Failed GRE (Graduate Record Examination)? Here's Your Recovery Plan

Pro tip: ETS states that 70 percent of retakers improve their scores. Before booking, weigh the improvement you expect against the published standard error of score differences, 4.48 for Verbal Reasoning and 3.62 for Quantitative Reasoning, since ETS advises doubling that figure before treating a change as real. Every attempt within your five-year reportable history stays available to you, and ScoreSelect lets you send Most Recent or All, so a weak retake does not have to be shown as long as you choose Most Recent and the retake is not the most recent. Scores for any single administration must be reported in their entirety; you cannot mix a Verbal score from one sitting with a Quantitative score from another.

• Leaving questions blank at the end of a section
  The GRE raw score is defined by ETS as the number of questions answered correctly, so an incorrect answer and a blank score identically. On a five-choice item a blind guess is worth 20 percent and a blank is worth zero. Fill everything before the section clock expires.
• Treating a 160 Quant score as equivalent to a 160 Verbal score
  They are nothing alike in percentile terms. ETS reports 160 Verbal at the 82nd percentile and 160 Quant at the 50th for July 2022 to June 2025 testers. Quantitative programmes read 160 Quant as median, so set section targets from percentile tables, not from the scaled number.
• Treating the test as question-by-question adaptive and panicking on hard items
  The GRE adapts at section level only. The second section of each measure is chosen from your performance on the first section of that measure. A hard question mid-section signals nothing, and you can skip it and return within the same section at no cost.
• Retaking after a two or three point change and expecting it to mean something
  ETS publishes a standard error of measurement of 3.17 for Verbal and 2.56 for Quantitative, and standard errors of score differences of 4.48 and 3.62. A three-point move is inside measurement noise. Retake only if your practice tests show a genuine shift, not to chase a rounding difference.
• Overusing the on-screen calculator
  ETS explicitly warns that the calculator supplements rather than replaces mathematical knowledge, and advises against using it for computations that are faster mentally. Estimate the answer first so a mis-keyed digit is caught, and reserve it for long division, square roots, and multi-digit arithmetic.
• Hunting for two synonyms in Sentence Equivalence
  ETS states directly that the correct pair need not mean exactly the same thing; what must match is the meaning of the two completed sentences. Pairs of true synonyms are often planted as traps that do not fit the sentence coherently.
• Judging geometry figures by eye
  GRE geometric figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. You may assume only that lines shown as straight are straight, points on a line are in the shown order, and objects are in the shown relative positions. Coordinate systems and graphical data displays are the exception and are drawn to scale.
• Preparing for two essays
  The second essay task disappeared on September 22, 2023. There is now one 30-minute Analyze an Issue task and no Analyze an Argument task. Prep books printed before that date drill a task that no longer exists.
• Skipping the four free score recipients on test day
  The test fee includes four recipients designated on test day. Ordering the same four reports afterwards costs $40 each, or $160. Have the institution codes ready before you sit down.
• Registering under a name that does not match the ID
  ETS requires the first and last name on your primary ID to match your registration exactly, accents excluded, and states that a mismatch can prevent you from testing or trigger score cancellation afterwards. Supplemental ID cannot fix a name discrepancy. Contact the Office of Testing Integrity before registering if there is any doubt.

• Master vocabulary with flashcards (Magoosh, Manhattan)
• Learn all math formulas and shortcuts
• Practice with official ETS PowerPrep tests
• Focus on time management per section
• AWA essays: use templates for structure
• Take diagnostic test first to identify weaknesses