Consistency of GRE scores?

Graduate School
1

<p>So I took the GRE this week, and I got a much higher score than I'd been expecting. I had taken several practice tests, and my scores had been all over the board -- 1600, 1440, 1350, 1100.</p>

<p>I realize those practice tests, especially the ones which aren't computer-based, are probably inherently inaccurate. But given the design of the computer-based test, and how answering/not answering the first ~10 questions of each section correctly can drastically influence your score, are the final scores really all that accurate/consistent?</p>

<p>Has anybody taken the GRE more than once? Did your score change a lot?</p>

<p>I guess I'm just a little skeptical that a test with 30 verbal questions and 28 math questions, no matter how computer adaptive, can give a consistent and accurate assessment of a test-taker.</p>

2

<p>I only took it once, but I can't imagine it being consistent as a paper-based test. If you miss the first question on any section for example, your max possible score decreases significantly.</p>