What Is a Good GRE Score? 2026-27 Percentiles and Benchmarks by Program

What “Good” Actually Means on the GRE?

A GRE score isn’t good or bad in isolation; it’s good or bad relative to two things: the percentile it represents and what your target programs actually expect. So what GRE score is considered acceptable, exactly? A 320 total is a strong score for most Master’s programs and a below-average one for a top-15 MBA program’s incoming class. Before comparing your score to anyone else’s, make sure you understand these two key points:

• Percentile, not raw score, is what admissions committees read. ETS reports Verbal and Quantitative percentiles separately; there’s no official percentile for the combined total.
• Programs weigh sections differently. A quant-heavy PhD department cares far more about your Quantitative score than your Verbal score, and the reverse is true for humanities and social sciences. ETS itself instructs score users to treat Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing as three separate, independent measures rather than one combined judgment. 

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If you're also weighing the GRE against an alternative, LeapScholar's GRE vs SAT comparison breaks down how the two tests actually differ. 

Current GRE Format (2026-27)

Since September 2023, the GRE General Test has run at 1 hour 58 minutes, a significant cut from the earlier 3 hour 45 minute version. If you're reading an older guide that describes a 4-hour test or two Analytical Writing essays, it's out of date. The current structure:

The unscored experimental section and the second AWA essay ("Analyze an Argument") were both removed. The score scale itself is unchanged: Verbal and Quant are each 130-170, combining for a 260-340 total; Analytical Writing is 0-6 in half-point steps. 

For the full section-wise breakdown down to individual question types, see LeapScholar's GRE syllabus and pattern guide. 

Source: ETS GRE Information Bulletin

GRE Percentile Table (Official ETS Data)

These figures come directly from ETS's own GRE General Test Interpretive Data (Table 1B), based on everyone who tested between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2025, the reference window current through 2026. This is ETS's actual published data, and it resolves a real problem: several competing GRE guides currently publish percentile tables that don't match ETS's own numbers, in some cases showing a perfect 170 Quant score at anywhere from the 89th to the 96th percentile depending on the site.

Mean scores (current reporting window): Verbal 151.39, Quantitative 157.62, Analytical Writing 3.46.

Source: ETS GRE General Test Interpretive Data, Table 1A/1B

Counselor insight: Notice that the same scaled score means very different things across sections. A 160 is the 82nd percentile in Verbal but only the 50th in Quant, because far more test-takers score high on Quant overall. Don't assume a "160" is equally strong everywhere on your score report.

What Is a Good GRE Analytical Writing Score? (Good AWA Score in GRE)

AWA is scored separately and isn't included in your 340 total, but several programs, particularly PA, PT, and some Master's programs, do look at it. So what's a good analytical writing score on the GRE, and what's a good AWA score specifically?

A 4.5 or higher is a genuinely strong AWA score, since it clears the 85th percentile; most programs consider 4.0 and above solid.

Source: ETS GRE General Test Interpretive Data 

What Is a Good GRE Score for Grad School, By Program Type

General Grad School (Master's Programs)

• Minimum GRE score for grad school: Most programs treat a 300 total as a functional floor, roughly the 50th percentile overall.
• What's competitive: 310-320 (70th-85th percentile) is strong for most Master's programs and won't get you screened out early.
• What's exceptional: 325-330+ is common among admits to highly selective programs, top-20 engineering, CS, or quant-heavy fields, and usually pairs 165+ Quant with 160+ Verbal.

Note: these three tiers are a widely used market convention derived from aggregating individual programs' own published admissions data, not a single benchmark that ETS or any one official body states directly. Always confirm against your specific target programs' own published figures. 

What Is a Good GRE Score for an MBA?

MBA scoring has shifted noticeably: the GRE is now accepted at effectively every major business school, and several top programs reinstated testing requirements for the 2025-26 cycle after pandemic-era waivers. Average GRE scores for MBA programs at the top end of the market have climbed into the high 320s.

Is 320 a good GRE score for an MBA? At most mid-tier and many top-30 programs, yes, that's genuinely competitive. For the top 10-15 programs specifically, the current bar has moved into the high 320s, and a score above 329 is where merit scholarship consideration typically starts.

Source: Poets&Quants, GRE Rising: Submission Rates and Scores at the 50 Top U.S. MBAs, published August 2026, cross-checked against individual schools' own published class profiles.

What Is a Good GRE Score for PA School? (Physician Assistant Programs)

The GRE landscape for PA school has changed more than almost any other category: the PA Education Association's own program directory shows that most PA programs no longer require the GRE at all, a reversal from a few years ago when a majority did. Where a specific program still requires it, official individual program data gives a concrete benchmark: Penn State's PA program, for example, reports an average admitted GRE score of 309 (range 293-327) for its Class of 2027.

• Minimum: Many programs that still require the GRE set an informal floor around 300 combined.
• Competitive: Above 310, with individual sections in the low-to-mid 150s or higher, based on individual programs' own published class profiles.
• Is 305 a good GRE score for PA school? Yes, it sits close to what several individual programs report as their admitted-student average.

Source: PAEA Program Directory, paeaonline.org; Penn State College of Medicine PA Program, Class of 2027 profile

What Is a Good GRE Score for PT School? (Physical Therapy Programs)

Unlike PA programs, most Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs still require the GRE, though a handful have made it optional or dropped it. The American Physical Therapy Association's own PTCAS directory, which tracks admission requirements across participating programs, reports the following national figures for verbal and quantitative percentile scores:

• Average admitted PT student: Approximately in the 50th percentile on Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning, and around the 64th percentile on Analytical Writing.
• Competitive target: Meaningfully above the 50th percentile on each section, since program-level averages already sit near the midpoint.

Source: APTA PTCAS Directory, Compare Program Admission Requirements

What Is a Good GRE Score for PhD Programs?

PhD admissions vary enormously by field and don't reduce to one official benchmark, but the general pattern that follows from the field-level differences in program expectations holds. A competitive GRE score for PhD applicants typically means leaning heavily into whichever section your field weighs more:

• STEM PhDs typically weigh Quant more heavily than Verbal in review.
• Humanities and social science PhDs typically weight Verbal more heavily.
• A strong score alone doesn't secure competitive PhD funding without matching research experience; treat the GRE as one input a committee weighs, not the deciding one.

GRE Mathematics Subject Test: What's a Good Score?

Separate from the General Test, the GRE Mathematics Subject Test is still active in 2026-27 (Chemistry was discontinued in 2023; Biology and Literature in English in 2021, but Math, Physics and Psychology remain). It's scored on a 200-990 scale in 10-point increments and lasts 2 hours and 50 minutes.

• Offered three times a year: September 14–27, 2026, October 19–November 1, 2026, and April 19–May 2, 2027. 
• A score in the top 20% of the 200-990 range is generally viewed as strong by math PhD programs that request it, though individual departments set their bar rather than ETS publishing one universal "good score" line.

Source: ETS GRE Subject Test Scores

How to Set Your Target GRE Score?

Wondering what GRE score you need for grad school specifically, rather than a generic benchmark? Use your own shortlist to work it out:

1. List the specific programs you're applying to and find their published average or median scores, not a generic "good score" benchmark.
2. Identify which section matters more for your field, and prioritize prep time accordingly.
3. Aim about two points above your target programs' average, since averages include both stronger and weaker admits.
4. Take an early practice test to see how far you are from that number before committing to a study timeline.

Counselor insight: Students often chase the highest score they can find advertised anywhere online, including scholarship-tier scores from schools they aren't applying to. Set your target from your actual shortlist's data, not the highest number circulating on a forum.

3 Key Takeaways on a Good GRE Score

1. A 320+ combined GRE score is a safe general benchmark, but "good" genuinely depends on your program type; MBA, PA, PT, and PhD applicants are each competing against very different averages.
2. ETS's own current data (mean Verbal 151.39, mean Quant 157.62) is the accurate baseline; several other guides online cite percentile numbers that don't match ETS's actual tables.
3. The GRE itself has changed: it's now under 2 hours with a single essay, not the older 4-hour, two-essay format still described on some outdated pages.

Verified by: LeapScholar's test-prep counseling team.

Have questions about your GRE target score? Book a free session with a LeapScholar counselor.

Frequently Asked Questions About Good GRE Scores