The Educational Testing Service is announcing today that applicants to graduate school will no longer have to submit all their scores on the Graduate Record Examinations, but will have the option to select the best scores to share.

The move is similar to one made by the College Board with regard to the SAT in 2008. For test takers who worry about having an “off day,” the shift is likely to be popular, as they will gain the option of retaking the test without flagging for admissions offices that they once had a low score. ETS will require an entire administration to be submitted, so a test-taker couldn't submit part of a GRE score from one day and another from another day.

ETS may gain from the move in its competition with the Graduate Management Admission Council. ETS has been promoting the GRE for use in business school admissions. While the GMAC’s Graduate Management Admission Test is the dominant exam in M.B.A. admissions, that test is not focused on business-related questions, and ETS has been encouraging applicants to submit GRE scores instead of GMAT scores. 

Bob Ludwig, director of public affairs at GMAC, said that group does not plan to match ETS on score choice, and...