Your GMAT Score and Score Report

How the GMAT is scored

The GMAT is composed of four scores—the Verbal score, Quantitative score, Total score, and Analytical Writing score.

• A Verbal scaled subscore, reported on a 0-60 score scale, plus a percentile rank.
• A Quantitative scaled subscore, reported on a 0-60 score scale, plus a percentile rank.
• Total combined Verbal and Quantitative scaled score, ranging from 200-800 in 10-point increments, plus an overall percentile rank. Two-thirds of test-takers have a score between 400 and 600.
• An Analytical Writing score reported on a 0-6 score scale, in half-point increments.

While examining the GMAT scoring scales it is important not to lose sight of what the scores actually represent. Each score places a student in a certain relative position compared to other test takers. These relative positions are represented through a percentile that correlates to each score and indicates where the test taker falls in the overall pool of test takers (90th percentile means you scored better than 90 percent of the other test-takers). Because the Quantitative and Verbal sections are so divergent with respect to their content and difficulty, score percentiles are assigned to each section individually.

Your score report will also include a percentile ranking for your total Quantitative and Verbal combined score. The percentile ranking is critical since it is a true indicator of your positioning relative to other test takers, and, consequently, other graduate school applicants. The percentile is based on three years’ worth of GMAT scores in order to balance out any random fluctuations. This is the number that business schools will use to determine how you performed relative to other applicants who have taken the GMAT. They may look at your percentile based on the original 1954 scales, the total testing population for the past three years, or just those who have applied to that school.

Understanding the GMAT percentile allows you to more accurately assess your true position in the national pool, and thus to some degree your position in the graduate school applicant pool.

Median Scores, Average Scores

The median GMAT score is approximately 540. Only 1% of all test takers receive a score of 750 or higher, and almost 60% of all test takers fall into the 400 to 600 scoring range. The top business schools in the country (as reported by US News and World Report) are in the 700 range, or 95th percentile.

Think about what school you would like to attend, and research their average GMAT scores in order to determine your ideal score. Below are some average scores of students admitted into some of the top MBA programs:

Score Report

Right before the test, you are given the opportunity to pick 5 schools where you would like ETS to send a copy of your score report (the schools you choose won’t know where else you have sent your reports). You can order additional score reports for a fee. Your score report will include all of your GMAT scores from tests you have taken within the last five years. The report will also include your essays, contact and demographic information, digital photo from test-day, and any other self-reported data you may have provided during registration. Although you will receive an “unofficial” score report immediately after taking the test, your Official Score Report will need to be accessed online (after 20 days) or via mail (also approximately 20 days after the test). According to GMAC, “You must respond to both essays and work on each multiple-choice section of the test in order to obtain an Official Score Report.”