for each of the three sections:

       Verbal: The Verbal score ranges from 130 to 170 in 1-point increments. You get 130 points if you answer just one question, which accounts for about 80 percent of a job well done. It doesn’t help much, though: You need to score as well as or better than most of the other people who took the test to improve your chances of being admitted to the school of your choice. Refer to the chapters in Part 2 for the lowdown on the Verbal sections.

       Math: The Math score also ranges from 130 to 170 in 1-point increments. Flip to Part 3 for more on the Math sections.

       Analytical Writing: The Analytical Writing score ranges from 1 to 6, in half-point increments, with 6 being the highest. Each essay is graded separately, and your final score is the average of the two. Essays that are blank or off-topic receive a score of 0. You can discover more information about the essays in Part 4.

       On the multiple-choice questions, you earn points only for completely correct answers. If the question requires two or more answers, you have to get all the answers correct: no partial credit for a partially correct answer. However, you don’t lose points for wrong answers, so you may as well guess and return to the question later. See “Throwing a mental dart” later in this chapter for more on this.

      Calculating your score

      Within each section, each question counts exactly the same toward your score. An easy question is worth exactly the same as a hard question. Because you can move back and forth within each section, a good strategy is to skip around and answer all the easy questions first; then go back and work the hard questions. Quite simply, in each section, the more questions you get right, the higher your score for that section.

      On the computer version of the exam, the second Math or Verbal section (not counting the unscored section) becomes easier or harder based on your performance. For example, if you do extremely well on the first Math section, the GRE makes the second Math section harder. Even if you don’t get as many right in the second Math section, your score will be higher than the score of someone who bombs the first Math section but answers more easier questions correctly in the second one, because GRE scoring accommodates for the difficulty level of the questions.

       The strategy of bombing the first Math and Verbal sections in order to answer more questions correctly on the respective second sections is not a good one. The exam doesn’t score you based solely on the number of correct answers: It scores you based on how smart it thinks you are. So if you do great on the first Math section, the exam thinks you’re smart and gives you harder questions to see just how smart you are. If you don’t answer all the questions correctly on the second Math section, that’s okay: It’s done its job of evaluating your skills, and it knows you’re smart from the first Math section.

      When you complete a practice test from Part 5, you can easily estimate your Math and Verbal scores. For the Math score, count the math questions you answered correctly and then add 130 to that number. Because the GRE has 40 math questions (two sections with 20 questions each), this method gives you an approximate score from 130 to 170. You can find your Verbal score the exact same way, because the GRE also has 40 Verbal questions. Note this method doesn’t account for the changing difficulty of the second Math and Verbal sections, but it’s still an excellent way for you to practice and track your progress.

      Confirming that your score is actually good

      If you score close to 340, you know you did well. If you score near 260, you know you bombed. But wait — your score is right in between! Did you pass? Did you fail? What does it mean? Well, you can’t really tell much about your score out of context. What does 320 mean? It all goes by a percentile ranking. To download the complete percentile table, visit www.ets.org, click GRE Tests, and search for “percentile ranking.” As of this writing, here are some highlights:

       A raw score of 165 is typically a 96th percentile ranking in the Verbal and an 85th percentile ranking in the Math.

       A raw score of 160 is typically an 85th percentile ranking in the Verbal and a 72nd percentile ranking in the Math.

      Basically, with a range of only 40 points per section among almost 600,000 GRE-takers per year, each point counts for a lot. How well you do is based on how well the other test-takers did. What you need to ask is the score needed for acceptance into your program, or even better, the score needed for a scholarship! Once you’re in your program (or you’ve landed your scholarship), your GRE score doesn’t matter.

      Also, your exam score is only one part of the total application package. If you have a good GPA, a strong résumé, and relevant work experience, you may not need as high of a GRE score. On the other hand, a stellar GRE score can compensate for your weak areas.

      Throwing a mental dart

      The GRE doesn’t penalize for guessing, meaning you don’t lose points for wrong answers. If you’re not sure how to answer a question, throw a mental dart and take a guess:

       Rule out as many obviously incorrect choices as possible, and guess from the remaining choices.

       Write down the question number or mark it for review, so you can return to it before time runs out on that section.

       Finish the section, even if you must throw lots of mental darts (in other words, take lots of guesses) near the end. Wrong answers count the same as not answering a question, so guessing on questions that you would otherwise have left blank can only help your score, not hurt it.

      Seeing or canceling your scores

      Immediately after finishing the GRE, you have the option of either seeing or canceling your Verbal and Math scores. Unfortunately, you don’t get to see your scores first. If you think you had a bad day, you can cancel, and your scores are neither reported to the schools nor shown to you. However, the schools are notified that you canceled your test. If you choose to see your score, you see it — minus the essay scores — right away.

       How much do the schools care about canceled scores? Probably not much, especially if a top GRE score (from when you retake the test 21 days later) follows the notice of cancellation. If you really want to know the impact of a canceled score, check with the admissions office of your target school. Each school weighs canceled scores differently. See Chapter 2 for more about what to do after canceling your GRE score.

      Taking advantage of the ScoreSelect option

      At the end of the test, you have the option of choosing which test scores to send to your target schools, assuming that you’ve taken the GRE more than once. You can send

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