ScoreSelect®: What Schools See When You Send GRE® Scores
If you've put off the score-sending question because of a warning that schools see every GRE® attempt, the caution makes sense on its face. Application fees are steep, committee attention is finite, and the idea of a weak attempt following you through a whole application season is an unpleasant one.
But the warning is out of date. Under ETS's ScoreSelect® option, you decide what each school receives, and the report a school receives carries no indication that other attempts happened unless you send them yourself. The part that keeps a version of the warning alive: some programs do require applicants to report every attempt, which is why each program's score-use policy deserves a five-minute check before you count on any of this.
This post covers the chain in order: the decision at the end of the test, what a school's copy shows and what it can't, what changes after test day, and the policy check that tells you which rules apply to your list.
The decision the test ends with
At the end of the GRE® General Test, before your unofficial scores appear on screen, you'll be asked whether to report them or cancel them. Choosing report brings up your unofficial Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores on the spot; the Analytical Writing score isn't shown yet, because essays take longer to score.
Then comes the sending decision, and sending nothing is a legitimate option. If you do send, registration includes four free score reports, each addressed to a graduate institution or fellowship sponsor you designate, and each carrying its own choice between two options:
- Most Recent: the scores from the administration you just finished.
- All: the scores from every GRE® General Test administration you've taken in the last five years.
The catch is timing. Those four free reports exist only on test day; if you don't designate anyone then, every report afterward runs through the paid path at US$40 per recipient. The fix costs nothing: decide your four recipients before test day, so the on-screen choice is a lookup instead of a debate.
Canceling has its place, but a canceled score can't be sent until it's reinstated, and reinstatement carries its own fee.
What the school's copy shows
Official scores post to your ETS account 8-10 days after the test, and ETS sends the institution version to your designated recipients at the same time. The school's copy contains:
- your contact information
- your date of birth and gender
- your intended graduate major
- the test dates and scores you chose to send
Per ETS, the same report leaves out any scores you chose not to report, any information about your other score recipients, and any indication that you've taken other GRE® tests. A report shows only the attempts you chose to send, and nothing in it points back to the ones you didn't.
Every score also rides with its percentile rank, so schools see how each section stacks up nationally, and our percentiles guide covers what those ranks do and don't mean. ETS additionally makes the photo and essay responses from the administrations you select available to recipients through its Data Manager. The essay was written under timed conditions, and schools read it in that context; our AWA guide covers what a strong one looks like.
After test day: Additional Score Reports
Plenty of sending happens long after the test itself. You might add a program to your list in the fall, pick up a fellowship deadline, or decide one school deserves a different attempt than the four reports you used in the testing room. The Additional Score Report (ASR) service covers all of it, and its rules are short:
- Cost: US$40 per recipient, ordered through your ETS account.
- Window: any time during the five years your scores stay reportable.
- Options per report: Most Recent, All, or Any.
- Processing: about five business days from request to delivery.
- Reversibility: none. Once submitted, an ASR request can't be canceled, changed, or refunded.
Any is the option test day doesn't offer, and it's the one that makes mixing attempts across schools possible. Say your June attempt went Quant 158, Verbal 154, and your September retake flipped the sections: Quant 155, Verbal 159. A program that leans quant can receive the June report, a program that leans verbal can receive the September one, and neither report points to the other. Five business days of processing still applies, so an early-December deadline argues for ordering by mid-November rather than on December 1st.
The one policy check worth five minutes
ETS's own ScoreSelect® page notes that some programs require applicants who have taken a GRE® test more than once to report the scores from all their administrations. ETS recommends verifying score-reporting requirements with every program you're applying to, and we recommend the same, because that single policy decides whether selective sending works at that school at all.
In practice, committees read multiple attempts differently. Some pull the strongest section scores from across the reports you send, which rewards a retake that improved one half of the test. Others evaluate your best single sitting and don't combine sections between attempts. Neither approach is universal, and a program's own admissions page is more reliable than any general rule. If the page doesn't say, a short email to the admissions office can get you an answer in writing.
What this means if a retake is on your mind
For programs that accept selective sending, a weak second attempt doesn't reach the committee, because the school receives only the scores you sent it. The cost of a swing-and-miss attempt is the registration fee and the study hours, not the file. For programs that require all attempts, the calculation differs, since every attempt lands in the file, which raises the value of the hours math before you book. The question that remains isn't whether a retake is safe to schedule; it's whether the gap between your score and your target justifies one, and our 21-day retake framework walks through that decision in full.
FAQ
What is the ScoreSelect® option?
ScoreSelect® is an ETS feature that lets you decide which GRE® scores to send with each report: your Most Recent attempt, All attempts from the last five years, or, after test day, Any specific attempts you choose. It applies to the GRE® General Test and GRE® Subject Tests.
Do schools see all of your GRE® scores?
No. A school receives only the scores you chose to send it, and its report contains no indication that you took other GRE® tests. The exception: some programs require applicants who have taken the GRE® more than once to report all attempts, so check each program's score-use policy.
What do schools see on a GRE® score report?
Your contact information, date of birth, gender, intended graduate major, and the test dates and scores you selected, each with its percentile rank. The report leaves out scores you withheld, other schools you sent scores to, and any sign of other test attempts. ETS also makes photos and essay responses from the administrations you select available to recipients.
What's the difference between Most Recent, All, and Any?
Most Recent sends the scores from your latest administration. All sends every administration from the last five years. Any, which only appears after test day, lets you pick one or as many specific attempts as you like for each report, which is what makes mixing attempts across different schools possible.
How much does it cost to send GRE® scores after test day?
Additional Score Reports cost US$40 per recipient through your ETS account, and each report goes to one recipient, so sending scores to three schools after test day costs US$120. You can order them at any point during the five years your scores stay reportable, and a submitted request can't be canceled, changed, or refunded.
How long does it take schools to receive GRE® scores?
Reports you designate on test day go out when official scores post, 8-10 days after your test date. Additional Score Reports take about five business days to process, so order at least a week before any application deadline.
How long do you have to send GRE® scores?
Five years from your test date. Scores stay reportable for that window, and Additional Score Reports can be ordered at any time during it. ETS's site shows the exact reportable-through date for any test date.
Want to learn even more?
For the decision this option feeds:
For naming the target before you send anything:
For the percentile ranks riding along on every report:
For how the test adapts behind the scores:
We also talk through prep strategy on our podcast.
And if you'd like a second set of eyes on the whole sending plan, you're welcome to book a complimentary strategy session. We'll go through your targets, your attempts, and each program's score policy, and help you decide what belongs in each report.