What does a GRE percentile rank mean?

Your percentile rank shows the percentage of test-takers who scored lower than you. A 90th percentile Quant score means you scored higher than 90 percent of everyone who took the test in the reference period.

Why are Verbal and Quant percentiles different at the same score?

The two sections have different score distributions. Quant scores cluster higher because many test-takers are from quantitative fields, so a 160 Quant sits at a lower percentile than a 160 Verbal.

Is a 170 always the 99th percentile?

A 170 Verbal is the 99th percentile, but a 170 Quant is only about the 96th percentile because so many test-takers score near the top in Quant. The maximum percentile depends on the section.

How often does ETS update GRE percentiles?

ETS recalculates percentile tables roughly once a year using the most recent multi-year cohort of test-takers. Small shifts of one or two percentile points between editions are normal.

Do schools care more about score or percentile?

Most programs publish target scaled scores, but percentiles give context. Admissions committees use both — a high percentile signals strong relative performance, especially for the section most relevant to your field.

GRE Score Percentile Calculator

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What this calculator does

The GRE Score Percentile Calculator converts your scaled Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores into percentile ranks. A percentile tells you what share of test-takers you outperformed, which is often more meaningful to admissions committees than the raw 130-170 number on its own.

How it works

Each scaled score from 130 to 170 maps to a fixed percentile rank published by ETS from a multi-year pool of test-takers. The tool looks up your exact score in that table. The key thing to understand is that Verbal and Quantitative have different distributions:

Verbal 160  -> ~86th percentile
Quant  160  -> ~73rd percentile

Quant percentiles run lower at the high end because the test-taker population skews toward quantitative disciplines, compressing the top scores together. That is why a perfect 170 is the 99th percentile in Verbal but only about the 96th in Quant.

Tips and notes

When comparing yourself to a program’s stated averages, match the section to the field: quantitative programs weigh your Quant percentile heavily, while humanities programs focus on Verbal. Percentile tables shift slightly each year, so treat the result as a close estimate rather than an exact ETS report number. If your goal is a specific program range, pair this with the GRE target-score tool to see where competitive applicants land.