Consult Christine: The Who, What, When, Where of Standardized Tests

Today, Christine tackles one of the topics about which we’re asked the most:  test scores.

The Who, What, When, Where of Standardized Tests.  I purposely did not put “why” in the title.  Why?  Because we all know we have to take standardized tests.  They are not fun, nor are they meant to be, but they give the schools you’re applying to a quantitative base for reviewing your application.  Here at Fletcher, we look at the entire application as a whole, but tests are required nonetheless.  More importantly, we will not consider your application complete until you submit your test scores.  So now that we have gotten the “why” out of the way, let’s move on to look at the other aspects of testing.

Who needs to send test scores?  Ready, all together now: everyone!  The GRE or GMAT is required of all applicants (except for LLM applicants).  For non-native English speakers or those who have been educated less than two years in English, a TOEFL or IELTS will need to be submitted with your application as well.

What will Fletcher accept for test score reports?  We will only accept official test score reports sent directly from the testing center — no exceptions.

For the GRE or GMAT, the scores must be no more than five years old.  Some good news: if you have taken the exam multiple times, we will look at the best scores from each section.  In addition, we do not have a cutoff for scores.  In recent years the middle 50% for the GRE verbal score has been in the 77th to 96th percentile range, the middle 50% for the GRE quantitative score has been in the 61st to 84th percentile range, and the middle 50% for GRE analytical writing in the 49th to 92nd percentile range.  For the GMAT, the middle 50% has been in the 73rd to 92nd percentile range.

For the IELTS or TOEFL, the scores must be no more than two years old.  The scores listed below are generally considered evidence of sufficient English language ability for graduate study at Fletcher.  Occasionally we will admit a student with a score just below the listed minimum but require that the student complete additional language training before enrolling.  Minimum acceptable scores are as follows:

  • TOEFL: 100 (with sub-scores of 25 on each section)
  • IELTS: 7.0 (with sub-scores of 7 on each section)

When do I need to send my scores?  We strongly prefer that your scores arrive on or before the date you submit your application.  However, we will allow a grace period of a few days after the application deadline. Keeping this in mind, you should take your exams at least a few weeks before you plan to submit your application.  For the GRE and GMAT, it usually takes about two weeks for us to receive your scores if you take the test electronically.  If you take the exam on paper, it could take upwards of six weeks before we receive the scores. The TOEFL and IELTS exam reports usually arrive in about two weeks.

Where do I send my scores?  Scores should be sent directly to the Fletcher School, Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.  For the GRE and TOEFL please use the code 3399.  For the GMAT, please use 7JB-L3-70.

Taking the exams may be unpleasant, but at least the rules for reporting scores are straightforward.

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