What Is a Good GRE Score?

What's a "good" GRE score? It depends entirely on where you're applying. These are the questions our students ask most, answered by TestCrackers' 99th-percentile instructors.

What is a good GRE score?

A good score is entirely contingent on your situation. We're not trying to tell you what a good score is — we're trying to help you understand that it depends on where you're applying, what programs you're targeting, and how competitive those programs are.

A 155 on Verbal might be excellent for an engineering program that cares primarily about Quant, and underwhelming for a humanities program where Verbal is the focus. A 160 on Quant might be more than enough for one business school and below the median at another. Context is everything.

The most useful thing you can do is research the programs you're applying to. Many publish median or average GRE scores for admitted students. Use those as your benchmark, not a generic definition of “good.”

To see where any specific score falls relative to all test-takers, use our GRE Percentile Calculator. And if you're deciding between the GRE and GMAT, our Score Comparison Tool can help you see how scores translate between the two exams.

---

What is a good GRE score for grad school?

It depends entirely on your target programs. Look up the median GRE scores for admitted students at the specific schools you're applying to and aim to be at or above those numbers. A 320 combined might be great for one program and below average for another. Context is everything.

---

What is a good GRE score for PhD programs?

PhD programs vary enormously by field. STEM programs often care more about your quant score, while humanities programs weight verbal more heavily. Check with your specific department, as many publish their admitted student score ranges. Aiming above the 50th percentile for your field is a reasonable starting point, but competitive programs expect well above that.

---

What is a good GRE score for engineering?

Competitive engineering programs at top schools often want quant scores of 160 or higher, and quant carries much more weight than verbal. Ranges vary widely across schools and specializations, so look up the specific programs you're targeting.

---

What is a good GRE quant score?

That depends on your field. For STEM and business programs, aim for 160 or above. For humanities and social sciences, the bar is generally lower, and a score in the 155 range may be perfectly competitive. Check the median quant score for admitted students at your target programs.

---

What is a good GRE verbal score?

For humanities, social sciences, and programs that value writing and critical thinking, aim for 160 or above. STEM programs typically set a lower bar for verbal, often around 150 to 155. As always, the right target is whatever's competitive at the specific schools you're applying to.

---

What GRE score do I need for my program?

Look up the median GRE scores for admitted students at your specific target programs. Program websites, department pages, and rankings sites often publish this data. As a general rule, aim to be at or above the median. There is no universal score that guarantees admission anywhere because every program sets its own bar.

---

Is 300 a good GRE score?

A 300 combined (for example, 150 verbal and 150 quant) puts you at roughly the 39th percentile in verbal and the 23rd in quant. That can be competitive for some programs, so look up the median scores at your target schools to see where 300 falls.

---

Is 310 / 315 / 320 / 325 / 330 a good GRE score?

Test-takers average about 151 verbal and 158 quant, or roughly 309 combined, so a 310 is right around average. Each point above that moves you past more test-takers, and scores in the 320s and up are competitive at many programs. Whether a score is good for you depends on where you're applying, so look up the median scores at your target programs.

---

What is the average GRE verbal score?

The average GRE verbal score is around 151, roughly the 50th percentile. But 'average' doesn't mean much for your application — that number is calculated across all test-takers worldwide, applying to a huge range of programs with wildly different expectations.

What's much more useful is the average GRE verbal score for the kinds of programs you're actually applying to. Look up the median scores for your specific programs and aim to be at or above that number. That's the benchmark that actually matters.

---

What score is reasonable as a starting/diagnostic score?

There is no universally "good" or "bad" baseline. What matters is the gap between where you start and where you need to end up. Most students see their baseline as a bit of a wake-up call, and that's normal. The diagnostic is about getting an honest picture, not a flattering one.