GRE vs No-GRE: Test-Optional Grad Programs

Graduate programs used to treat the GRE as a fixed requirement. This is no longer true across every field. Many programs now let you apply without a score, and in psychology doctoral admissions the share requiring the GRE fell sharply through the 2023-24 cycle. Test-optional does not mean the test stopped mattering, though. A strong score still helps you stand out, and a weak score still hurts your file when a program reviews it.

This guide walks through where GRE-optional policies stand today, when submitting your score works in your favor, and when leaving it out protects your application. It also covers percentile context and retake rules, so you decide with full information before your application deadline. Start by sorting your target programs into three groups: optional, required, and not accepted. The right move differs in each group, and the label on the program page is the first thing to check.

The test-optional shift in graduate admissions

The clearest verified data on this shift comes from psychology doctoral programs, tracked yearly by the American Psychological Association. The share of psychology doctoral programs requiring GRE Quantitative and Verbal scores fell from 45% in the 2020-21 admissions cycle to 14% in 2022-23. The share fell again in the following cycle, to 7% for Verbal and 8% for Quant in 2023-24. The GRE Writing requirement dropped even faster, from 40% to 13% across the first two cycles and then to 6% in 2023-24.

Applications rose as requirements dropped. Average applications per doctoral program grew from 95 in 2020-21 to 133 in 2022-23. Fewer programs required a score while more applicants applied to each program. This pattern comes from psychology doctoral admissions specifically, not from a GRE-wide count, but it shows the direction graduate admissions moved after 2020.

The year-by-year decline in requirements looks like this:

What test-optional means for your application

Programs sort into three policies, and the label on a program's page decides your move.

Optional

The program reviews your application without a GRE score and does not penalize you for skipping it. Your file counts as complete either way. If you submit one anyway, the admissions committee reads it as extra evidence alongside your transcript, statement and letters. Decide on the strength of the score itself, not on a fear of looking incomplete.

Required

Some departments still require the GRE even where the wider university lists it as optional. Check the department page directly, since a school-wide policy does not always cover every program. Read the page for your exact program, whether it sits in computer science and engineering or in an MBA program. Save the policy wording you find, along with the date you checked it.

Not accepted

Some programs dropped the GRE completely and will not review a score even if you send one. Submitting here wastes a report fee and adds nothing to your file. Put your effort into the parts of the application the program does read: transcript, statement of purpose, letters and research experience. Treat any score you hold as irrelevant here and move on.

When a strong score helps your application

Submit your score when it sits above the typical range for your target programs, or when another part of your file is weak. A GRE score above the section average signals readiness for graduate-level coursework, and it offsets a lower undergraduate GPA or a thin research record. Read what counts as a strong score for your target programs before you decide.

Both Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are scored from 130 to 170 in 1-point increments, and Analytical Writing is scored from 0 to 6 in half-point increments. Scores stay reportable for five years following your test date, so a strong score from an earlier attempt still counts toward a current application. Work from the test date, not the application date, when you check whether an older result is still live. The scale below is the reference point for every submit-or-withhold call you make.

ScoreSelect lets you choose which test dates' scores go to each program. On test day, your four free score reports use either the Most Recent option or the All option, which sends every attempt from the last five years. After test day, additional reports cost $40 per recipient and add an Any option, so you send a single attempt or a chosen subset instead of your full history.

When to leave a weak score out

Leave your score out when the program treats the GRE as truly optional and your Quant or Verbal result sits at or below the typical range for admitted students. A weak score adds a negative data point to an otherwise strong file, and holistic review lets the rest of your application carry the weight instead. Withholding is not a penalty in a truly optional review, so the call comes down to whether the score adds anything. If it does not, leaving it out keeps the committee focused on your transcript, statement, letters and research experience.

Weigh the two sections separately before you decide. A weak Quant score matters more for quantitative fields, including computer science and engineering programs, while a weak Verbal score matters more for humanities and social science programs built around reading and writing. A strong result in the section your target field cares about most sometimes justifies submitting even when the other section is weak.

Using percentile context before you decide

Raw scores alone do not show how you compare with other applicants. Percentile ranks for the 2026-27 cycle are based on all test takers from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025, and they update annually. Verbal Reasoning has a mean of 151.39 and a standard deviation of 8.43. Quantitative Reasoning has a mean of 157.62 and a standard deviation of 9.90. Analytical Writing has a mean of 3.46 and a standard deviation of 0.85.

Do not compare your Verbal, Quant and Writing scores against each other directly, since ETS builds a separate percentile scale for each measure. A Quant score sitting near the mean lands close to the middle of the distribution, while a score well above it lands in a higher percentile band. See our full GRE percentile breakdown for the current score-to-percentile tables before you submit or withhold a score.

Retaking before you submit a weak score

If your weak section came from an off day rather than a skills gap, a retake sometimes beats submitting or withholding a shaky score. You are allowed to retake the GRE General Test once every 21 days, up to 5 times within any rolling 12-month period, even after canceling a previous attempt's scores. Count backwards from your earliest deadline, since each extra attempt needs at least 21 days of gap. Book the retake only when you have real study time inside the window, and aim it at the single section holding your file back.

Registration costs money each time, so weigh the retake fee against the fee for the programs on your list. The GRE General Test costs $249 in most areas and $231.30 in China, effective August 1, 2026. A Fee Reduction Program brings the cost down to $100 for qualifying test takers.

If a retake fits your plan better than submitting a weak score, our free GRE practice tests and drills at 10exam's GRE hub let you rehearse full sections under timed conditions before your next official attempt. Start with a full-length mock to see where your Verbal and Quant results sit today. Then run our drills for the question types costing you the most points. Everything is free and no signup is required.

Sources

• Interpreting Your GRE Scores: 2026-27
• Getting Your GRE General Test Scores
• Sending Your GRE General Test Scores
• GRE General Test Fees
• Schedule Your GRE General Test
• APA Monitor: Master's and doctoral program applications increase as GRE requirements drop
• APA Monitor: Datapoint: Graduate psychology programs rely less on standardized tests