GRE Accommodations: Can You Use the Same Evaluation for the GRE and LSAT?
If you are applying to both law school and graduate school, or exploring programs that accept either the LSAT or the GRE, a practical question comes up early: do you need two separate evaluations, or can one psychological evaluation support both accommodations requests?
The short answer is: often yes, one evaluation can serve both. But there are important conditions, and the answer depends on which exams you are applying to, in what order, and what accommodations you are requesting.
This post explains how ETS handles GRE accommodations documentation, where the LSAT and GRE overlap, and what applicants planning for multiple exams should know before scheduling an evaluation.
How ETS Reviews GRE Accommodations Requests
The GRE is administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS), which runs its own Disability Services review process independently of other testing organizations. ETS evaluates accommodation requests under ADA standards (the same underlying framework used by LSAC, AAMC, and NBME) but applies its own documentation requirements and submission procedures.
All accommodation requests must be submitted and approved by ETS Disability Services before you can schedule your GRE. Accommodations cannot be applied to a test that has already been scheduled, so timing matters. ETS estimates that documentation review takes approximately four to six weeks once a complete application is received. If additional documentation is requested, allow another two to four weeks. Submitting at least two to three months before your intended test date is a reasonable minimum.
The ETS Documentation Shortcut Most Applicants Don't Know About
Here is where the GRE process becomes meaningfully different from the MCAT or USMLE, and where strategic planning can save you significant time and money.
ETS has a formal accommodation transfer pathway. If you have already been approved for accommodations on another major standardized test, you may be able to request the same accommodations for the GRE without submitting a new psychological evaluation.
Specifically:
If you have a current ETS approval (for example, from a TOEFL or Praxis exam), ETS will approve the same accommodations for the GRE without requiring new documentation, provided those accommodations are appropriate for the GRE format.
If you have approval from another standardized testing agency such as LSAC (LSAT), AAMC (MCAT), the College Board (SAT), or ACT, you may submit a copy of that approval letter, and ETS will grant the same accommodations if they do not violate test construct or security requirements. No disability documentation is required.
If you have current college disability services accommodations, you can submit a Certification of Eligibility form completed by your institution's Office of Accessibility rather than a full evaluation, provided you are requesting 50% extended time or less and/or extra breaks for a learning disability, ADHD, psychiatric disability, or physical disability.
This transfer pathway is significant. It means that if you are planning to take both the LSAT and GRE, getting your LSAT accommodations approved first, with a comprehensive evaluation, and then using that approval letter to request GRE accommodations may be more efficient than running two parallel documentation processes.
When a Full Evaluation Is Still Required for the GRE
The transfer pathway described above has limits. A full psychological evaluation submitted directly to ETS is necessary when:
You have no prior accommodations history from a standardized testing agency or college disability services
You are requesting more than 50% extended time (double time requires full documentation unless you are also requesting braille, a human reader, recorded audio, or a screen reader)
Your prior approval was from an institution or agency whose documentation ETS does not recognize as sufficient
Your prior accommodations are no longer current
In these situations, ETS requires documentation from a qualified evaluating professional, typically a licensed psychologist, that includes a diagnosis, a description of current functional limitations, and a specific rationale for each requested accommodation.
Can One Evaluation Serve Both the LSAT and GRE?
In many cases, yes, but with important caveats.
A comprehensive psychological evaluation conducted to meet LSAC's documentation standards will typically include the objective cognitive and academic testing, diagnostic synthesis, functional impairment analysis, and accommodation rationale that ETS also expects. The core clinical content of a strong LSAT evaluation generally transfers.
However, the evaluation report itself should be written with sufficient breadth to support multiple applications. A report that references only "the demands of the LSAT" in its accommodation rationale, without addressing broader standardized testing conditions, is a narrower document than one that speaks to timed, standardized testing generally.
If you know in advance that you plan to apply for accommodations on both exams, it is worth discussing this with your evaluator before the report is written. A report framed around standardized testing more broadly rather than a single exam is more useful across multiple applications.
One practical note: If you pursue the LSAT first and receive approval, use that approval letter to request GRE accommodations through ETS's transfer pathway rather than submitting the full evaluation again. This is faster, simpler, and is explicitly supported by ETS policy.
How the GRE and LSAT Documentation Standards Compare
Understanding where these two exams align and where they differ helps clarify what a shared evaluation needs to include.
Where they are similar:
Both require demonstration of functional limitation under timed, standardized conditions and not diagnosis alone
Both require documentation from a licensed qualified professional
Both give significant weight to prior accommodations history
Both ask evaluators to provide specific rationale for each requested accommodation
Where they differ:
LSAC divides requests into categories based on documentation type and prior accommodations history, with different review pathways for each. ETS uses a more streamlined transfer system that explicitly allows approval-letter shortcuts.
LSAC's documentation standards are particularly detailed for ADHD, with specific guidance on what constitutes sufficient objective evidence. ETS's requirements, while similar in spirit, are somewhat less prescriptive in published form.
The LSAT is administered multiple times per year with specific registration deadlines tied to accommodation submissions. The GRE is offered more flexibly, but accommodations must be approved before scheduling. This is a constraint that affects planning in a different way.
What Accommodations Are Available on the GRE
ETS offers a range of accommodations depending on documented need. The most commonly approved for ADHD and learning disabilities are:
Extended test time: 25% (time and one-quarter), 50% (time and one-half), or 100% (double time)
Extra breaks: the testing clock stops during breaks, which do not reduce testing time
Separate or reduced-distraction testing room
ETS makes an explicit distinction between extended time and extra breaks that is worth understanding. Extended time addresses the need for more time to access and process test content. Extra breaks address the need to manage a condition or employ a strategy during testing. For example, medication breaks, movement breaks, or reset time for focus. For some individuals, extra breaks are more appropriate than extended time; for others, both are warranted. Your evaluation should address which accommodations your specific profile supports and why.
If you are requesting more than 50% extended time, disability documentation must be submitted directly to ETS regardless of prior approvals, and the rationale in that documentation needs to specifically support the higher accommodation level.
Planning Across Multiple Exams: A Practical Framework
If you are considering both the LSAT and GRE, or are a pre-med student who may also need MCAT accommodations, a coordinated approach is worth thinking through before you schedule anything.
A few principles that apply across these situations:
Get your evaluation done once, done well. A comprehensive evaluation conducted to the highest applicable standard (in most cases, the most rigorous of your target exams) is more efficient than a series of partial evaluations. Know which exams you are planning for before your evaluation is conducted.
Sequence matters. If one exam's approval can shortcut another's documentation process, getting the more demanding application approved first is often the better path. For the LSAT-GRE combination, LSAC's standards are generally more detailed, making LSAT approval first a practical choice.
Discuss cross-exam use with your evaluator upfront. A report written with a single exam in mind is a narrower document. If your evaluator knows you are planning for multiple applications, the report can be written to serve them more broadly without requiring separate documentation for each.
Keep your approval letters. ETS explicitly accepts approval letters from other standardized testing agencies as documentation. Once you have an approval from LSAC, AAMC, or another recognized body, that letter has ongoing value.
Considering an Evaluation?
If you are planning to apply for GRE accommodations, whether as a standalone process or as part of a broader accommodations strategy across multiple exams, a comprehensive evaluation provides the strongest possible foundation.
I offer psychological evaluations designed to meet the documentation standards for high-stakes exam accommodations, including the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, Bar Exam, and USMLE. I work with students nationwide through in-person evaluations in Richmond, Virginia and Washington, DC, travel-based evaluations in select locations, and virtual evaluations across 40+ PSYPACT states.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your situation and which approach makes sense for your exam timeline.
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