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I'm applying to Computer Science PhD programs (subarea is Theory). Due to Covid, I think there are roughly 4 types of schools in terms of GRE General requirements:

  1. Don't even send your score (they will be ignored)
  2. Optional (sometimes accompanied with "we expect most students won't have a GRE score" or "we perform a holistic review and you won't be at a disadvantage if you don't send")
  3. Not required but (encouraged)/(can help if application has weak sides)
  4. Required

My question is about the 2nd and the 3rd type. How do I decide if I should send them my scores for each type? Unfortunately they don't generally publish the average GRE scores either (some do).

More specifically, my case is as follows. I'm applying to top 20 CS schools in the US, and I am an international student from a not-famous country and school. My GRE score is Quantitative:170/170 (96%), Verbal:161/170 (88%) and Analytical Writing: 5.0/6.0 (92%). If it matters, I'm particulary concerned about my verbal score and my GPA is 3.9+, my TOEFL score is strong (110+).

Since I can't know if people generally took the GRE or not or if they're sending their scores, I can't decide whether to send. Would my score help me, hurt me or simply not affect me?

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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halsey
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    Various versions of this question have been asked several times here: https://academia.stackexchange.com/search?q=GRE+optional – Bryan Krause Nov 17 '20 at 18:45
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    Does this answer your question? Does choosing not to submit GRE scores look bad (particularly for CS PhD programs)? – GoodDeeds Nov 17 '20 at 19:02
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    In addition to the info in the linked question, I would comment that your scores seem very good. 88th percentile for verbal is quite good for STEM. So I see no reason not to send your scores (except perhaps financial reasons; apparently transmitting 3 bytes of information is very expensive). – cag51 Nov 17 '20 at 19:42
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    Just having test scores to send in will be a challenge for many people this year, both for grad and undergrad admissions. My friends with high school seniors say test sessions are being cancelled left and right, leaving people without options. Admissions at all levels are going to have fun this year... – Jon Custer Nov 17 '20 at 21:51

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