I went into the test knowing nothing about scoring and whatnot. I got a 650 on verbal and 700 on math, for a total of 1350 out of 1600. Is this considered a good score? Above average? I'm wondering whether I should take it again or not...
It all depends on what type of school you're trying to get into. But speaking generally, consider a 600+ to be a B, and 700+ to be an A. To me, I think you did fine, but again, it really depends on what you're trying to get into. Evan
A 1350 is a great GRE score. It's like a top 15% or something score. Scoring for the GRE is not quite like the SAT was because there are far fewer people taking the GRE, and most of the folks who take the GRE are fairly bright -- unlike the SAT where everyone takes it, and there are lots of folks who don't do well at all and lots who don't care. With the GRE, anything above like an 1100 is really pretty damned good, IMO.
It also depends on what field you're in. If you're a math major for example, that 700 on the math is actually pretty low. But otherwise I would say that's a very good score. I would be thrilled to get a 650 verbal.
When you get your paper report it will tell you what your percentile score is. My guess is that your verbal will be around 85-90% and your math will be around 75-80% (I am fuzzier on this section). Percentile is important because it places you within that application year. Obviously, you want 90 or above. As has been said, it also depends on what area to which you are applying. Also, for anything in the humanities you really have no business scoring lower than a 5 on the essay section(I am assuming you don't have that yet since you didn't mention it).
