Guidelines for the Use of GRE Scores

Guidelines for the Use of GRE Scores
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The GRE Board has adopted a statement regarding fair and appropriate use of GRE scores. This statement
can be found on the GRE website at www.ets.org/gre/guidelines

Introduction 
These guidelines have been adopted by the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Board to provide information about the appropriate use of GRE test scores for those who use the scores in graduate admissions and fellowship selection processes and for guidance and counseling for graduate study. They are also intended to protect applicants from unfair decisions that may result from inappropriate uses of scores. Adherence to the guidelines is important.  The GRE General Test and Subject Tests are designed to assess academic knowledge and skills relevant to graduate study. As measures with known statistical properties and highquality technical characteristics, the scores from these tests, when used properly, can improve graduate admissions and fellowship selection processes. The research section of the GRE website includes research reports that provide validity evidence for the use of GRE scores in graduate admissions and fellowship selection processes. The research reports can be found at www.ets.org/gre/research.
  Any GRE test, however, has two primary limitations: (1) it does not and cannot measure
all the qualities that are important in predicting success in graduate study or in confirming
undergraduate achievement and (2) it is an inexact measure; consequently, the standard error of easurement of the difference between test scores can serve as a reliable indication of real differences in applicants’ academic knowledge and developed abilities.   Although limitations and cautions apply to all admissions measures, the GRE Board has a particular obligation to inform users of the appropriate uses of GRE scores and to identify and try to rectify instances of misuse. To this end, the following policies and guidelines are
available to all GRE examinees, institutions, and organizations that are users of GRE scores.
Policies In recognition of its obligation to ensure the appropriate use of GRE scores, the GRE Board
has developed policies designed to make score reports available only to approved users, to
encourage these score users to become knowledgeable about the validity of the test score uses and interpretations, to protect the confidentiality of test takers’ scores and to The policies are discussed below.
Score users. Undergraduate and graduate institutions and non-degree-granting organizations that award graduate fellowships are eligible for consideration as score users. The GRE Board retains the right to make exceptions to this policy in special circumstances. Validity. The general appropriateness of using
GRE test scores for graduate admissions, fellowship selection and guidance and counseling for graduate study has been established by research studies carried out by ETS and others. GRE scores may be appropriate for some other purposes, but it is important for the user to validate their use for those purposes.
To assist departments and programs in evaluating proposed uses, these guidelines include information about appropriate uses and uses without supporting validity evidence.  Confidentiality. GRE scores, whether those of an individual or aggregated for an institution, are confidential and can be released only by authorization of the individual or institution or by compulsion of legal process. Use of reportable scores. GRE test scores are
part of examinees’ reportable history for five years after the testing year in which they tested (July 1 – June 30). As of July 1, 2012, GRE scores earned July 1, 2007, to present will be available in examinees’ reportable GRE score history. The five-year policy was developed to support the validity of GRE test scores. Older scores may not reflect an applicant’s current ability in verbal reasoning, quantitative
reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking. Applicant’s experiences over a long period of time (more than five years) between testing and applying to a graduate or business program, may impact their ability and their scores in these areas may have changed. Only official reportable scores should be used in the
admissions and fellowship selection processes. Use of scores in aggregated form. Graduate
departments and programs are urged to report GRE scores in ranges, such as the highest and
lowest scores of the middle 50 percent of the admitted applicants and to avoid use of a precise
mean or median. Presenting information by score ranges emphasizes the diversity of individual scores for any one graduate department or program, and also makes clear the overlap of scores among graduate departments and programs.  Use of GRE scores in aggregated form as a measure for ranking or rating graduate programs, institutions, university systems or states is strongly discouraged except when the
scores are used as one indicator among several appropriate indicators of educational quality.
Use of concorded scores. Concordance tables are available at www.ets.org/gre/concordance to
help score users transition from using Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores on the prior 200–800 score scale to using scores on the new 130–170 score scale, and to facilitate the comparison of scores of individuals who took the General Test in the prior format with those who take the revised General Test. The concordance tables show the relationship between the score scales of the General Test in the prior format and the revised General Test.  There are separate tables for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning measures. Each of the tables provides a point estimate of the corresponding score on the scale
of the revised General Test for each score on the prior 200-800 scale. Also included are the most
recent percentile ranks associated with each new scale score.Encouragement of appropriate use and
investigation of reported misuse. All users of GRE scores have an obligation to use the scores in accordance with published GRE Board policies and guidelines. Departments and programs have a responsibility to ensure that all users of GRE scores are aware of the GRE Board score-use policies and guidelines and to
monitor the use of the scores, correcting instances of misuse when they are identified. The GRE Program staff is available to assist institutions in resolving score-misuse issues. Guidelines
1. Use Multiple Criteria 
Regardless of the decision to be made, multiple sources of information should be used to ensure fairness and to balance the limitations of any single measure of knowledge, skills or abilities. These sources may include undergraduate grade point average, letters of recommendation, personal statement, samples of academic work and professional experience related to proposed graduate study. A cut-off score (i.e., a
minimum score) should never be used as the only criterion for denial of admission or
awarding of a fellowship.   Use of multiple criteria is particularly important when using GRE scores to assess
the abilities of educationally disadvantaged applicants, applicants whose primary
language is not English and applicants who are returning to school after an extended
absence. Score users are urged to become familiar with factors affecting score
interpretation for these groups as discussed in this publication.
2. Accept Only Official GRE Score Reports 
The only official reports of GRE scores are those issued by ETS and sent directly to approved institutions and organizations designated by the examinees and to vendors the score recipients might designate to
process the scores they receive. Scores obtained from other sources should not be accepted. If there is a question about the authenticity of a score report, the question should be referred to ETS. ETS will verify
whether an official report was issued and the accuracy of the scores.
3. Conduct Validity Studies 
Departments and programs using GRE scores for graduate admissions, fellowship awards, and guidance and counseling for graduate study are encouraged to collect validity information by conducting their
own studies. The GRE Program staff will provide advice on the design of appropriate validation studies without charge.
4. Maintain Confidentiality of GRE Scores 
All GRE score users should be aware of the confidential nature of the scores and agree to maintain their confidentiality. Institutional policies should be developed to ensure that confidentiality is maintained. For example, GRE scores should not be placed on documents sent outside the institution.
5. Consider Verbal Reasoning, 
Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing Scores as Three Separate and Independent
Measures Since the level of skills in verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and analytical writing
abilities required for success in graduate and business schools varies by field or department, Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning and Analytical Writing scores should not be combined into a single score. To understand factors related to combining scores, view the GRE DataViews article, “Why not 1000?,” at
www.ets.org/gre/institutions/about/downloads.
6. Conduct Reviews of Subject Test Content 
Although each Subject Test is developed and updated regularly by a committee of examiners who are ctively teaching in the field, the match between the test and the curriculum in a given department may not be exact and may vary over time. Departments are encouraged to periodically review the test content description in order to verify the appropriateness of the content for their programs. The free practice books
can be downloaded at www.ets.org/gre/subject/prepare.
7. Avoid Decisions Based on Small Score 
DifferencesSmall differences in GRE scores (as defined by the standard error of measurement [SEM]
for score differences) should not be used to make distinctions among examinees. SEMs vary by test and are available in this publication.
8. Use the Appropriate Percentile Ranks 
when Comparing Candidates Percentile ranks are provided on score reports and can be used to compare
examinees’ relative performance among the measures. Percentile ranks indicate the percent of examinees in a group who obtained scores below a specified score. The percentile ranks are generally based on
previous GRE examinees from a recent three-year period.

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