Repeating The GRE
One of the great things about the GRE is that if you are not happy with your performance, you are allowed to take the exam again. In fact, you can take the test once every month, though no more than five times in a given calendar year. Registering for a second or third exam is the same as registering for the first, and the same requirements for photo identification apply on the day of the exam. Although many students are unsatisfied with their scores and elect to take the exam again, it should be noted that very few students see an enormous improvement in their performance on subsequent exams. For most students, the improvement is slight. However, very few students have lower scores when they take the GRE test again. In general, you should only expect a big improvement if you did not understand a question format or were sick the first time you took the exam. In addition, you should be aware that as soon as you sign into the testing center on the day of your exam, your test scores from that day are a part of your permanent GRE record. If you decide to take the test again in the future, your new scores will join all of your old scores on the official score report sent to graduate school admissions departments. It is good to know that you can take the GRE again if necessary, but the best strategy is to study hard, familiarize yourself with the question formats, and try to do your best the first time.
Last Updated: 03/01/2012