How Good is a 307 on the GRE?

A 307 is a little under the average for most graduate fields. The gap is small enough that a focused retake usually closes it.

Nothing about a 307 is disqualifying, but it is doing none of the work either. The useful framing is how few points separate it from a score that helps.

The short answer

Slightly below par, and easily fixed. A 307 misses the published average in 3 fields by a handful of points.

Move the split, keep the total
Every setting below adds up to 307. Watch what happens to the percentiles.
Verbal
154 · 60th
Quant
153 · 31st
Total
307
Shape
balanced

How to move a 307

Improving from a 307 is a targeting problem before it is an effort problem. Points are not equally valuable across the two sections, and they are not equally cheap either.

The arithmetic favours Quant on an even split. Its percentile is the lower of the two, which means there is more room per scaled point than on the other section.

The stack that works: targeted verbal or quant drilling, a two-month plan, and timed practice tests to confirm the gains survive the clock.

What more points are worth from 307
→ 310+5+6→ 312+10+8→ 317+20+14Verbal percentileQuant percentile
Percentile gained on each section by moving up from a 307, measured on a balanced split. The two bars differ because the Quant distribution is far more crowded — the same scaled points buy less there.

A 307 is not one score

The same 307, built five ways
137V / 170Qquant-heavy591146V / 161Qquant-heavy2453154V / 153Qbalanced6031162V / 145Qverbal-heavy8912170V / 137Qverbal-heavy992Verbal percentileQuant percentile
Each row is a Verbal/Quant split that adds up to 307, with the percentile ETS publishes for each half. The totals are identical; the applications are not. Percentiles come from the tables behind our GRE percentile calculator.

A 307 is a sum, and admissions committees do not read sums. They read a Verbal score with its own percentile and a Quant score with its own, which is why two applicants with identical totals can look nothing alike.

At a 307 the spread is enormous: depending on how the points are distributed, one of your sections could sit anywhere from the 2th to the 99th percentile. That is the range a single total is hiding.

Split evenly, a 307 is 154/153, which ETS puts at the 60th percentile for Verbal and the 31th for Quant. That gap is not an error; the Quant distribution is simply far more crowded at the high end.

What the next few points would change

Do the diagnosis before the studying. The GRE percentile calculator shows each section's published percentile, which is the fastest way to see which half of a 307 to attack.

Open the percentile calculator

A 307 against your field

A 307 against average scores by field
Physical Sciences314 · 153V/161QEngineering313 · 150V/163QComputer Science313 · 150V/163QSocial Sciences307 · 155V/152QArts & Humanities307 · 157V/150QBiological Sciences306 · 153V/153QBusiness306 · 151V/155QEducation301 · 152V/149Qyour 307
Each dot is the average total (Verbal + Quant) reported for that graduate field; the dashed line is a 307. Field averages are ETS interpretive data, also published on what counts as a good GRE score.

Against the field averages ETS publishes, a 307 clears 5 and falls short of 3. The ones it clears include Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Biological Sciences; the nearest one it misses is Engineering, which averages 313.

Do not treat any of these as a cut-off. A field average is a description of who applied, not a rule about who gets in, and every discipline admits well below its own mean.

Should you retake?

Retaking makes sense from a 307, provided the next attempt is different from the last. This part of the scale moves substantially with targeted work and barely at all without it.

Book the date far enough out that the preparation can actually change something, and decide in advance which half you are fixing. Our retake guide has the scheduling.

Why the two sections are not comparable

Why 154 Verbal and 153 Quant are not the same achievement
0255075100130140150160170Verbal percentileQuant percentile
The two sections use the same 130–170 scale but completely different distributions. A 154 on Verbal is the 60th percentile; a 153 on Quant is the 31th. That gap is the single most misread thing about GRE scores.

What to do next

A few points is the ordinary result of one focused cycle, and it takes a 307 from below the field average to above it.

Frequently asked questions

Is a 307 good enough to apply with?

For some fields yes, others no. 5 of the eight ETS reports sit at or below a 307; Engineering at 313 is the closest one above.

How can a 307 be split between sections?

The range runs 137/170 through 170/137. A balanced 307 is 154 Verbal with 153 Quant.

Would retaking improve a 307 enough to matter?

Probably, but give it a real cycle first. This part of the range moves substantially with targeted work and barely at all without.

Does a 307 work for a STEM programme?

It is under the 313 reported for engineering. Those programmes weigh Quant heavily, so look at that section before the total.

Nearby scores