How to Get a 160 on GRE® Quant

A 160 on GRE quant is a sensible target for a lot of test-takers. It sits right around the 50th percentile, and for many programs it’s the threshold that proves quant competence. If you fall below a 160, your quant score will probably raise some eyebrows. If you match or beat a 160, you’ve most likely checked the box. 

For MBA admissions in particular, clearing 160 is typically enough to answer the question of academic readiness for a program.

Overall, getting to 160 doesn’t require being brilliant at math. Rathers, it demands being consistent, methodical, and cool under pressure – all of which are learnable skills.

What a 160 Actually Requires

You don’t need an elite command of every last quant topic to a hit a 160Q. Instead, you need a solid process. Across the whole section, you must be consistent with the fundamentals – reading carefully, applying the core concepts effectively, and rigorously checking your work. Above all, avoid silly mistakes, which are the most common cause of disappointing quant scores.

In terms of math knowledge, what concepts are absolutely essential to master? Simply put, you want to have full command of the basics. That includes arithmetic, various subtopics of algebra, and geometry (see our guide to GRE geometry for more on the essential content). If you’re weak in any of those areas, it will show up on test day, and it will stop you from reaching a 160. That’s because those topics make up a large proportion of the test. Struggling with the less common topics, such as probability or combinatorics, is less of a concern. 

Notice that hitting a 160 isn’t about perfection. To get there, focus on the training your basic skills – reading carefully, thinking logically, and executing under pressure.

Understand How the Scoring Works First

The GRE adapts to your performance between sections, not between questions. Your first quant section will have 12 questions, and will be of average difficulty. How you perform on it determines the difficulty of your second section, which has 15 questions.

Do well on the first section, and you’ll see a noticeably harder second section, along with a higher ceiling. Struggle on the first section, and the second section gets easier, which will cap your score. In fact, getting the “hard” second section will likely be necessary to hit a 160Q. 

The adaptive nature of the GRE leads to a very practical consequence for test takers: which questions you miss matters as much as how many you miss. For this reason, careless errors are tremendously expensive. If you miss a genuinely hard question, it will cost you relatively little. Drop an easy one, and it could tank your score. That’s because the algorithm is judging you on the difficulty of the questions you get right or wrong. If you miss an easy one because of a careless error, the algorithm will assume you were incapable of answering it. As a result, it will drop your score steeply.

Careless Errors Are The Most Costly Errors

Let’s say you’ve mastered the core topics, developing a great understanding of basic arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. At the point, if you’re still falling below a 160, it’s unlikely that math content is the problem. Rather, chances are you’re looking at an execution problem, not a knowledge deficit.

The usual culprits:

• Solving for the wrong thing. Make sure you explicitly note what the question is asking for. Make this a consistent habit, even when the questions feel easy. Is the test asking you for the value of x or of y? Or maybe of x + y? Losing track of these details could be the main issue holding back your score. 
• Read Carefully. What if you have the math skills needed to solve the questions, but you keep misreading key information? All the math knowledge in the world won’t save you in that case. Instead of studying content, improve your problem solving process. Force yourself to reread every question carefully before diving in. While this can be tedious, it can save your score on test day.
• Check your work as you go. Don’t wait until you’ve finished a problem to check your work. Save time by catching and fixing your mistakes as they happen. Again, this can be tedious, but if you develop this good habit, it will absolutely pay-off on test day.

Dealing with execution-based errors is dull and unglamorous. In fact, that’s partly why it causes so much damage for so many people – it’s just easier to ignore. But do yourself a favor and start building good execution habits as early as possible. Every time you do a set of GRE problems, read each question twice before solving. Write down exactly what you’re solving for. Check your work as you go rather than at the end. 

Yes, it’ll feel painfully boring, but it’s effective. We’d rather you take it a little slow on the exam than waste time and money on a retake because you wrote down 4 plus 5 equals 10.

Be Ruthless About Time

The GRE allows you to skip around within a section. You can change your answers as needed, tackling the questions in whatever order suits you. Use this advantage aggressively. The moment a question stumps you, flag it, guess, and move on. Don’t burn precious time in the hopes that the answer will come to you. Your first goal is to nail down all the gettable points as efficiently as you can. In other words, hunt down the questions you know you can get right and solve them first. Only once you’ve done that should you go back and wrestle the hard ones.

There are two good reasons to implement this strategy. First, you don’t want to get crunched for time because you got really stubborn on a couple hard questions. If that happens, you might be forced to rush through (or maybe even skip) easier ones later on, which could really hurt your score. The second reason to use this strategy is as follows: taking a break from a confusing question can sometimes be really helpful. Revisiting it later with clear head could allow you to see things differently, catching some key element you missed the first time around. 

Fill the Basic Gaps First

If you’ve been out of school for a while, some rust is normal. Spend your initial prep hours on arithmetic, algebra, and geometry to get the hang of the basics. (To get started on geometry, feel free to check out our refresher on the topic). Once you’ve done that, you’ll want to get comfortable with the structure of Quantitative Comparison questions. They’re unique to the GRE, and require some specialized thinking skills, so getting comfortable with their format is an important first step.

Practice on Official Material

ETS questions have a particular way of hiding what they’re really asking, and third-party questions rarely capture that spirit. Practicing on official material ensures you’re getting as close to the real exam as possible.

Is 160 the Right Target for You?

For a lot of applicants, yes. But expectations vary enormously from school to school, so make sure you check what your target programs are looking for before you start studying.

Some programs will barely glance at your quant score, because your verbal score is their focus. Others sit at the opposite extreme: a top economics PhD program may expect something much higher. That said, 160 is a reasonable default for many business schools, and for many other graduate programs.

One last note: perfect quant scores have become far more common over the past decade. A perfect 170 now only garners you an 89th percentile score – yes, almost 12% of GRE test-takers now get a perfect score on quant. That deflation has skewed the rest of the scale, where 160 now only garners you a 50th percentile score.

If standing out with your test score is crucial to your application, check out our guides on the GMAT and EA for other options that may lead you to your goals.

And if you’d just like an overview of how GRE Quant works, see GRE Quantitative Reasoning Explained.