The revised GRE General test is scored on a scale of 130-170 (Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning tests) and 0-6 (Analytical Writing). If you took the GRE before August 1, 2011, though, your Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning scores were on a completely different scale!

So how do you compare your new out-of-170 GRE scores to the old 800 GRE scale? How does GRE score conversion work? Use our official old GRE to new GRE concordance charts for accurate conversions, plus learn the reasons you might need to convert your GRE scores from the old to new GRE scales.

feature image credit: Business Baby Pointing/used under CC BY 2.0/Resized from original.

 

Old GRE to New GRE Scores: What’s the Difference?

The scoring of the GRE General test was changed in August 2011 from the old GRE scale of 200-800 to the new GRE scale of 130-170 for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning Tests (the 0-6 scoring for the Analytical Writing Test was not changed).

These scoring changes were accompanied by significant changes to the computer-adaptive nature of the GRE: instead of having the test be adaptive on a question-by-question level, the revised GRE general test is adaptive on a section level.

Note that because it’s been more than five years since the last administration of the old test, all old GRE scores are now expired. You’ll still have earned the scores when you did, but you won’t be able to send official score reports from ETS to schools or other programs with those scores included on them.

 

 

GRE Score Conversion Chart

The most accurate concordance tables come directly from the makers of the test, the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Below, you’ll find the most up to date Old-to-New GRE conversion tables that have been officially released.

 

Verbal Reasoning Concordance

Old GRE Scale	Current GRE Scale	% Rank*
800	170	99
790	170	99
780	170	99
770	170	99
760	170	99
750	169	99
740	169	99
730	168	98
720	168	98
710	167	97
700	166	96
690	165	95
680	165	95
670	164	94
660	164	94
650	163	92
640	162	90
630	162	90
620	161	87
610	160	85
600	160	85
590	159	81
580	158	79
570	158	79
560	157	74
550	156	71
540	156	71
530	155	67
520	154	63
510	154	63
500	153	59
490	152	54
480	152	54
470	151	50
460	151	50
450	150	45
440	149	41
430	149	41
420	148	37
410	147	33
400	146	29
390	146	29
380	145	25
370	144	22
360	143	18
350	143	18
340	142	16
330	141	13
320	140	10
310	139	8
300	138	7
290	137	5
280	135	3
270	134	2
260	133	1
250	132	1
240	131	1
230	130	–
220	130	–
210	130	–
200	130	–

*Percentiles calculated based on the performance of students who took the new GRE between August 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014.

 

Quantitative Reasoning Concordance

Old GRE Scale	Current Scale	% Rank*
800	166	92
790	164	88
780	163	86
770	161	80
760	160	78
750	159	75
740	158	71
730	157	68
720	156	64
710	155	60
700	155	60
690	154	56
680	153	52
670	152	48
660	152	48
650	151	45
640	151	45
630	150	40
620	149	37
610	149	37
600	148	32
590	148	32
580	147	28
570	147	28
560	146	25
550	146	25
540	145	21
530	145	21
520	144	18
510	144	18
500	144	18
490	143	15
480	143	15
470	142	12
460	142	12
450	141	10
440	141	10
430	141	10
420	140	8
410	140	8
400	140	8
390	139	6
380	139	6
370	138	4
360	138	4
350	138	4
340	137	3
330	137	3
320	136	2
310	136	2
300	136	2
290	135	2
280	135	2
270	134	1
260	134	1
250	133	1
240	133	1
230	132	–
220	132	–
210	131	–
200	131	–

*Percentiles calculated based on the performance of students who took the new GRE between August 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014.

 

Limits of Old GRE to New GRE Conversion

ETS has issued a couple of caveats about using these GRE score conversion charts. Because the old GRE has 61 different possible score points (200-800, 10 point increments) while the current GRE has only 41 possible score points (130-170, 1 point increments), there are some instances where multiple different scores on the old GRE concord to the same score on the new GRE.

In addition to this logistical issue, ETS warns that evaluating the Quantitative Reasoning scores for the old GRE requires “special care.” An 800/800 Quantitative Reasoning score on the old GRE only converts to a 166/170 Quantitative Reasoning score on the new GRE. Admissions officers or other “score users,” however, are encouraged to consider that “test takers who took the prior test and received an 800 on the Quantitative Reasoning measure, received the highest score possible that they were able to earn on the measure.”

Therefore, students who scored a 170 on the new GRE Quantitative Reasoning section aren’t necessarily better or smarter than students who scored 800 on the old GRE Quantitative Reasoning section; it’s just that the tests were different and the old scoring didn’t allow as much nuance for distinguishing between “higher ability test takers.” 

Finally, the old GRE and new GRE had different methods of adapting the questions to your performance. In the old GRE, you couldn’t skip questions and come back to them – you had to answer every single question before proceeding to the next one. This means the old GRE required different test-taking strategies from other tests. Thus, strong performers on the old GRE might not have been as strong on the new GRE, and vice versa.

 

 

How Can GRE Score Conversion Help You?

Now that you know how to convert your score from the old GRE to new GRE, what should you do with this information?

If you took the GRE before July 1, 2011, the main use of these GRE score conversion tables is that it gives you a rough idea of how you’d do on the current test. However, it’s not just the scaling that’s changed on the GRE – the format has also changed a little bit – so it’s not necessarily the most accurate picture of how you’d score were you to take the GRE now.

The Quantitative Reasoning test difficulty level has remained relatively constant over time, as you can see from the percentile scores – a 71st percentile score on the Quantitative Reasoning section requires a 158/170 or a 740/800, which are roughly equivalent (158/170 = 0.929, 740/800 = 0.925). The main scoring change is that getting a perfect score on the Quantitative Reasoning section now is harder than it was to get a perfect score on the old GRE Quantitative Reasoning section because the GRE scoring has changed to allow more differentiation between the very high scoring students, not because the Quantitative Reasoning section has become more difficult OVERALL.

By contrast, based on score trends, the Verbal Reasoning test seems to have decreased in difficulty. A 71st percentile score on the Verbal Reasoning section requires a 156 out of 180 on the new GRE, or a 540 to 550 out of 800 on the old GRE. These two scores are not equivalent: 156/180 = 0.866, while 540/800 = 0.675  and 550/800 = 0.689. Since 550/800 < 158/170, this means that you needed fewer points on the old GRE Verbal Reasoning test (550/800) than you would on the new GRE Verbal Reasoning test (158/170) to get the equivalent percentile rank.

What does this all mean? You could get away with scoring fewer points before, relative to the highest possible score, and still get an equally high percentile. Therefore, the fact that you now need more points on the GRE Verbal Reasoning test to get the same percentile means that that test has gotten easier overall.

So to some degree, test takers who took the old GRE can estimate that if they took the new GRE without any preparation, they’d get about the same score on the new GRE Quantitative Reasoning and a “better” score on the GRE Verbal Reasoning (although your percentile rank should remain fairly stable). For the best estimate of your current GRE score, though, you’ll need to take an official GRE practice test.

If you took the test after August 1, 2011, the main use of the GRE score conversion tables is for you to compare how your scores stack up against requirements for programs or fellowships that haven’t yet converted their requirements to the new score format yet. Relatively few programs will ask you to convert your new, out-of-170 GRE scores back to the old GRE score system, but there are definitely still some out there that haven’t yet updated their average or minimum required scores.

 

 

What’s Next?

Took the old GRE and want to find out more about the way the GRE works now? Learn about the new GRE test format and how the GRE is scored.

Looking to register for the GRE? Read our guides to GRE registration and GRE testing fees.

Now that you know how the scores convert, what makes a good GRE score?