<p>I have no clue what is considered good, mediocre or poor on the GRE. I know the GRE isn’t as important as the SAT, but still – what’s considered a “really good” score? My friend is shooting for UPenn, and when he gets his score back, I want to know how it’s looking for him. So basically, what’s an Ivy score?</p>
<p>What do you mean by GRE lit? Are you talking about the verbal score on the general GRE or is there a literature subject test?</p>
<p>According to the sheet that came with the scores, the average on the GRE lit subject test is 542 with a standard deviation of 98. I’d aim for 1-2 standard deviations above the mean (which should give you 85-97%). So…700? Just a guess based on their paper.</p>
<p>from what I’ve seen, it seems like subject test scores above 700 (in general) are going to be looked upon nicely at most programs – but that’s a VERY broad, sweeping, blanket statement… I don’t know that much about literature programs, so… but I’d guess above a 700 would be sufficient for most programs</p>
<p>Actually, each subject test has a very different mean. The average score on the biochem test, for example, is 521, while the average on the CS test is 715. The lit test has the second lowest average out of the bunch.</p>
<p>Harvard’s is the only website I have seen that comes right out and tells you what scores they want. They are a super-competitive program, and they say they want above a 650. I also know that a 730 is usually the 99th percentile. So I would guess that a score in the high 600s or low 700s would be competitive anywhere, and that a score in the 600s would be respectable.</p>
<p>It does seem that scores on the Lit test tend to skew lower than scores on other tests. On the administrations I’ve seen, the highest possible score has been 790–830 (as in, if you miss nothing). On tests in the hard sciences, I think that a perfect score would be significantly higher.</p>