Sending GRE scores early?

[Enzo07]

Hi,

I used the search function, and couldn't quite find what I was looking for.

I know you can take the GRE early, but can you send the 4 free score reports at time of application, for the following year's application cycle?

I am a rising junior (as of Fall '16), and have way more time to take it towards the end of this summer. I want to go abroad to Australia in the Spring '17, which means I won't be home until mid-June, when applications begin and I don't wanna be scrambling to study while applying and be all stressed. So I'm looking to take the GRE maybe this August 2016, send them to 4 schools I want to apply to for free, but not apply until application cycle for 2022 (next year's cycle), and not have to pay for 4 schools the following year.

Thank you!

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[twelvetigers]

I have *no* idea if a school would file and keep those scores for the next round of applications. Some may. Some might if you specifically request it.

I would probably call the schools and politely ask.

 

[peteypie]

Here is what UGA has posted on their website in terms of sending scores for the 2021 application cycle:

• GRE scores submitted before April 1, 2016, or after September 15, 2016, will not be used for the 2016-2017 application cycle. Even if scores were sent previously, make sure to send them again between the dates listed above.

So I'll have to send mine again.....

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Hi,

I used the search function, and couldn't quite find what I was looking for.

I know you can take the GRE early, but can you send the 4 free score reports at time of application, for the following year's application cycle?

I am a rising junior (as of Fall '16), and have way more time to take it towards the end of this summer. I want to go abroad to Australia in the Spring '17, which means I won't be home until mid-June, when applications begin and I don't wanna be scrambling to study while applying and be all stressed. So I'm looking to take the GRE maybe this August 2016, send them to 4 schools I want to apply to for free, but not apply until matriculation for 2022 (next year's cycle), and not have to pay for 4 schools the following year.

Thank you!

I applied twice, the second time being the very next cycle and I did have to have my GRE scores resent, even though the schools I was applying to were the same. Agree on communicating with the schools to verify.

 

[Enzo07]

I have *no* idea if a school would file and keep those scores for the next round of applications. Some may. Some might if you specifically request it.

I would probably call the schools and politely ask.

Here is what UGA has posted on their website in terms of sending scores for the 2021 application cycle:

• GRE scores submitted before April 1, 2016, or after September 15, 2016, will not be used for the 2016-2017 application cycle. Even if scores were sent previously, make sure to send them again between the dates listed above.

So I'll have to send mine again.....

I applied twice, the second time being the very next cycle and I did have to have my GRE scores resent, even though the schools I was applying to were the same. Agree on communicating with the schools to verify.

Peteypie- thanks for that! That's what I was looking for. I was hoping I could get away with free scores this year without having to repay just for the 4.
Pinkpuppy - that stinks. You would think since they already have them somewhere in some system, they'd cut you some slack.
I really think have a shot at a better score this year. Oh well, I've started contacting schools I'm interested in. Thanks again!

 

[VetMed1]

Hey everyone. I am not sure where to ask this but what is the last date we should take the GRE? I want to have as much study time as possible, but also want to make sure my scores are 100% in to schools before Sept. 15th. It is recommended on some school's websites to not take the GRE past August 1st, but that seems wrong..like we could actually take it later. I just want to know if I can take it past August 1st, and still be sure that school's receive my scores. Thanks!

 

[KCgophervet]

Hey everyone. I am not sure where to ask this but what is the last date we should take the GRE? I want to have as much study time as possible, but also want to make sure my scores are 100% in to schools before Sept. 15th. It is recommended on some school's websites to not take the GRE past August 1st, but that seems wrong..like we could actually take it later. I just want to know if I can take it past August 1st, and still be sure that school's receive my scores. Thanks!

Personally I'd take it earlier. If you take it by early July then you leave yourself a window to retake it if your scores aren't where you want them to be (you have to wait a month between tests if I recall correctly). Time to prepare is good, and I get that time is running out as summer is chugging along quickly here (where does the time go?) but I would probably not wait until mid-August or later to take it. Better safe than sorry.

 

[morninqlory]

I took mine on August 28th last year and was fine... I wasn't planning to retake it and did pretty well but knew what to expect. I'd taken it 5 years before, though it was in the old format. I would say you might look into how the scores are sent to the schools you want to apply to. I did send some to schools that receive them by mail instead of electronically that were outside the US. They cut me some slack but I'd say I wouldn't count on it.

Also, I was only planning on applying to a couple schools but decided to go ahead and send scores to a a few others on a whim while I was sitting there since you can't send scores for free once you leave the test.

 

[morninqlory]

Oh but yeah keep in mind that you can only retake the test after a certain period of time I think

 

[VetMed1]

Personally I'd take it earlier. If you take it by early July then you leave yourself a window to retake it if your scores aren't where you want them to be (you have to wait a month between tests if I recall correctly). Time to prepare is good, and I get that time is running out as summer is chugging along quickly here (where does the time go?) but I would probably not wait until mid-August or later to take it. Better safe than sorry.

You can take the GRE every 21 days, but no more than 5x in one year. So I was hoping to take it July 31st, then again 21 days later if needed. Every U.S. school now actually gets the GRE scores electronically. Western was the only one that still got them by snail mail, but as of last year the switched to electronic.

 

[VetMed1]

I took mine on August 28th last year and was fine... I wasn't planning to retake it and did pretty well but knew what to expect. I'd taken it 5 years before, though it was in the old format. I would say you might look into how the scores are sent to the schools you want to apply to. I did send some to schools that receive them by mail instead of electronically that were outside the US. They cut me some slack but I'd say I wouldn't count on it.

Also, I was only planning on applying to a couple schools but decided to go ahead and send scores to a a few others on a whim while I was sitting there since you can't send scores for free once you leave the test.

Wow August 28th! That was for U.S. schools?
I was hoping to take it August 1st, and if I needed to retake it, I could retake it August 22nd. Is this too late?

 

[LetItSnow]

What's a rising junior?

 

[KCgophervet]

What's a rising junior?

Someone in the summer between sophomore and junior year. Either that or a junior standing on an escalator or elevator.

 

[morninqlory]

Wow August 28th! That was for U.S. schools?
I was hoping to take it August 1st, and if I needed to retake it, I could retake it August 22nd. Is this too late?

Yeah I sent scores to both schools in the US and outside the country with the goal of attending in the UK... Which is my current plan. Like I said, they all received the scores either on time or shortly after the deadline. I don't remember which ones were after but I called to check in to see what happened if it didn't get in on time. The schools that I interacted with were really nice about it and just made sure they got added when they did arrive. (I'm guessing this won't work if you take it really close to the deadline?) I mean, I of course can't promise the schools you will be applying to will do it that way or that the schools I applied to would do it again.

I would say PREPARE WELL THE FIRST TIME and do your best... of course. DO IT EARLIER THAN I DID. Send your scores since they'll get those scores even if you do retake it and that way you have something in. (Unless you choose not to report the scores... Which I don't understand.) If you retake it know that in late August isn't impossible to get scores in.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Wow August 28th! That was for U.S. schools?
I was hoping to take it August 1st, and if I needed to retake it, I could retake it August 22nd. Is this too late?

August 22nd could be pushing it for the retake. When I took the GRE, it took about 2 weeks from the day of testing to get my official scores sent to me and the schools, and that was early in the summer. The scores you see right when you finish the exam aren't necessarily the 'official' scores, they have to do some percentile calculations if I remember correctly (hence the 2 week delay).

Also, I just realized VMCAS is finally accepting GRE scores on behalf of the schools! That's seriously awesome, especially for reapplicants. I remember suggesting this personally to the VMCAS guy like 3-4 years ago, lol. Would have saved me $100 or so during my second cycle.

 

[VetMed1]

Yeah I sent scores to both schools in the US and outside the country with the goal of attending in the UK... Which is my current plan. Like I said, they all received the scores either on time or shortly after the deadline. I don't remember which ones were after but I called to check in to see what happened if it didn't get in on time. The schools that I interacted with were really nice about it and just made sure they got added when they did arrive. (I'm guessing this won't work if you take it really close to the deadline?) I mean, I of course can't promise the schools you will be applying to will do it that way or that the schools I applied to would do it again.

I would say PREPARE WELL THE FIRST TIME and do your best... of course. DO IT EARLIER THAN I DID. Send your scores since they'll get those scores even if you do retake it and that way you have something in. (Unless you choose not to report the scores... Which I don't understand.) If you retake it know that in late August isn't impossible to get scores in.

Thank you for your response! I am studying as much as I can now, so that when I take it August 1st I hope my scores will be good enough that I won't have to retake it. I would definitely send those scores in anyway. If I do decide to retake it, I would just send those scores in as well. k

 

[Devastating]

August 22nd could be pushing it for the retake. When I took the GRE, it took about 2 weeks from the day of testing to get my official scores sent to me and the schools, and that was early in the summer. The scores you see right when you finish the exam aren't necessarily the 'official' scores, they have to do some percentile calculations if I remember correctly (hence the 2 week delay).

Also, I just realized VMCAS is finally accepting GRE scores on behalf of the schools! That's seriously awesome, especially for reapplicants. I remember suggesting this personally to the VMCAS guy like 3-4 years ago, lol. Would have saved me $100 or so during my second cycle.

Very true. I know this firsthand (and have left a token complaint about it here pretty much every time the GRE's been brought up ), because my Verbal score was actually adjusted DOWN two points after my first test attempt last year. I took a second attempt this May though and the scores weren't changed at all that time--it all depends. I think it can take anywhere from 10-15 days to receive the scores, mine both arrived pretty quickly.

And as for the second part, unfortunately I think that didn't really come to fruition afaik (at least not in the way that everyone was hoping)--VMCAS is not offering a singular listing to accept scores on behalf of all schools, there are just some separate listings for schools (not even all the schools, just some) that will say "[school name] VMCAS" (for example after I took the test I found and selected "Ohio State University VMCAS")...yeah. Other than lessening the possibility of sending scores to the wrong department of a school, I don't really get the point

ETA: and yes, if you're going to take multiple GRE attempts I'd definitely go for the "send all scores" option instead of just the current attempt, since schools differ in how they use GRE scores and some will take the best scores for each section from multiple attempts.

 

[VetMed1]

August 22nd could be pushing it for the retake. When I took the GRE, it took about 2 weeks from the day of testing to get my official scores sent to me and the schools, and that was early in the summer. The scores you see right when you finish the exam aren't necessarily the 'official' scores, they have to do some percentile calculations if I remember correctly (hence the 2 week delay).

Also, I just realized VMCAS is finally accepting GRE scores on behalf of the schools! That's seriously awesome, especially for reapplicants. I remember suggesting this personally to the VMCAS guy like 3-4 years ago, lol. Would have saved me $100 or so during my second cycle.

The problem is, I fear I would not be ready to take it by like July 11th for example (that is 21 days before August 1st). I think if i study hard enough for the August 1st date, I will not have to retake it.
Also, what does "I just realized VMCAS is finally accepting GRE scores on behalf of the schools" mean?

 

[VetMed1]

Very true. I know this firsthand (and have left a token complaint about it here pretty much every time the GRE's been brought up ), because my Verbal score was actually adjusted DOWN two points after my first test attempt last year. I took a second attempt this May though and the scores weren't changed at all that time--it all depends. I think it can take anywhere from 10-15 days to receive the scores, mine both arrived pretty quickly.

And as for the second part, unfortunately I think that didn't really come to fruition afaik (at least not in the way that everyone was hoping)--VMCAS is not offering a singular listing to accept scores on behalf of all schools, there are just some separate listings for schools (not even all the schools, just some) that will say "[school name] VMCAS" (for example after I took the test I found and selected "Ohio State University VMCAS")...yeah. Other than lessening the possibility of sending scores to the wrong department of a school, I don't really get the point

ETA: and yes, if you're going to take multiple GRE attempts I'd definitely go for the "send all scores" option instead of just the current attempt, since schools differ in how they use GRE scores and some will take the best scores for each section from multiple attempts.

Ok so this is where it gets confusing. If I take it August 1st, I should definitely send those scores in to all of the schools I am applying to no matter what. IF I decide to retake it on August 22nd however and want to send those in as well, will I be able to? I just fear not sending in the August 1st scores at all and relying on the later scores and August 1st scores in together, that schools will not have any GRE scores from me at all.

 

[Devastating]

Also, what does "I just realized VMCAS is finally accepting GRE scores on behalf of the schools" mean?

It was rumored that VMCAS would start accepting GRE scores this year, so that applicants would only need to send the scores to one place (VMCAS), and the scores could then be shared from there to all the schools you apply to (instead of having to send GRE scores to all your schools separately). However, I explained in my post that I don't think this is happening after all.

Ok so this is where it gets confusing. If I take it August 1st, I should definitely send those scores in to all of the schools I am applying to no matter what. IF I decide to retake it on August 22nd however and want to send those in as well, will I be able to? I just fear not sending in the August 1st scores at all and relying on the later scores and August 1st scores in together, that schools will not have any GRE scores from me at all.

Oh, sorry for the confusion--I meant that you can select that option on your later attempts if you take the exam more than once! Whenever you finish the exam and choose where to send your scores, GRE gives the option of either sending this score only, or all of your scores from the past few years. That will not apply to you on the first try because it will be your only score at that point, so yes, you would send that score--but IF you do retake on the 22nd, after that exam you could choose the "send all scores" option and it will send both of your score attempts.

 

[VetMed1]

It was rumored that VMCAS would start accepting GRE scores this year, so that applicants would only need to send the scores to one place (VMCAS), and the scores could then be shared from there to all the schools you apply to (instead of having to send GRE scores to all your schools separately). However, I explained in my post that I don't think this is happening after all.

Oh, sorry for the confusion--I meant that you can select that option on your later attempts if you take the exam more than once! Whenever you finish the exam and choose where to send your scores, GRE gives the option of either sending this score only, or all of your scores from the past few years. That will not apply to you on the first try because it will be your only score at that point, so yes, you would send that score--but IF you do retake on the 22nd, after that exam you could choose the "send all scores" option and it will send both of your score attempts.

Thank you for your reply. That would have been amazing if vmcas did that.
Ok so I didn't mention this earlier but I took the GRE twice last year. However, I don't want to use those scores at all. This is my question now: if I take it on August 1st, and send only those in (none from last year), then take it again 21 days later and want to send those scores as well, will it send all of my scores including last year's?

 

[Devastating]

Thank you for your reply. That would have been amazing if vmcas did that.
Ok so I didn't mention this earlier but I took the GRE twice last year. However, I don't want to use those scores at all. This is my question now: if I take it on August 1st, and send only those in (none from last year), then take it again 21 days later and want to send those scores as well, will it send all of my scores including last year's?

If you take it on Aug 1st you can send just that score, then if you retake 21 days later I looked at the GRE website and they state that "When ordering ASRs online you can select to send scores from your Most Recent, All or Any specific test administration of the General Test and/or Subject Tests." So I assume that means there may also be an option to select exactly which of the scores you want to send! That might only be if you order additional scores online, though, I don't remember if that option was one of the free ones available right after the exam or not.
I do know that with the "send all" score option it uses all your attempts from the past 5 years, so yes it would include last year's...even if those scores aren't that great though, I don't think it would reflect negatively on you since your newer scores will show improvement and most schools will just use your highest overall score(s) anyway.

 

[VetMed1]

If you take it on Aug 1st you can send just that score, then if you retake 21 days later I looked at the GRE website and they state that "When ordering ASRs online you can select to send scores from your Most Recent, All or Any specific test administration of the General Test and/or Subject Tests." So I assume that means there may also be an option to select exactly which of the scores you want to send! That might only be if you order additional scores online, though, I don't remember if that option was one of the free ones available right after the exam or not.
I do know that with the "send all" score option it uses all your attempts from the past 5 years, so yes it would include last year's...even if those scores aren't that great though, I don't think it would reflect negatively on you since your newer scores will show improvement and most schools will just use your highest overall score(s) anyway.

Ok great, that would be awesome if there if that option to send only my recent scores! Was unhappy with my scores last year, so want to take it again for sure! Thank you for your help!

 

[Enzo07]

Hey everyone. I am not sure where to ask this but what is the last date we should take the GRE? I want to have as much study time as possible, but also want to make sure my scores are 100% in to schools before Sept. 15th. It is recommended on some school's websites to not take the GRE past August 1st, but that seems wrong..like we could actually take it later. I just want to know if I can take it past August 1st, and still be sure that school's receive my scores. Thanks!

After posting this thread, I've actually decided to take it this summer. I did contact about 4 schools, I believe at least 2, maybe 3 out of the 4 said if I send them this summer for free straight at the time of testing, they will still be on file for the following year. One school (I think it was UF) said I will have to resend next year. I figured it was worth the money to send scores to 2-3 extra schools than I normally would have to get a better score (by studying for 3 months) than save about $50-$100 to study for 1 month and be SOL if I did poorly.

What's a rising junior?

Haha, sorry for the confusing lingo, I suppose I could have just said junior as of Fall '16.

 

[VetMed1]

After posting this thread, I've actually decided to take it this summer. I did contact about 4 schools, I believe at least 2, maybe 3 out of the 4 said if I send them this summer for free straight at the time of testing, they will still be on file for the following year. One school (I think it was UF) said I will have to resend next year. I figured it was worth the money to send scores to 2-3 extra schools than I normally would have to get a better score (by studying for 3 months) than save about $50-$100 to study for 1 month and be SOL if I did poorly.



Haha, sorry for the confusing lingo, I suppose I could have just said junior as of Fall '16.

Oh good to know, thank you. My friend who is applying next year will probably do this as well since they're also going to take it this summer.


I had to book my GRE for mid July since they had nothing else!! Will have to just see how it goes