What's a Good GRE Score?

November 12, 2025

You could almost spend more time trying to determine the perfect GRE score than actually studying for it. With all of the online rumors and false information about the exam, its scoring rubric, and what separates a substandard score from a premium one, it's a wonder most people don't have panic attacks before they even set foot in the testing center! How much thought have you put into what type of score you need for your own application purposes? Has your mind been swimming with Verbal, Quant, and Analytical Writing averages that seem to get you nowhere? 

Learning about what makes a good GRE score is a major aspect of studying for it. Not only do you need to know how far you must go with your own studies, but learning the academic expectations of a given program through its GRE scores is highly beneficial before beginning the graduate program of your dreams. In this article, we will break down average GRE scores as cited through ETS. We'll also examine mean scores by major, country of origin, and program or university. Hopefully, this information will paint a better picture of your own course of study as well as score expectations. After all, knowing what's ahead better charts your immediate path forward. We hope this article gives you not only insight, but acknowledgment of everything that's expected of you and this important test. 

Okay, let's dive in. 

GRE Score at a Glance

Before we delve further into the specifics of what makes a good GRE score, let's take a look at the averages. Below is a table detailing score averages from ETS, the makers of the GRE, from July 2021 through June 2024. Whether it's relevant or not, we should note that the test takers represented in this table were 52% male and 48% female, with less than 1% who didn't provide a gender classification. 

Now that you know the average scores are 151.21 in Verbal Reasoning, 157.58 in Quantitative Reasoning, and 3.44 in Analytical Writing, you'll have a better idea of the GRE scoring landscape while you study for the exam. It might be useful to compare your own diagnostic mock exam scores to these averages to see how you match up. 

Since the GRE is intended for graduate school across a variety of disciplines, it's perhaps valuable to examine average GRE scores by major/graduate school focus. Since some majors vary dramatically from others—not just in core content, but also GRE averages—picking apart mean scores by majors can bring about much-needed insight. 

The information in the table below also comes from ETS. The scores are averaged from the same time period as above, July 2021 through June 2024. Please note—if your intended major isn't listed, ETS has a more extensive list on their website for continued study. 

As is to be expected, students who pursue quant- and math-heavy majors such as mathematics, engineering, and finance have higher quantitative GRE averages than those focused on subjects that lean on literature or language. Of course, a student's planned major will directly impact his or her score, depending on their strengths and field of study. 

A final point of interest is nationality. The following information from ETS looks at GRE averages by country from July 2023 to June 2024. If you are a non-U.S. citizen applying to graduate programs in the United States, this will be of particular interest to you. Hopefully, it will inform your own thoughts about the competition you may be facing from your home country in the application pool! 

It's no surprise that the verbal averages are higher in countries where English is the native language. It might be a bit of a shock, however, to see that the quant averages are higher than the U.S. in all the other countries listed. This correlates with past National Science Foundation research that found high school students in countries like South Korea and Japan, among others, far exceed the math capabilities of U.S. students. So, if you're a U.S. citizen taking the GRE for graduate study in math, play to your strengths! 

Average GRE Scores by School

While it's beneficial to know U.S. average national GRE scores as well as those from other countries, having information about your chosen university's GRE statistics is very useful while studying for the exam. When you know the average GRE score of students at a particular school, you're aware not only of the competition, but how much further you have to go. This can affect your tutoring or class curriculum, as well as the number of diagnostic mock exams you take, depending on whether you're far ahead of your target school's average or lagging behind and need to improve. 

The following chart shows average GRE score ranges for five top schools as a benchmark. Because the scores are divided by both school and subject, we used averages—which are all identical—for the following universities: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, and Columbia. This score information was taken from a 2018 U.S. News & World Report ranking. Since the Covid pandemic, schools are largely no longer disclosing their GRE data as they previously did. As a result, we were unable to obtain updated data from a ranking, the schools or other sources we trust to be accurate. However, the ranges are likely to still be in the same ballpark, and present an overall picture of the standing of students at these schools that's broadly correct. As you can see, elite schools tend to have similar, if not identical, ranges.

This hopefully paints a picture of what the student body looks when it comes to test performance. Do you know how your scores compare to your chosen school? Making sure they fall within the range, if not surpass it, can help alleviate application anxiety and safeguard admission. 

The Takeaway

After learning all this information, you may be wondering: So what's my GRE plan of attack? Being saturated with average scores not only by school, but also by major and country, can be overwhelming when trying to chart concrete steps to achieve your own ideal score. Let's talk about some ways to improve your score with all this data in the back of your mind. 

First and foremost, finding the right course of study is imperative for GRE success. This not only includes top tier study materials with adequate explanations and practice exercises, but an actual class—be it in-person or online—with a highly skilled GRE instructor who can break down and expand on important test-taking strategies and points. Thankfully, there are a lot of opportunities for GRE prep out there. Long gone are the days when you were limited to a traditional "brick and mortar" classroom. Many online courses make studying for this important exam convenient and intellectually stimulating, particularly when you can do it from the comfort and ease of your home or office. Furthermore, deciding whether or not you are best suited for one-on-one tutoring or more of an "in-class experience" is crucial, as both can play to your strengths, aspirations, and test-taking weaknesses. 

Implementing your course of study—whether through Manhattan Review or another highly reputable academic services firm—with realistic mock GRE exams is also beneficial, as you can better track the progression of your score. These help in providing a "test day experience" in which you feel time pressure against a ticking stopwatch. There's nothing more exciting than seeing your score improve over time, particularly as it inches closer to your ideal score for the school of your dreams. So why not get started on a diagnostic test? The advantages are endless. 

In the end, earning a score several points higher than your dream school's average is the best way to use the GRE to your full advantage. That may involve more hours of tutoring than you initially imagined or even sitting for the official exam more than once. However you navigate it, getting an elite score is a surefire way to secure admission to an elite graduate school program. Whether you're aiming for continued study in economics, chemistry, business, psychology, or another field, with hard work and determination, the GRE can help you accomplish your dreams.