Reinstating GRE Scores

GRE Score Reinstatement Policies

Upon completing the GRE, test-takers are given the option to cancel their exam without receiving their scores or have their exam graded and receive their unofficial scores, with official scores to follow in roughly a week. If a student chooses to cancel their exam, then changes their mind and decides they would like to receive their scores after all, they may do so provided they follow certain policies. Educational Testing Service (ETS), the creator and administrator of the GRE, allows test-takers to reinstate canceled scores provided they do so within 60 days of completing the GRE and pay a fee of $50.

Test-takers are allowed to cancel and reinstate GRE scores multiple times, but they must pay all fees associated with each reinstatement. Reports for reinstated scores do not show any previous cancellations or reinstatements and appear identical to standard score reports when viewed by designated schools. All of the above policies apply only to scores that were voluntarily canceled by the test-taker; scores that were involuntarily cancelled by ETS due to testing misconduct will not be reinstated.

How to Reinstate GRE Scores

For the GRE, score reinstatement is completed either online through your ETS account or by filling out a form and mailing it to a given address. Regardless of the method you choose, reinstatement costs $50 and must be paid by credit card, debit card, or check. Reinstated scores are usually available within two weeks of request submission, at which time they will be sent to any schools you designated on the reinstatement request form.

Should I Reinstate My GRE Scores?

At one time, it was common for students to cancel GRE scores if they felt they had not performed well on the exam. This was to avoid having low scores on their score reports that they did not want graduate programs to see. While schools would still see that the student took the GRE and chose to cancel their scores, they would have no way of knowing what those scores were, since the scores were canceled. At the time, this was seen as the best way to present only top GRE scores to graduate programs and other designated recipients. Since ETS introduced ScoreSelect, however, this practice has changed significantly.

With ScoreSelect, students can choose the GRE scores they want sent to designated programs. Programs that receive scores do not see any indication on the score report that a student has taken the GRE multiple times or canceled scores; they only see the test scores the student chooses to send them.

On the day of the GRE, test-takers have two ScoreSelect options:

1) Submit their most recent GRE scores;

2) Submit all their GRE scores (if they have taken the exam more than once).

Students may also choose not to send any scores immediately after completing the GRE. If test-takers select this option, they can send scores to designated programs at a later date for a fee of $40 per score report with three ScoreSelect options:

1) Submit their most recent GRE scores;

2) Submit all their GRE scores (if they have taken the exam more than once);

3) Submit GRE scores from a specific test administration.

The only thing students are not permitted to do is submit scores from two different test administrations. For example, a test-taker cannot submit Verbal Reasoning scores from a test they took in November and Quantitative Reasoning scores from a test they took in January.

Given that test-takers have complete control over which scores graduate, business, or law programs see, there is no longer any need to worry about low scores on a score report. This means there is less pressure to assess your test performance minutes after completing the GRE and hope you performed well enough to make receiving your scores worth it.

Students now have options: you can receive your GRE scores and if you are pleased with them, you can select the schools they will be sent to. If you are not pleased with your scores, you can take the GRE again and attempt to earn higher scores. If you take the GRE a second time and score lower than the first time, you may decide to send out your original GRE scores, particularly if you decide to apply to different programs than you initially planned. What is important to note is that you have more options than simply canceling your scores and then choosing to reinstate them for an additional fee at a later date. Given that registering for the GRE already costs $220, it is important to know where you can avoid extra fees by getting the most of out what you have already paid for.

Ultimately, however, the choice of whether to keep or cancel scores is up to each individual test-taker. If you decide to cancel your scores for whatever reason upon completing the exam, you can choose to have them reinstated as long as you submit the reinstatement request within 60 days of completing the exam, along with the required $50 fee.

Conclusion

Canceled GRE scores can be reinstated as long as ETS receives your reinstatement form and $50 fee within 60 days of taking the GRE. Given that ETS allows students to have complete control over their GRE scores, canceling scores to keep them off your score report is no longer a recommended practice. As there may be extenuating circumstances regarding your choice to cancel scores, however, canceling and reinstating scores is up to each test-taker and dependent upon their specific academic and professional goals.