How Good is a 335 on the GRE?

A 335 is above the reported average in every graduate field ETS tracks. From here the score stops being the thing your application has to argue.

There is a point where more GRE stops buying anything, and a 335 is past it. Every graduate field ETS reports an average for sits well below your score, which means admissions committees will spend their time on your research, your letters and your statement instead.

The short answer

As good as the GRE realistically gets. A 335 clears every published field average, so the score is not what any committee will discuss.

Move the split, keep the total
Every setting below adds up to 335. Watch what happens to the percentiles.
Verbal
168 · 99th
Quant
167 · 76th
Total
335
Shape
balanced

A 335 against your field

A 335 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 335
Each dot is the average total (Verbal + Quant) reported for that graduate field; the dashed line is a 335. Field averages are ETS interpretive data, also published on what counts as a good GRE score.

No discipline in the ETS tables averages as high as a 335. Physical Sciences comes closest at 314, and it is still well short.

A field average is a blunt instrument: it blends elite departments with open-enrolment ones. Use it to see whether your score is in the conversation, then look up the two or three programmes you actually care about.

A 335 is not one score

The same 335, built five ways
165V / 170Qbalanced9591167V / 168Qbalanced9881168V / 167Qbalanced9976169V / 166Qbalanced9971170V / 165Qbalanced9967Verbal percentileQuant percentile
Each row is a Verbal/Quant split that adds up to 335, 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.

The total is a convenience, not a measurement. ETS scores Verbal and Quant separately and never publishes a combined percentile — a point our GRE percentile calculator makes at length.

Near the ceiling the distinction softens — every route to a 335 puts both sections between about the 67th and 99th percentile.

Split evenly, a 335 is 167/168, which ETS puts at the 98th percentile for Verbal and the 81th for Quant. That gap is not an error; the Quant distribution is simply far more crowded at the high end.

Why the two sections are not comparable

Why 167 Verbal and 168 Quant are not the same achievement
0255075100130140150160170Verbal percentileQuant percentile
The two sections use the same 130–170 scale but completely different distributions. A 167 on Verbal is the 98th percentile; a 168 on Quant is the 81th. That gap is the single most misread thing about GRE scores.

Should you retake?

There is little here worth chasing. The score clears every field average, and the realistic upside is a few points nobody reading your file would weigh differently.

Check for one thing before deciding: a weak section in the discipline you are applying to. That is the only version of this that justifies another sitting.

Check your split, not your total

Verify the shape before you stop thinking about the test. The GRE percentile calculator turns your two scaled scores into the two percentiles a committee will see.

Check your section percentiles

What to do next

Send it, apply early, and let the 167/168 split guide which programmes you emphasise rather than whether you apply at all.

Frequently asked questions

Do programmes look at the total GRE score?

The total is mostly an administrative convenience. What varies — and what gets read — is the section score, which at a 335 can sit anywhere from the 67th to the 99th percentile.

What percentile is a 335 GRE score?

ETS publishes no combined percentile. What it does publish, for an even 167/168 split, is the 98th percentile on Verbal and the 81th on Quant.

Is a 335 good enough to apply with?

Yes. There is no field in the ETS data where a 335 sits below the average admitted score.

How can a 335 be split between sections?

The range runs 165/170 through 170/165. A balanced 335 is 167 Verbal with 168 Quant.

Nearby scores