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Are you wondering whether the GRE is necessary for your CRNA school application, or if it’s worth the time and investment? Curious about the GRE test itself, what are average scores and what are competitive scores? In this episode, Jenny Finnell, founder of CRNA School Prep Academy and a practicing CRNA, breaks down everything you need to know about the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in the context of CRNA school requirements.
Jenny explores whether the GRE is still required by programs, how to achieve a competitive score, and the importance of analytical writing for CRNA school applicants— a skill increasingly valued by CRNA programs. She dives into program-specific GPA requirements, explaining when the GRE might be required and how schools vary in their expectations.
She also shares insights into competitive test scores plus tips on improving your own GRE scores, especially in key areas like verbal and quantitative reasoning.
Plus, find out how to get a free GRE practice test from Magoosh, with real test questions to gauge your performance before the actual exam!
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
- Why some CRNA programs require the GRE and why requirements can often differ.
- What a “competitive” GRE score looks like today.
- How the GRE’s shorter format impacts your study strategy.
- Tips for tackling the analytical writing and quantitative sections.
- How a strong GRE score can balance a lower GPA.
Whether you’re applying to CRNA school soon or just starting your nurse anesthesia journey, this episode is packed with actionable advice and tools to set you up for success.
Tune in now to master the GRE and elevate your CRNA application!
Don’t forget to grab your free practice test from Magoosh- link in show notes below.
Get access to application & interview preparation resources plus ICU Educational Workshops that have helped thousands of nurses accelerate their CRNA success. Become a member of CRNA School Prep Academy: https://cspaedu.com/join
Get CRNA School insights sent straight to your inbox! Sign up for the CSPA email newsletter: https://www.cspaedu.com/podcast-email
Book a mock interview, resume or personal statement critique, transcript review and more: www.teachrn.com
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Should You Take The GRE For CRNA School?
Hello, future CRNA. Welcome back to CSPA podcast. Today we’re going to talk about the GRE (Graduate Record Exam). Should you take it if you’re applying to CRNA school? Do you have to take it? If you do have to take it, how do we break that test down? What’s a competitive score? What are CRNA schools really looking for when it comes to taking the GRE? Without further ado, let’s get into today’s episode.
I’m Jenny Finnell, founder of CRNA School Prep Academy and practicing CRNA. I haven’t touched on this topic in a while, the GRE, and a lot has changed over the last couple of years when it comes to not only the test itself, but CRNA schools and their requirements around the GRE. So we’re going to ahead and give this a good old update and I have an exciting offer for you, which is a free GRE practice test from today’s sponsor, Magoosh. So be sure to stay tuned to learn how you can get ahold of that test.
Is The GRE Required For CRNA School?
What is it about the GRE that you should know as you embark upon applying to CRNA school? So first and foremost, this is a standardized test that CRNA schools have historically required, but in the last several years, a lot of them have now moved away from this requirement; others have maybe not moved fully away from their requirement- maybe they only require it for a certain GPA. We’re going to discuss that in further detail.
One key point regarding CRNA schools that require the GRE is that, again, there are some schools that only require the GRE for a certain GPA, and that’s going to vary.
For example, Marquette requires the GRE if you have below a 3.2, while a program like MUSC requires the GRE if your GPA is below a 3.6. So that’s a pretty wide range of requirements based on GPA alone. So just know that if you’re like, “Oh, my GPA is a 3.4”, you may or may not still have to take the GRE.
So the lesson learned here is- don’t make the assumption that your GPA is good enough to avoid taking the GRE. And it’s always best to look into this early on in your CRNA school journey so you can give yourself an adequate amount of time to prepare for this test if you do have to take it. I’m going to share some tips on how to do that in this episode.
I do have a comprehensive list- If you’re a CSPA member, there is a comprehensive list of schools that do not require the GRE. I still always encourage you to check out the school’s website though because this changes. You have to make sure you’re staying up to date by visiting the school’s websites and looking at this information depending on what school you’re going to be applying to.
What’s New About The GRE?
So what is new on the GRE? So the GRE is now one hour and 58 minutes long. Believe it or not, that is actually cut in half from the old format. It was a real nasty, lengthy test, so they’re a little bit kinder now, it’s a little bit shorter. It’s still a relatively long test, at an hour and 58 minutes. So you essentially can plot your butt down that chair for a couple hours for this test.
When it comes to the GRE, you’re looking at verbal and quantitative as well as a writing portion.Breaking this GRE formatting down, like I said earlier, you’ll have an analytical writing and that is about 30 minutes of the test itself. They ask you to analyze an issue and you write about that. The next section is verbal reasoning, and this is actually broken into two different sections. Section one is about 18 minutes and section two of this verbal reasoning section is about 23 minutes.
Then you have your quantitative reasoning, which is two sections as well. One is about 21 minutes and the other one is 26 minutes long; Section one is 12 questions. Section two is 15 questions.
Analytical Writing, Verbal & Quantitative Reasoning
Let’s break this GRE exam down a little bit further. There’s analytical writing, schools now care a lot about analytical writing. Back when I took the GRE, it wasn’t as relevant because it wasn’t as important. I went for my master’s, there just wasn’t as much writing. There was some writing, don’t get me wrong, you had to know how to write. But now that you have a doctoral thesis that you’re going to be working on, and you’re going to be writing a lot of research papers, the analytical writing is becoming more and more important for CRNA schools.
Historically, back when I took it, they just wanted to see the average and maybe that was a 3.5 to 4, and now they’re looking at requiring at least a 4 to 4.5 on your writing.
So again, if you got a 3.5, that’s really below average. A lot of schools are not going to look very highly on that score. You really should be aiming for at least a 4, if not a 4.5 on your analytical writing.
The verbal reasoning, this one I find to be really hard to improve quickly because it has to do with your vocabulary and comprehension of reading, which is hard to do in a short period of time. If you’re like me and you struggle with that, plan accordingly and make sure that you’re tackling this topic very early on before you take the GRE because it takes a lot of time to build up that type of knowledge. Again, you want to make sure you want to score at least average and I’m going to go over what those scores would look like.
Then you have your quantitative reasoning. This one’s really, really key for the GRE and for CRNA school because it’s math based. And CRNA school, as you probably have heard, is a very heavy science curriculum including understanding basic math. So the quantitative reasoning is really critical to a science-based education that you’re going to get in CRNA school. You really want to be scoring above average in your quantitative reasoning.
Average is definitely the minimum, but above average will definitely be something that will play in your favor when it comes to applying to CRNA school and being more competitive. And last, there is a 10 minute break after the third section if you wish to take that break.
GRE Score Requirements for CRNA School
Alright, so let’s get more into CRNA school requirements. When it comes to the GRE test, again, some schools have a minimum requirement, some say it’s a 295 while others say 300.
The GRE for CRNA School: Getting a 300 or 298 is really not competitive anymore. You should be aiming at a 305 or higher to make yourself a competitive CRNA School applicant.
That being said, the majority of schools state 300 as the minimum requirement. There are a few schools who state 298, 295, but that’s very few schools. The majority require at least 300 and some are now moving to a 305 as the minimum. There’s a reason for that, but again, you’re going to have to really research your schools and understand what the minimum requirement is.
I have a lot of students who are like, “Okay, Jenny, my minimum is 300 but I scored a 299 or 298, are they’re still going to accept that score?” I can’t give you a 100% answer on that. You’re going to have to contact your school and see how important that score is to move forward in the application process. Some schools state it’s a hard rule that absolutely not, you have to meet that threshold or the answer is no, just like the GPA threshold.
Other schools can be a little more lenient. So it’s different than other requirements of CRNA school because for example, GPA, that’s a pretty hard requirement- meaning if you don’t meet the GPA requirement, not too many schools are going to evaluate your application at all.
But the GRE can be a little different. Some schools don’t necessarily weigh it as heavily as something like GPA; if you just miss the minimum score cutoff but you have a really good application overall, they may tell you to go ahead and just proceed with the application. Other schools will say, no, sorry, that’s a requirement. If you can’t meet it, then take it again and apply after you meet that minimum score threshold.
So just know that that can vary from school to school. And if you’re kind of in that limbo land where you’re not really sure what to do and you just missed the cutoff, please reach out and ask your program(s) so you know how to proceed.
What Is A Competitive GRE Score?
As far as competitive scores for the GRE and CRNA School, historically I would say a 305 is a relatively competitive score. But anymore, with that being more of the average score, a competitive score on the GRE is now upwards of 310 or higher. Not that you need to score a 310 or higher to be competitive, a 305 is still really good.
Getting a 300 or 298 is really not competitive in the big scheme of things. To have a competitive GRE score, you should be aiming at a 305 or higher to make it so your score stands out. Then kind of back to what I already mentioned, some schools only require the GRE if your GPA is lower.
Some schools don’t have any GRE requirements, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to hurt you to take the GRE if your GPA is low. Meaning, if they don’t have the requirement to take the GRE if your GPA is below a certain threshold, but maybe your GPA is a 3.2 and you’re like, “Will it help me to take it anyways?” That’s again, kind of a gray area that I encourage you to go to open houses to talk to program faculty about.
Taking The GRE With A Low GPA
Typically what I can advise you on, and this is just kind of an overall big picture- you can’t make up for a low GPA by taking the GRE, but if you’ve already tried to make up for your low GPA and it’s not really budging, taking the GRE can be a nice addition to kind of help bolster that effort.
However you still want to make sure you’re putting effort into improving your GPA, not ignoring it and taking the GRE instead. Let me just say that one more time to make sure that’s clear- If you have a GPA of a 3.2 and you’re like, “I don’t really want to take any more science classes, I’ll just take the GRE instead.” That’s not necessarily equivalent.
You’d be better off taking a science course first and getting an A; if that still doesn’t really budge your GPA a whole lot, maybe it only budgets it to a 3.25 and you’re like, “Ugh, boo, that stinks!” Well, at that point then it may be still worthwhile to take the GRE to kind of help bolster that effort that you already gave to improving your GPA.
Before you go sign up for more courses, or the GRE, please connect with program at their open houses. Connect with the program faculty, be very specific and brief and concise. When you reach out to these programs, if you give them open-ended questions, you’re not going to get as good of an answer. So make sure you’re very specific, asking “This is what I plan to do. Is this going to help me? Or would you recommend another process to help improve the competitive nature of my application?”
It’s always worthwhile to make sure you’re getting that kind of feedback. If you’re a part of CSPA, I do weekly coaching with our students, so I hope to see you in one of those sessions. This is hard. This is really hard to kind of navigate but that’s what I have to say about dealing with low GPAs and the GRE.
Average GRE Test Scores
Let’s get into national averages. This has changed and it’s getting higher. I don’t know if it’s because of the way they reformatted the test or what this looks like. It’s shifting upwards compared to what it used to be even just a couple years ago. The average GRE score across all test takers has shifted from the new GRE style, and that’s probably again related to the change in the test.
So verbal now is at 152 as the 50th percentile. Verbal average across the board is 152. So , if you score 152 on verbal, I’d say you’re doing well, that’s cool, that’s good. If you got a little bit higher than that, great. But I wouldn’t worry about being a brainiac on verbal; don’t get me wrong, it’s not going to hurt anything if you are, but I would rather see that brainiac come out in the quantitative section. I would just say aim for average on the verbal or slightly above. So aim for 153, 154, slightly above the 152 benchmark threshold.
Then for the quantitative, the 50th percentile is between 156 and 157. Scoring 156 on the quantitative is the 49th percentile and scoring 157 is in the 52nd percentile. So you can see now that a combined score of 308, 309 will put you slightly above average, which is why I think we’re seeing some schools push that 300 minimum up to 305 because technically 305 is now really the new standard average for the test.
That is why scoring above a 305 is how you can make yourself stand out a little bit more, making yourself a slightly more competitive CRNA school applicant by doing above the average GRE score. So that is again, kind of the new averages for the test. If you’re taking the quantitative, I would aim to get at least a 162.
If the 52nd percentile is 157, getting between a 157 and a 164 would really be ideal for the quantitative section, to really boost your competitive nature of the GRE. Then if you aimed for the average verbal score, again, to definitely put you above a 305. Those are my recommendations for scores you should try to aim for when you’re practicing and preparing for the GRE exam.
It’s really hard when you’re taking these GRE practice tests though, to know if that’s how you’re going to score on the real test. But I can promise you, the more you take practice tests, the better idea you’re going to have regarding what ballpark score you’re going to fall into when you take the real test.
Free GRE Practice Test by Magoosh
Excitingly enough, Magoosh has shared their practice test with us, which is free! You can find the link in the show notes below. Again this is a free GRE practice test. Please grab it- the more you practice the GRE, the better you’re going to score.
And Magoosh gives you real test questions, meaning it’s the only test prep company that actually has real questions in their GRE practice test. So again, it’s going to give you a really good indicator on how you’re performing before you take the real test. I would advise you, since it’s one free test, to take some other practice tests first and save this big juicy good one for right before, ok not right before. Give yourself time in case you have to keep studying.
But I wouldn’t go into this test cold is what I’m trying to say. Do some GRE prep prior to taking this test. I know from talking to aspiring CRNAs in our free community and on social media that, sometimes, I hear students say, “Jenny, I’m just going to wing it, see how I do. And if I don’t do well, then I’ll study and retake the GRE.” And it’s like, oh, that hurts me so bad. Because A, it’s a huge confidence blow when you don’t do well, right? And you’re like, “Oh, that stinks. I only got a 290. Ah, I have a long way to go.”
The GRE for CRNA School: Magoosh gives you real test questions; it’s the only GRE test prep company that actually has real questions in their GRE practice test
Not to mention it’s time consuming and expensive to take the GRE test more than once. So don’t do that to yourself. Promise me you’re going to prepare, you’re going to study. And when you do, take this free practice test, see where you lie, and then go back, hit the books again if you need to prepare more.
Analytical Writing On The GRE
Okay, let’s get into the analytical writing section a little bit more. CRNA schools are typically now requiring at least a 4, ideally 4.5 on the analytical writing. To give you an idea of where the averages lie, a 3.5 is actually in the 38th percentile. I’m going to laugh at that because that’s where I was. This was back, I don’t know, I probably took that test in 2010, 2011, something along those lines- but yeah, I scored a 3.5 and that was hard for me. And now today, that’s currently in the 38th percentile.
If you scored a 4, to help to give you some confidence boosting here, because I’m now a CRNA- if you score a 4, that’s in the 55th percentile. So if you scored a 4.5, you’re doing exceptionally well. So don’t beat yourself up. If you get a 4, that’s good, but you definitely want to try to do better than a 3.5 on the analytical writing.
Unfortunately, to do this, the best way is to just practice you guys, it’s just practice. Magoosh can support you in that. I highly encourage you to just buckle down and practice if it’s something you’re struggling with. Don’t forget to grab your free GRE practice test below.
Should I Take The GRE If It’s Not Required By My CRNA School?
Let’s get into asking that hard question: Should you take the GRE? Should you not take it? I find a lot of students are struggling with this because they just want to know how they can be a more competitive CRNA school applicant overall. So even if it’s not required, they’re kind of debating.
I think now that the test is shorter, of course that makes it a little bit more sustainable. I mean, instead of a three hour test, well I guess it was over a three hour test before, but now it’s a two hour test. Although it’s a little bit easier, the GRE is still a very hard test to take plus it’s also time consuming and expensive. I think it’s best to weigh your options. Like I said before, if you have a lower GPA, start by addressing the low GPA versus trying to compensate through other means.
You need to be looking at your application as a whole: How much ICU experience do you have? What kind of ICU experience do you have? What kind of leadership roles do you have? How does your science GPA break down from your overall GPA? Have you been to CRNA program open houses? Have you talked to current nurse anesthesia students? Have you been to any conferences? How competitive, overall, do you think you are? I think once you analyze that, you can then make a better decision going forward on the GRE if you just wanted to take it just to take it.
Now, of course, if it’s required, then you have to take it. If it’s only required based on your GPA, then that could be a gray area because although you may have to take it based on your GPA, you may also be wondering, “Well, should I just take it though?” And I think that really depends on what your timeline is, right?
I see a lot of students try to bite off more than they can chew. Sometimes that kind of comes back to bite them a little bit because they’re doing the CCRN, they’re taking the GRE, they’re taking an advanced pathophysiology course but then maybe their grade in the pathophysiology course isn’t so great because they’re just studying for so many different things at once plus also working full time. So please just be very careful.
That is why I always advise you, if you’re thinking about becoming a CRNA, the sooner you start planning the better. Because the longer runway you give yourself, the better to start kind of tackling some of these tasks without trying to cram it all in right before the application is due.
Again, if your GPA is on the lower side, taking the GRE may be worth considering if you’ve already tried to make up for that GPA but it hasn’t been super beneficial or really improved much. Consider where your school’s minimum threshold lies, whether that’s a 300, 305 or 298 so you can make your game plan on where you want your ultimate GRE score to be.
Retaking The GRE
I can share some about my personal experience with the GRE. I had to take it more than once, and I did prepare for that first one. I just didn’t do well. I don’t do great with standardized testing in general. That’s always been a weakness of mine. I have had to historically find a lot of unique ways to take tests that I can comprehend.
I’ve always had a reading comprehension issue since I was a child, and it’s probably partially due to dyslexia among other things, who knows? But I’ve had to find unique strategies when I take a test to help my brain comprehend what they’re asking for. I sometimes still have the tendency to flip things around a little bit, reverse words or put words in there that don’t exist and things like that; I have to be really careful when I read and reread.
But that being said, my first attempt, I scored in the ballpark, I don’t remember the exact number, but it was below a 300. It was between a 295 and 298, somewhere around those lines. It was pretty close at the time. I was looking at applying to a school who required a 300 and I had just missed that threshold.
So I reached out to that CRNA school, just as I’m encouraging you guys to do; at the time it was a program coordinator and they laughed at me over the phone! They said, “Honey, if you can’t achieve that minimum score, you shouldn’t bother applying.” And I was like, wow, that was really harsh to kind of take it in such a derogatory tone.
I want to be like, “Have you taken that test? What did you score?” But of course I didn’t. I kind of just put my tail between my legs and said, “Okay, thank you.” And then I was like, “Well, I guess I got to take this test again. I got to figure out how to do better” as I also had other CRNA school applications coming up that required the GRE.
Back when I was preparing for CRNA school, the GRE was required from almost all CRNA programs. It was kind of unique to not require it; that has definitely changed today. But that being said, I invested heavily in a tutoring resource and I just did tons and tons of prep with the quantitative.
Understand what your strengths and your weaknesses are, identifying what areas of the test you need to put more time and attention into. Share on X
My verbal was right around the average, maybe slightly below, but right around the average mark. And I was like, “Eh, okay. Am I really going to improve that? Probably not. That’s never been my strong suit. But I can excel in math. I’m still struggling it, but I can excel when I really, really put a lot of effort into it.”
So that’s what I doubled down on, really focusing on my quantitative score, and I was able to get that to a 165 or 166. It was much higher than what it was when I first took it. My quantitative score dramatically improved. It worked. I always tell people, don’t be afraid to invest in test prep because it just will help you and not stress you out more than you already have to be.
How To Prepare For The GRE
Alright, so here are some tips when going into the GRE- first is knowing your baseline. And this is kind of when it comes down to taking that practice test, which again, if you haven’t grabbed it yet, it’s in the show notes, grab it now, pause the episode. It’s a free practice GRE test by Magoosh who is today’s sponsor. Thank you Magoosh.
I encourage you to prepare before you use this free test. You want to see what your baseline is after you prepare. Understand that baseline is really, really critical when it comes to actually taking the GRE test, so you kind of have a gauge on a how you’re going to do and what it is you need to study prior to taking the test. Then you can put the odds in your favor to get the score that you want to get.
Understand what your strengths and your weaknesses are, identifying what areas of the test you need to put more time and attention into. And kind of like what I spoke to, my verbal was relatively average. Not that I got to ignore that and not review it, but I knew my quantitative, I knew I could improve that with some practice.
I mean, some of this math you guys was math that I hadn’t done since high school or maybe earlier. And geometry, I hate that stuff. So I was like, “Okay, Jenny, just do it. You’ve got to refresh yourself. You’ve got to reteach yourself.” And honestly, what I thought was kind of refreshing, was that I enjoyed learning it myself; I did not enjoy it when trying to learn it from someone else, back when I was being taught that kind of stuff. I remember really struggling.
But when I went back in myself, and retaught it to myself as I was preparing for the GRE, I was able to get it much quicker. Who knows, was it because I’d already seen it before, or if I knew my study techniques better, or I just was stronger as far as being able to teach myself information than I was when I was back in high school.
So don’t shy away from it too much. Rest assured that you may find it’s easier to get that information back even though it’s been several years since you’ve learned it. So again, I am here to kind of call to action as far as reminding you to grab that free test. Thank you Magoosh for sponsoring and sharing.
Magoosh GRE Prep
I also want to share some other tidbits about Magoosh, they might be really helpful for you if you’re thinking of choosing Magoosh as your GRE testing partner. They have helped millions. Millions! That’s insane. I wish I could say I’ve helped millions of ICU nurses… Someday I will. But they’ve helped millions of students prep for the GRE. They have the experience, they have the knowledge, they know what they need to do to help students be successful.
They have fully updated their test to the new shorter GRE version. Like I said earlier, Magoosh is the only test prep company that includes the official GRE materials and questions. And it emphasizes the importance of practicing with official questions because again, it simulates the real test experience, which is what you want.
I also think that they have an unbeatable price. They’re actually cheaper than most competitors out there. I think that’s a big bonus for you. Keep some cash in your pockets. They also have the most ambitious score-improvement guarantee. This is really key, and I’ve talked about this before, but you want to pick a test prep company that gives you a guarantee of a better, improved outcome. So again, they guarantee a five plus score increase or your money back. I think that is really key, especially if you’re faced with having to retake the GRE.
If you go with a test prep company that gives you a guarantee, you know you’re going to get the results you want or you get your money back. I think that’s huge. It gives you peace of mind that if you’re going to put more time, effort and money into the GRE, that you’re going to get the results you want or get your money back. CSPA also offers a guarantee. So again, picking guarantees is a real sure-fire way to see they’re holding themselves accountable to give you good results.
It includes 1600 questions, full length tests. They also have smart feedback and in-progress tracking to turn your weaknesses into strengths. They have email assistance and you can take this anywhere. You can do it from your app, you can log in from your desktop. It’s a real convenient way you can GRE prep on the go. A lot of you are on travel assignments or things of that nature, so you can pop open your app and study as you’re on the road or doing laundry or cooking dinner.
I hope you guys will find this episode helpful. My goal is always to help you succeed. I wish you the best in your GRE endeavors. Be sure to grab the free GRE practice test from Magoosh. The link is down below. And thank you again, Magoosh for supporting our aspiring CRNAs and sponsoring this episode. All right, till next time, take care.
Important Links
Get Your FREE Magoosh GRE Practice Test: https://gre.magoosh.com/practice_tests/free/?referrer_code=AS68M4
Join the Free CSPA Community! Connect with a network of Aspiring CRNAs, Nurse Anesthesia Residents, practicing CRNAs and CRNA Program Faculty Mentors here: https://www.cspaedu.com/community
Get access to application & interview preparation resources plus ICU Educational Workshops that have helped thousands of nurses accelerate their CRNA success. Become a member of CRNA School Prep Academy: https://cspaedu.com/join
Get CRNA School insights sent straight to your inbox! Sign up for the CSPA email newsletter: https://www.cspaedu.com/podcast-email
Book a mock interview, resume or personal statement critique, transcript review and more: www.teachrn.com
