When Should You Cancel Your GRE Scores?

September 16, 2008

Just before the screen reveals your official GRE scores on test day, you’ll be asked whether or not you’d like to cancel them. Talk about a weighty issue! Some students make that decision without a full understanding of what “canceling” really means. Here’s what you need to know.

How Grad Schools View Cancellations

They don’t. They can’t.

If you opt to cancel your scores, there will be no record of you even registering to take the test that day. Consider it a really expensive practice test ($150 to be exact)! But remember that the testmakers only allow you to register once per month to take the GRE. If you take the test October 1st and cancel your scores, you won’t be eligible to take the test again until November.

There are other (cheaper!) ways to practice for the GRE.

Two Legitimate Reasons To Cancel Your Scores

First, if in at least two sections you get only halfway through the questions before the time runs out, canceling might be a good idea. Notice I didn’t say one section. If you run out of time on one section, it is possible you got steamrolled by the experimental section. Don’t cancel!

Second, severe outside stress can negatively impact test performance. If you experience something very stressful in your personal life just before taking the GRE and decide to go ahead with the test anyway, you may need to evaluate your performance carefully at the end.

Were you able to truly concentrate while taking the test? If you know full well that you weren’t able to give that test your all because you were preoccupied, then it’s time to cancel your scores.

Two Legitimate Reasons NOT To Cancel Your Scores

If the test felt challenging...good! Don’t cancel your scores. A computer adaptive test will continue pitching you harder questions until you reach the top of your ability level.

That, by the way, is an uncomfortable place to be. Fortunately for your score (but unfortunately for your confidence level) you may reach some higher-level questions sooner than you’d like. The grad schools to which you are applying want to know: Can you handle the stress when things get tough? Staying calm and making strategic guesses when you get in over your head are key moves.

You’ve worked hard to get to that high level, so don’t blow it. No panicking, and no canceling your scores.

Additionally, guessing through the last three questions in a section is not a good enough reason to cancel your scores. Serious effort on earlier questions may have taken you up to a high level on the test, and a few missed questions at the end won’t bring you down that much.

Big difference though, between having to guess on the last three questions, and having to click through 14 in a row!

For most students taking the GRE, practice for the big day renders the canceling issue an obsolete one. Studying content, pacing, and stress management can ensure that you walk into test day focused and ready to complete each section to the best of your ability.

Jeff Sackmann is a test-prep tutor based in New York City and the author of Total GRE Math, among other GRE and GMAT resources.

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