GRE ScoreSelect: the short answer
GRE ScoreSelect lets you choose which GRE General and/or Subject Test administrations a school receives. On test day, after unofficial Verbal and Quant scores, send nothing or send Most Recent or All for each of four free reports. After test day, a paid Additional Score Report adds Any: one date, or as many dates as you like from the last 5 years. Some programs still require every sitting.
What ScoreSelect is and is not
ScoreSelect is send control, not score editing. ETS lets you send scores from Most Recent, All, or Any specific GRE General Test and/or Subject Test administrations. The school gets the full selected sitting: Verbal, Quant, Analytical Writing, and the percentile ranks that belong to that date. You cannot keep a strong Quant from June and drop a weak Verbal from the same day.
That is why ScoreSelect is not a superscore. It does not average your best sections across dates. It only decides which complete administrations travel with an official report. If a first sitting is weak and a later sitting is stronger, you can often send only the later date. You cannot assemble a hybrid GRE that never existed.
ETS markets ScoreSelect as a way to send the scores you feel show your personal best, so you can sit with more confidence. The mechanism is narrower than that slogan. It hides unsent dates from the Institution Score Report. It does not rewrite a date, and it does not bind every admissions office to ignore a sitting you left off the file.
- •ScoreSelect chooses whole test dates, not individual sections.
- •Most Recent, All, and Any are the only official send menus.
- •General Test and Subject Test administrations can be selected.
- •A school report does not mix scores across dates.
On test day versus after test day
The send menu changes after you leave the appointment. On test day, after you view scores at a test center or finish an at-home session, ETS offers four free reports and only two ScoreSelect choices: Most Recent or All. You can also send nothing and wait. After test day, every extra send is a paid Additional Score Report, and that paid report is where Any appears.
That split is the error most retake posts make. They talk as if you can cherry-pick an older date while you are still in the test-day flow. You cannot. If a school should see only a later sitting, skip that school on test day and buy an Additional Score Report after official scores post. The table is the rule set, not a suggestion.
GRE score-send options on test day versus after test day
| Decision | On test day | After test day |
|---|
| Cost | Up to four recipients included in the test fee | Additional Score Report, US$40 per recipient |
| Recipients | Graduate institutions or fellowship sponsors you designate then | Extra institutions or later sends through your ETS account |
| ScoreSelect menu | Send nothing, or Most Recent or All for each free report | Most Recent, All, or Any |
| Any option | Not available | One administration, or as many as you like from the last 5 years |
| Change or refund | Skip a school now if you are unsure; paid send is the later path | Submitted ASR cannot be canceled, changed, or refunded |
| Processing | ETS sends the official Institution Score Report when official scores post | About 5 business days after you submit the request |
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The four free GRE score reports
On test day you can designate up to four graduate institutions or fellowship sponsors as part of the test fee. ETS publishes a list of approved recipients. You make that choice after you decide to report scores and after unofficial Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores appear. Analytical Writing is not shown at the end of the test, because the essay is scored later.
The same four-recipient language appears on ETS test-center and at-home test-day pages. If you report, you pick Most Recent or All for each free report. If you do not name recipients on test day, you can still send GRE scores later. Those later sends are paid. There is no leftover bank of unused free reports once you leave the test-day screen.
ETS also sends the official Institution Score Report to the recipients you named on test day when official scores become available, 8-10 days after the test date. You get an email when scores land in your ETS account. If a program is on a tight deadline, count that official-score wait plus any later paid-send processing, not just the minutes you spent on the test-day screen.
- •Four free recipients are part of the test fee, not a later coupon.
- •Unofficial scores on test day are Verbal and Quant only.
- •Send nothing on test day if you are not ready to name a school.
- •Official school reports for test-day recipients go out when official scores post.
Most Recent, All, or Any
ETS uses three ScoreSelect labels. Most Recent sends the sitting you just finished, or, after test day, your latest reportable sitting. All sends every GRE General Test administration in the last 5 years that is still reportable. Any, which exists only on paid reports after test day, lets you send one administration or as many administrations as you like from that same 5-year window.
Use Most Recent when this sitting is the only one you want on the file, or when it is your first GRE. Use All only when you mean it. All is the button that publishes every reportable date, including a weak first attempt you would rather keep private. Use Any when a school should see a specific older date, a pair of dates, or everything except one sitting you are leaving off.
The practical trap is burning a free report on All because you were tired and clicked the broader option. You cannot pull that report back. If you are unsure, send nothing to that school on test day. Wait for official scores, including Analytical Writing, then buy the Additional Score Report with the menu you actually want.
Most Recent
Sends scores from the current test administration on test day, or from your most recent reportable sitting after test day. This is the usual choice for a first GRE or a clean replacement sitting.
All
Sends scores from all GRE General Test administrations in the last 5 years. Use it only when you intend every reportable date to reach that recipient.
Any
Available after test day on paid reports only. Send one date, or as many dates as you like, from the last 5 years. This is the cherry-pick menu.
Additional Score Reports: fee and lock-in
An Additional Score Report is how you send GRE scores after test day, or to more than the four free recipients. ETS lists the fee at US$40 per score recipient on the current GRE fee schedule, effective August 1, 2026 and subject to change without notice. Order ASRs online through your ETS account at any time during the 5-year period your scores remain valid.
Once you submit the request, ETS says it cannot be canceled, changed, or refunded. That lock-in covers the recipient and the ScoreSelect choice. If you pick the wrong school code or click All when you meant Any, you pay again to send a second report. There is no edit screen after submit.
Name or mailing-address changes are a different process. ETS tells you to contact GRE Services. Those updates are not processed through the ASR form. If your legal name no longer matches the name on the score record, fix that with GRE Services before you spend $40 on a report that will carry the old identity data.
- •US$40 per recipient, confirmed on the ETS GRE fees page.
- •Order through your ETS account during the 5-year reportable window.
- •No cancel, no change, no refund after you submit.
- •Name and address changes go to GRE Services, not the ASR form.
Processing time and the 5-year window
ETS says it takes about 5 business days to process requests to send GRE scores to designated institutions. That clock starts when you submit the ASR, not when you wish the report had gone out. If a program deadline is next week, a send today can miss it. Build the processing window into the calendar instead of treating submit as same-day delivery.
Official scores are a separate wait. They appear in your ETS account 8-10 days after the test date, and ETS emails you when they are ready. Recipients you named on test day receive the official Institution Score Report at that same official-score release, not at the unofficial Verbal and Quant screen. Analytical Writing is on the official report, not on the unofficial view.
GRE scores are reportable for 5 years following the test date. ETS warns that if the date your scores stop being reportable is approaching, you must allow enough processing time or the scores may not be sent. Do not order an ASR on the last reportable day and assume it will clear. Check the exact reportable date in your ETS account and leave business days to spare.
Programs that require every GRE sitting
ETS is explicit: some programs require applicants who have taken a GRE test more than once to report the scores from all their GRE test administrations. ScoreSelect does not override that program rule. If a department wants the full GRE history, sending only Most Recent can violate the application instructions even if the official ETS report looks clean.
Verify the current GRE reporting rule on the program's own admissions page, not on a forum thread. Look for language about reporting all tests, all scores, or every GRE administration. If the page is silent, email the graduate coordinator and keep the reply. Policies vary by school and sometimes by department inside the same university.
Application forms can also ask how many times you took the GRE, even when the ETS report does not list unsent dates. Answer the form honestly. ScoreSelect controls the official score packet. It is not permission to invent a single-sitting history on a program questionnaire. When a program accepts either the GRE or the GMAT, compare the current testing rule for both exams before you decide which score to send.
What the school actually receives
ETS publishes two different reports. Your Test-taker Score Report is for you. It lists contact details, test dates, GRE scores and percentile ranks, the recipients you authorized, and a cumulative record of scores reported within the last 5 years. Print that from your ETS account if you want a paper copy. Do not confuse it with what the school sees.
The official Institution Score Report includes your contact information, date of birth, gender, intended graduate major, and the GRE test dates and scores you choose to report with ScoreSelect, plus the associated percentile ranks. ETS says that report does not include other score recipients, scores you chose not to report, or any indication that you have taken other GRE tests.
Photos and essay responses from each GRE General Test administration you select are available to score recipients in the ETS Data Manager as part of your score record. Sending a date therefore sends more than the three scaled numbers. If you send two dates, the school can review both essay responses. If you send one date, the unused sitting stays off that institution report, unless the program separately requires you to disclose it.
What ETS includes on the Institution Score Report
| Included | Not included |
|---|
| Contact information ETS lists for the report | Other score recipients you have chosen |
| Date of birth, gender, intended graduate major | Scores you chose not to report |
| GRE dates and scores you select with ScoreSelect, plus percentile ranks | Any indication that you have taken other GRE tests |
| Photos and essay responses for each selected administration, via ETS Data Manager | A superscore that mixes sections across dates |
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How to plan sends around retakes
Decide the send before you sit, then confirm it after unofficial Verbal and Quant appear. If this is your first GRE and the unofficial pair is in range for the programs that accept ScoreSelect, using the four free reports on Most Recent is usually clean. If the unofficial pair is a miss, send nothing. Official scores, including Analytical Writing, still post to your account in 8-10 days. You can retake under the 21-day rule and send later.
If you already have a reportable sitting, do not spend a free All report on a school that should see only one date. Skip that school on test day. After official scores post, order an Additional Score Report and pick Any or Most Recent. Budget $40 per recipient, plus the 5-business-day processing window, before any application deadline.
A send plan is not a score plan. ScoreSelect only decides which dates move. The sitting still has to produce a Verbal, Quant, and Analytical Writing result the program will accept. If you want that sitting handled, Exam Assist handles the GRE sitting end to end. Pay only after you pass. Book from the GRE service page with your date and target split.
1
List each program's send rule
Mark which applications require every GRE administration and which accept a selected date. Do not assume one rule for the whole list.
2
Protect the free reports
Use test-day sends only for schools you are ready to name. Send nothing to any school that may need Any later.
3
Wait for official scores
Unofficial Verbal and Quant are enough to skip a bad send. Official scores, including Analytical Writing, are what the school report will carry.
4
Buy ASRs on purpose
Order each $40 report with the correct recipient and ScoreSelect choice. Submitted requests cannot be canceled, changed, or refunded.
GRE score-send resources and next steps
Use this page as the ScoreSelect owner. For format and delivery, start with the GRE exam page and the GRE exam-help pillar. For registration, reschedules, and extra-report fees, use the GRE exam cost page. For attempt limits, use the retake page. For whether a score is competitive, use the good-score page.
If the problem is the sitting, not the send button, the take-my-GRE service is the conversion path. Exam Assist handles the sitting end to end on pay-after-pass terms, with zero upfront for the service fee. Exam Assist is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to ETS or the GRE program.