Every year, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) takes a close look at everyone’s GMAT scores. They find the average GMAT score for all test takers, plus they calculate mean scores by different demographics, like gender and region of citizenship. All of this number crunching helps GMAC see trends in scores over time and ensure that the GMAT is a valid test for people across the world.

Read on to learn how everyone does on the GMAT and to see whether your scores are competitive. You’ll also find data on the average GMAT scores of accepted students at almost 50 business schools!

Let’s start with the most recent data we have on GMAT scores for all test takers. What is the average GMAT score?

Average GMAT Score for All Test Takers

In 2016, the average GMAT score was 558. This average was taken across all 261,248 test-takers worldwide, as reported in GMAC’s 2016 Data to Go Report Series.

The average GMAT scores by section are based on a sample of over 750,000 individuals who took the GMAT between 2013 and 2015. 

You might be surprised to see that average Quantitative scores are a lot higher than average Verbal scores. Math scores have gone up over time, perhaps as more and more student from math-proficient countries across the world take the GMAT.

As the test becomes more international, students have especially strong math skills but weaker verbal skills, since English may not be their native language. As a result of this trend, you’ll find that it’s now harder to rank in a high percentile for Quantitative than it is for Verbal.

We’ll discuss trends in average GMAT scores over time in more detail below, but first, let’s take a look at the GMAT average score by gender and region of citizenship.

Average GMAT Score by Gender

The most recent data we have on average GMAT scores by gender also comes from GMAC’s 2013 Profile of GMAT Candidates Executive Summary. This chart shows the GMAT average scores for men and women for testing year 2013. 

Overall, more men take the GMAT than women, and they also average higher total scores.

In addition to finding mean scores by gender, GMAC also analyzes data by region of citizenship. The chart below shows GMAT average scores by region for 2016.

Average GMAT Scores by Citizenship Region

To give you a sense of testing trends in your region of citizenship, GMAC crunched the numbers for Africa, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other regions across the world. This chart shows the GMAT average scores by region for testing year 2016.

Some regions average higher than the worldwide mean of 558, while some fall lower. The Australia & Pacific Islands area takes the prize for highest GMAT score averages, with a whopping 610! (Note it also had the lowest number of exams taken, so the students coming from this region may be especially well prepared.)

If you’re interested in average GMAT scores by each individual country, you can find this data in GMAC’s official report.

Have average GMAT scores always looked like this? Read on to see how scores have shifted over the years.

How Have Average GMAT Scores Changed Over Time?

Has the GMAT average score increased, decreased, or stayed the same over time? To answer this question, consider the chart below showing the average total scores worldwide from 2012 to 2016.

For the most part, average GMAT scores have increased over time. This increase in average total scores likely reflects the overall increase in Quantitative scores.

As mentioned above, there are more excellent math scores on the GMAT than ever before. As a result, you need a higher score to rank in a high percentile for the Quantitative section today than you did in years past.

Besides making percentile rankings more competitive, does this trend in average scores affect what scores you need to get into business school?

What Is the Average GMAT Score for Business School?

For the most part, the average GMAT scores of students who are accepted to business school tend to be higher than the average scores across the world or by citizenship region. In fact, the average worldwide score of 558 is on the low side for many business schools.

So, what scores do you need to get in? That all depends on where you’re applying. Top schools tend to expect scores over 700, while less selective schools leave more wiggle room.

Let’s consider the GMAT average scores of accepted students at almost 50 business schools, some that are highly selective and others that are less so.

The most selective business schools have an average GMAT score of about 720, but less selective ones accept students with scores in the 500s or 600s. You can also find a few, like Nicholls State, that will accept students with GMAT scores in the 400s, but you may have to balance out a lower than average GMAT score with a higher than average undergraduate GPA.

Remember, all of these scores are just averages, meaning some students got in with lower scores and some students had higher. In addition to your GMAT scores, your essays, recommendation letters, academic records, and work experience are also important parts of your application.

When setting a goal for the GMAT, it’s more important to find the average scores of accepted students at business schools than average GMAT scores overall. If you’re applying to a school that’s not on this list, how can you find the average GMAT score of accepted students?

How to Find Average GMAT Scores for Business Schools

Most schools publish data on the GMAT average score of accepted students every year. You should be able to find this information in the admissions section of the school’s website. You can search around the school website or use a search engine to look for, “school name + average GMAT score.”

If you can’t find this information, then you should feel free to call up or email the admissions office of the school. While they probably won’t give you a score cutoff, they should be able to tell you the average GMAT scores of students who got in last year.

By doing this research, you can set specific goals for your own GMAT section and total scores. Then, you can start preparing to meet those goals and make your business school application the strongest it can be.

In closing, what can you take away from all this data on average GMAT scores? Let’s go over some final thoughts about average GMAT scores and how they can help you evaluate your own GMAT performance.

What Is the Average GMAT Score? Final Thoughts

GMAC analyzes the huge collection of GMAT data every year to calculate average scores for all test takers. By looking at average scores, you can gain a sense of how competitive your own scores are compared to those of other prospective business school students.

At the same time, you should be more concerned with the average scores of students who have been accepted to business schools that you’re interested in. For the most part, business programs want scores that are higher than the worldwide or national average.

In fact, the global average of 558 is quite low for many business school programs and would likely eliminate your application from consideration to the most selective business schools in the country and world.

When setting your own target GMAT scores, you should emphasize average scores from business schools, rather than the GMAT average score from the Graduate Management Admission Council. That way, you can figure out what you need to score and work towards achieving competitive GMAT scores.

What’s Next?

Now you know all about average GMAT scores, but do you know how the test is scored? Check out this GMAT scoring guide to learn everything you need to know.

In addition to section and total scores, you’ll also get a percentile ranking. Head over to our GMAT percentile guide to learn what this ranking means and how section and total GMAT scores correspond to percentiles.

Have you decided on a GMAT test date yet? Check out this full guide to choosing a GMAT test date and time that will help you do your best.

The post Average GMAT Scores: Where Do You Rank? appeared first on Online GMAT Prep Blog by PrepScholar.

What’s the highest GMAT score possible, and how can you get it? How common is the GMAT max score? Do you need it to gain admission to your MBA program of choice?

In this article, I’ll go over the highest score in each GMAT section, tips on how to get it yourself, and how a perfect GMAT score can help you get into business school.

What Is the Highest GMAT Score?

The highest GMAT score possible is an 800. When we discuss the GMAT score, we generally mean the total score, which includes both the Verbal and the Quantitative sections. The Integrated Reasoning and Analytical Writing Assessment sections are not included in the total score.

Below are the score ranges for the GMAT total score, as well as each individual section:

How Can You Get the Highest GMAT Score?

So, how can you score that coveted perfect 800 GMAT score? There are a few reasons why we can’t know for certain how many questions you need to get right in order to get the GMAT max score. Firstly, the GMAT is a computerized adaptive test (CAT), which means that the test adapts to the test-taker’s abilities as he or she takes the exam. Getting a medium question incorrect will result in fewer moderate or advanced-level questions and more easy ones, while getting easy or medium questions correct will lead to more moderate and difficult questions to gauge your overall level relative to your peers.

Since your GMAT score relies not only on how many questions you get right, but on how many easy, moderate, and difficult questions you get right, there is no one magic number of right answers that will guarantee you an 800.

Secondly, the GMAC (the Graduate Management Admissions Council) doesn’t offer specific annual stats on how many questions you can get incorrect and still get an 800. There are actually three ‘scores’ you receive in each section: the raw score (as in, how many questions out of 37 you get correct on the Quant section, how many questions out of 41 you get right on the Verbal section, etc.), the scaled score (1-60 for both Verbal and Quant), and the percentile ranking (which tells you how well you did on that section or the total score in relation to your peers).

Recent unofficial student reports indicate that a scaled Verbal score of 51 (approximately raw score of 35-37 out of 41) and a scaled Quant score of 48 (approx. raw score of 30-34 out of 37) , could result in an 800. So could a scaled score of 48 on the Verbal section and a 51 on the Quant section.

The important things to note here are that 1) you can have a slight discrepancy between your Verbal and Quant scores and still get an 800, but not a significant one, and 2) you can get a few questions incorrect and still get the max GMAT score.

What we can know for sure is that to get the GMAT highest score, you’ll need to do well on both the Verbal and Quant sections, get very few answers incorrect in each section, not skip any questions, and answer difficult questions correctly.

How Common Is the Max GMAT Score?

Not very. GMAC reports that very few students score very low or very high. In fact, two-thirds of GMAT test-takers score between a 400 and a 600. Very few students score below a 9 or above a 44 on the Verbal section, or below 7 or above 50 on the Quant section.

GMAT percentile rankings tell you how you did in comparison to other students—for example, a percentile ranking of 40% would mean you scored higher than 40% of students, and 60% of test-takers scored the same as or more highly than you—and they can tell us something about the highest GMAT scores, too. Here are the GMAT total score percentile rankings for the last three years for scores between 650 and 800:

Note that a 760 or above would put you in the 99th percentile, meaning that only one percent of fellow test-takers get a 760 or above. This means, of course, that the number of students who actually get the GMAT highest score of 800 is exceedingly small. Out of the approximately 200,000 GMAT tests taken every year, only 2,000 score 760 or above.

Even though an 800 is a lofty goal, it’s not impossible.

Will a Perfect GMAT Score Get You Into Business School?

So does a perfect GMAT score really matter? Will a perfect GMAT score get you into the business school of your dreams? First, for reference, here are the average GMAT scores for recent incoming classes at five top-tier MBA programs:

Note that all five of these top-ranked MBA programs have average GMAT scores of 710+, and in many cases incoming students have average GMAT scores of 720 and above. So you certainly don’t need an 800 to get into these top schools.

Score ranges give even more clarity: At Stanford, the most recent class profile lists a range of 590-790 among admitted students (which means no one scored a perfect GMAT score of 800!). At Harvard Business School, the incoming class of 2018 has a middle 80% score range of 690-760, which means the bulk of students fit into this range, and a few students scored even higher.

Generally, you’ll only need a GMAT score of 720 and above to be admitted to a top-ranking MBA program, so don’t worry if you don’t have a perfect score. Most of the students that your favorite business school admits don’t have one either. The rest of your application is important: GPA, work experience, letters of recommendation, and essays and other writing samples.

Of course getting an 800 can help you stand out, since getting the GMAT max score is so rare. But keep in mind it’s not a guarantee of admission, since in the admissions officers’ eyes, a 780 is quite similar the same as an 800. After you pass the academic GMAT cutoff, the rest of your application is what matters.

How To Get the Highest GMAT Score: Prep Strategies

So if your goal is the highest GMAT score possible, how can you get there? There’s no guarantee, but here are a few strategies:

1. Prep extensively. You’ll need to put in a lot of prep time if you want the max GMAT score, even if you start out strong in your first practice tests. Use the GMATPrep study software to complete practice tests under simulated test conditions and track your progress.

2. Target your weaknesses. Aiming for a perfect 800 on the GMAT will take some fine tuning. When you review your practice tests, take note of your weaknesses. Do you have trouble with trigonometry or geometry? Do you find Critical Reasoning or Sentence Correction questions more challenging in the Verbal section? Get more specific than that if you can, too: Do you have trouble correcting run-ons in Sentence Correction questions? Focus your review on that weakness. Honing in on your weak spots is the only way to shoot for an 800.

3. Make sure you’re strong in both the Verbal and Quant sections. As I noted, you’ll need high scores on both the Quant and the Verbal section to end up with a perfect GMAT score. If you’re a little weaker in one, focus the bulk of your prep time on that.

4. Analyze official questions on GMAT practice tests. Particularly for question types you struggle with, try breaking them down into their various parts. Which part of the question confuses you? Find an answer explanation and compare it to your own line of thinking. Where does your logic break down? Getting an 800 will require this level of specificity in your GMAT prep.

GMAT Highest Score: The Bottom Line

You don’t need to obsess over getting a perfect GMAT score of 800. Getting a 720 or higher will get you into almost any business school, and a 750 or higher would be considered highly exceptional at even the most selective MBA programs.

However, if your goal is an 800, plan your GMAT prep accordingly. Devote many hours to your prep, target your weaknesses, break down question types to analyze where you’re getting it wrong and make sure you’re scoring well in every GMAT section.

What’s Next?

Check out our guide to GMAT Percentiles for help understanding GMAT percentile rankings in more detail.

Still confused about how the GMAT is scored? Our complete guide to GMAT scoring will give you more in-depth info about GMAT scores as a whole.

The GMAT is intimidating, but is it hard? Read our expert analysis of how difficult the GMAT actually is for more info.

The post What Is the Highest GMAT Score? Can You Get a Max Score? appeared first on Online GMAT Prep Blog by PrepScholar.

If we had to define our relationship with GMAT scoring on Facebook, we’d have to go with “It’s complicated.” Everyone’s test looks a little different, and the GMAT uses adaptive testing and equating to assign comparable scores across various versions of the test. So how is the GMAT scored, exactly?

This guide will tell you everything you need to know about GMAT scoring. To start, let’s go over the score ranges for section and total scores.

How Is the GMAT Scored? What Is the Score Range?

There are four sections on the GMAT, Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), Integrated Reasoning (IR), Quantitative, and Verbal, in that order. You’ll get a score for each of these four sections. You’ll also get a total score, which is made up of Quantitative and Verbal. AWA and IR don’t count toward your total score.

Your AWA GMAT score can have half points, while your IR, Quantitative, and Verbal scores come in intervals of one. Your total scores are presented in intervals of 10. This chart shows the GMAT score range and score intervals of each section.

You won’t have to wait long to get your GMAT results. In fact, you won’t have to wait any time at all.

Right after you finish the exam, you’ll get an unofficial GMAT score report with your IR, Quantitative, Verbal, and total scores. At this point, you can decide whether you want to keep your GMAT scores or cancel them and try again another time. If you decide to keep your scores, you’ll get your official GMAT score report, which includes your AWA score, about 20 days later.

Before looking closer at each section, let’s talk about the total score between 200 and 800. Where does it come from, and how is it calculated?

How Is the GMAT Total Score Calculated?

As mentioned above, you’ll see your GMAT total score immediately after you finish taking the test. The total score falls between 200 and 800, and it’s based entirely on your Quantitative and Verbal scores.

Both the Quantitative and Verbal sections are adaptive, meaning that the difficulty levels of questions changes to match your ability, and everyone’s test looks a little bit different. This adaptive format also means that we have no clear way of calculating Quantitative or Verbal scores and, as a result, no clear way of calculating the GMAT total score.

On a non-adaptive test, we could take the raw score, or number of questions you get right, and turn it into a scaled score. The GMAT, though, doesn’t just take how many questions you got right into account. It also considers how difficult each of those questions were, as well as how many questions you answered.

To assign Quantitative, Verbal, and total scores to everyone’s test, GMAC uses a complex scoring algorithm. This algorithm is central to its business, so GMAC isn’t exactly planning to spill its secrets anytime soon. When it comes to the GMAT total score, we must accept a certain degree of mystery about its origins.

What we do know is that the GMAT total score is based on how many math and verbal questions you got right, how many you answered, and how difficult each question was. We also know that there is a score penalty for not finishing the section, so you should try to answer every question in each section. It’s better to get a question wrong than not to answer it at all.

While we can’t crack the code of the GMAT scoring algorithm, we can deduce some intel about how the sections are scored. Let’s take a closer look at scoring in the GMAT Quantitative and Verbal sections.

GMAT Scoring: Quantitative and Verbal Sections

The Quantitative and Verbal sections share several similarities. Both are just over an hour long (Quant is 62 minutes long and Verbal is 65 minutes), and both are scored between 0 and 60 in one-point intervals. It’s rare for anyone to score below a 7 or above a 50 in Quantitative or below a 9 or above a 44 in Verbal – this would place you in the bottom or top 1% of all test takers, respectively.

As discussed above, both the Quantitative and Verbal sections are adaptive, meaning that your selection of questions changes as you go through the test. Basically, adaptive testing works like this — if you get a question right, then your next question will be a bit more difficult. If you get a question wrong, then your next one should be easier.

Again, GMAT uses a complex algorithm to select questions with a difficulty level that matches your ability and to assign comparable scores to different forms of the test. Each Quantitative or Verbal question you get will refine your section GMAT score a little more to get an accurate measure your skills.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) keeps its complex algorithm under lock and key. What we do know if that it’s important for you to answer every question in a section before time runs out, or you’ll face a severe score penalty.

We also that know that on average, more people score highly on the Quantitative section than on the Verbal section. The result of this imbalance is that you need to score especially highly in math to rank in a high percentile, as rankings are now very competitive.

Finally, we know that some of the questions in both sections are experimental. These questions are given to test out new material for future tests, and they won’t count toward your GMAT results at all. Unfortunately, you have no way of knowing which ones they are.

Now let’s take a look at the somewhat more transparent scoring system of the Integrated Reasoning section.

GMAT Scoring: Integrated Reasoning Section

Unlike the Quantitative and Verbal sections, the 30-minute Integrated Reasoning section is not adaptive. You’ll get 12 questions, a few of which will likely be experimental. The whole section will be scored between 1 and 8 in intervals of one.

While everyone will get different questions, all test takers will get the same four question types: graphics interpretation, two-part analysis, table analysis, and multi-source reasoning. If you find yourself getting a disproportionate number of a certain question type, then some of those might be experimental. However, you really have no way of knowing which ones won’t be scored.

While GMAC doesn’t share the way it converts raw IR scores to scaled scores, we can guess that each question is worth about a point. The exact way your scores get adjusted may change depending on the overall difficulty level of your group of questions. If you got an especially tough IR section, then you may have a little more room for error than someone who got easier questions.

Even though most IR questions feature multiple statements, you don’t have the opportunity for partial credit. You must get all parts of a question correct to get points.

You’ll see your IR score when you finish the GMAT, but it doesn’t count toward your total scores.

GMAT Scoring: Analytical Writing

We have the clearest sense of how the AWA section is scored. Your essay will receive two independent ratings between 0 and 6. One of these ratings will be performed by an expert reader, and the other might be done by an automated essay-scoring engine. According to GMAC, this machine evaluates over 50 structural and linguistic features.

Readers are sensitive to the fact that not all test takers are native English speakers. If their rating differs from the machine score by more than one point, then a third reader will provide an evaluation and help give the essay a final score.

Your essays will be scored on the quality, organization, and development of your ideas, your supporting examples, and the strength of your writing. You can check out the rubric that graders use to evaluate AWA essays here.

To get a top score of 6, you must present a “cogent, well articulated critique of the argument” with logical organization, clear transitions, variety in diction and syntax, and superior control of language. A 6 essay doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, you can have minor flaws and still get a top score.

If something seems off about your AWA score, then you can request a rescore within six months after you take the GMAT for a fee of $45. This score will be final, even if it ends up being lower than the original one.

Now that you have a sense of how scoring works on the GMAT, let’s consider an important question that’s on everyone’s mind when they start learning about the test — what makes a good score on the GMAT?

What’s a Good Score on the GMAT?

So, what’s a good score on the GMAT? That all depends on where you’re looking to gain admission to business school. Schools don’t set a strict cutoff, but you can get a sense of what they want by looking at the average scores of accepted students.

Total scores above 700 will make you a competitive candidate for selective business schools, with the top 10 schools, like Harvard Business School and Wharton, averaging around a 720.

As for the average of all GMAT test takers? That’s a bit lower at 551.94. If you’re looking to evaluate your score based on its competitiveness, you can do so by looking at your percentiles.

Each of your scores will be assigned a percentile that tells you how many students you scored better than. Scoring in the 80th percentile, for instance, means you scored better than 80% of other test takers.

The chart below shows how total GMAT scores match up with percentiles. You’ll see total scores in intervals of 50, but you can check out this guide to how percentiles work on the GMAT for the full list at every score interval.

Anything above a 560 means that you scored higher than average. You’d have to score higher than 700 to make it into the 90th percentile.

To figure out what’s a good score for you, you should research business schools, pick out your top ones, and figure out the average GMAT scores of accepted students. Beyond figuring out your target scores, how else can you prepare for the test?

What GMAT Scoring Means for You: 5 Prep Tips

While GMAC keeps a proprietary hold on its scoring practices, what we do know about how the GMAT is scored can help us refine our approach to taking the test. Consider the five tips below as you get ready to take the GMAT.

#1: Aim to Answer All of the Questions

While we don’t know exactly how raw scores convert to scaled scores, we do know that answering all of the questions is extremely important for your final scores. There is a steep penalty for failing to answer all of the questions in a section.

On average, you have about two minutes per question. Of course, it may make sense to devote more time to certain question types than to others. To develop a sense of pacing, you should take practice tests and stay aware of the timer.

The timer will tell you what question you’re on and how much time you have left as you take the test. If you find yourself wasting too much time on a question, then you should make your best guess and move on. To get your best scores, your priority is answering all of the questions in each section before time runs out.

#2: Don’t Try to Evaluate Difficulty Level

As you know, the Quantitative and Verbal sections are adaptive. Your selection of questions gets adjusted to match your ability level. As you take the test, though, you should try to put this out of your head completely.

Trying to gauge your progress as you work is a waste of mental energy. You have no way of knowing how the algorithm is working or how your score is being adjusted as you go along.

Rather than trying to determine whether a question is easier or harder than the previous one, simply focus your energy on solving the problem. You’ll see your scores soon enough.

#3: Treat All Questions Equally

There’s a persistent myth that the first 10 questions in the Quantitative and Verbal sections are most important to your section scores. However, we have zero evidence saying that this is true.

Instead, it appears that your scores are continuously adjusted as you go along. To achieve your target score, you should treat all questions as equally important, rather than spend valuable time on the first 10 and rush through the others.

#4: Forget About Experimental Questions

Just as you shouldn’t try to evaluate your own performance as you’re taking the test, you also shouldn’t try to root out experimental questions. They will blend in with all the other questions.

As many as 25% of your questions on the GMAT could be experimental, but you don’t know which ones they are. To get a high score, you should treat all questions equally rather than trying to uncover those which won’t count. There’s really no way to game the system to boost your GMAT score.

If you find yourself feeling discouraged that a question totally stumped you, just tell yourself it was probably experimental and didn’t count anyway. You never know, a tough question might be unscored material. Rather than letting it get in your head, use this mental strategy to keep on plugging away.

#5: Just Keep Swimming

This advice is as good for GMAT test takers as it is for forgetful blue tang fish. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of scoring and question selection as you take the GMAT, but all you should be doing is focusing on the questions.

You have to solve tough problems, apply advanced reasoning skills, and do your best over a three and a half hour exam. Rather than wondering how your scores are being adjusted through the math and verbal sections, you should “just keep swimming” along while aiming to answer all of the questions before time is up.

Don’t let a tough question shake your confidence, because you can’t return to it, and it might have been experimental anyway. You can obsess over confusing questions after you finish the test and take a look at your scores.

As we finish up, let’s go over some key facts you need to remember about GMAT scoring and how it affects your approach to studying for and taking the GMAT.

How Is the GMAT Scored? Final Thoughts

Right after you finish taking the test, you’ll get a preview of your GMAT results. This unofficial GMAT score report will tell you your Integrated Reasoning score, Quantitative score, Verbal score, and total scores.

At this point, you can decide whether you want to keep or cancel your scores. Since you only have two minutes to decide before your scores are automatically canceled, you should go into the test knowing which scores you’d keep and which ones you’d discard.

GMAC uses complex algorithms to assign comparable scores across different versions of the test. Even if you get an easier or more difficult group of questions than your neighbor, your GMAT score should be comparable. Scores are adjusted to match your ability level and the difficulty level of the questions on your particular version of the exam.

Since the scoring system is complex, there’s really no way to game the system. You should treat all questions equally, and try not to get distracted by the adaptive format or the fact that there are experimental questions scattered throughout the exam.

Try your best to develop a solid test-taking rhythm that will help you answer all of the questions before time is called. By devoting hours to prepping for the GMAT, you can become a strategic and efficient test taker and achieve your target GMAT score.

What’s Next?

Now that you know how the GMAT is scored, learn more about what your score means with our guide to what a good GMAT score is.

Are you ready to start studying for the GMAT? Check out this guide for the best GMAT study strategies, including targeted prep tips for each section.

Do you know how the GMAT is structured? This GMAT format breakdown explains what’s on each section, plus it has sample questions of each question type.

The post How Does GMAT Scoring Work? appeared first on Online GMAT Prep Blog by PrepScholar.

What is the possible GMAT score range? How do you interpret your own GMAT scores? How do your scores fit in with your fellow test-takers’? To set realistic goals for your test preparation, you’ll have to be informed.

Let’s sift through some of the rumors and delve into what’s really important: understanding your personal goals for your GMAT score and how it fits into your overall MBA application. I’ll go over the fundamentals of the GMAT score range, how average scores have changed in recent years, and average GMAT scores at a range of B-schools.

GMAT Score Range: The Basics

You’ll get an unofficial score report when you leave on the day you take the GMAT, but you should receive your official GMAT scores approximately 20 days after you take the test. The report will include five scores: Verbal, Quantitative, Integrated Reasoning, AWA (Analytical Writing Assessment), and the Total (comprised of your verbal and quant scores). Here are the possible score ranges in each section, as well as their mean scores over the last three years:

The Total Score—the scaled combination of your verbal and quant scores—is generally what we’re referencing when we say ‘GMAT score.’ Two-thirds of test takers score between 400 and 600. It’s calculated from your scores on the Verbal and Quantitative (Quant) sections.

As you can see, the Verbal and Quant sections both range from 0 to 60, but the expectations for scores in the two are actually quite different and can’t be compared one-to-one. Many students are significantly stronger in one section than the other. So don’t worry about getting comparable scores on each one. Just focus on doing the best you can in each individual section.

The AWA and Integrated reasoning scores are generally not as important as the the other three. They also have much smaller score ranges.

GMAT Percentile Rankings: What They Mean for Your Score

For each of your five GMAT scores, you’ll also receive a percentile ranking, which indicates how you did in comparison to your fellow test takers. The percentile ranking lets you know what percentage of the test taking population you did better than; for example, an 80% ranking would mean that you received a higher score in that section (or for your total score) than 80% of your peers, and 20% performed equally to or more highly than you. A 50% ranking would mean that half of your peers scored the same as or more highly than you in a particular section, and half received lower scores than you.

To get an idea of where various GMAT score ranges fall in the percentile rankings, let’s check out the most recent stats from the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC):

Now, here’s a look at the percentile rankings of the individual Verbal and Quant sections from the last three years:

Remember, these are the percentile rankings from the last three years of GMAT scores. It’s important to know that GMAT percentile rankings change slightly over time. Every year, there is a different pool of GMAT test-takers and MBA applicants, and the percentile rankings shift along with that pool.

Percentile rankings are updated yearly based on the previous three years of applicants’ results. This means that while your percentile ranking may change from year to year (even if you got the same raw scores), your scaled scores—as in, your scores between 0 and 60 on the verbal and quantitative sections—will not.

GMAT Score Ranges at Business Schools

The mean total GMAT score is 551.94 as of 2016. However, a 550 is actually a fairly low score to get into business schools: at most competitive programs, average GMAT scores range from 600 to above 700.

At top MBA programs like Stanford, Harvard, Yale, NYU, and the University of Chicago, the expectations are especially high. At each of these schools, the average GMAT score of an incoming student is above 720. Most high-ranking business schools expect percentile rankings of 94% or higher in the total score and 80th percentile rankings in the individual sections.

Nonetheless, many great business schools with high post-MBA employment rates accept students with a wider range of GMAT scores. In particular, many part-time, evening, and/or online MBA programs (often geared towards working professionals) value significant work experience as much as or even more than the GMAT. Other schools place a priority on a commitment to diversity and community service in their MBA applicants. The point is, don’t worry: while the GMAT is important and you should score as high as you can, at the end of the day you’ll find an MBA program that suits you and your unique needs.

To give you an idea of the range, here are a few examples of recent average incoming GMAT scores for students at a variety of different schools, all of which are high quality and well respected:

GMAT Score Ranges and the Changing MBA Admissions Market

While we’re on the subject of change, let’s talk about how GMAT scores have changed in recent years and how that might affect your approach to the test.

In the last decade, MBA hopefuls from India, China, and other countries have flooded the U.S. business school admissions market. Often, students from these countries have higher Quantitative scores, so average GMAT Quant scores in particular have increased significantly over the last several years.

Pressure to move up in rankings has led many schools to offer more scholarship money and better financial packages to students with especially high exam scores. This means that in today’s MBA admissions pool, there are higher expectations for test takers. You’ll need to push the upper end of the GMAT score range to get into a top program.

The fact that today’s MBA applicants tend to perform more highly on the Quant section than on the Verbal is good news for top scorers in the Verbal section. In 2016, a Quantitative score of 45 would land you in the 65th percentile, while a Verbal score of 45 would snag you a spot in the 99th percentile amongst your peers.

So what does this mean for GMAT test takers? Work to improve your Verbal score as much as you possibly can. This will give you an edge above other students who struggle more with the Verbal section. Students tend to improve their Quant scores more quickly, so make sure that you’re sharpening your critical reading and writing abilities by reading high-level academic material and building those foundational skills well in advance of your test date.

What If I’m Not Happy With My GMAT Score?

First off, don’t panic if your score isn’t where you’d like it to be yet! Remember that most students prepare extensively for the GMAT, and students who prepare nearly always improve their scores significantly.

Remember, too, that your MBA application is a holistic process. While the GMAT is important, it’s not the only significant factor in your MBA admission. Your work experience, essays, letters of recommendation, interview, and GPA are all also taken into account.

Finally, even top business schools do admit students with lower GMATs every year. At top schools, GMAT scores range across a broader spectrum than you might think. Wharton admitted at least one student with a 570 to its 2018 MBA class, and Stanford accepted a 590 scorer in this year’s incoming class. However, don’t rely on exceptions: students admitted to top B-schools with lower GMAT scores are likely standouts in another area.

Make sure to highlight your unique strengths in your application and address any gaps. If you do poorly on the Quant section, for example, enroll in a calculus class and note it on your application. Highlight any significant academic or work experience you have that requires a high level of quantitative reasoning.

Wrap-Up: Setting a Target GMAT Score

Now that you know what the GMAT score range is and what it means, you might want to set a target GMAT score based on your individual needs, ambitions, and skill level. In setting your target GMAT score, it’s important to:

Know your goals. Do you want to complete your MBA while working part- or full-time to open up new opportunities in your current career? Or is a school that emphasizes entrepreneurship and building a company from the ground up more on your radar? Do you have your heart set on a top-ranked school, or do you want a wider range of possibilities?

Check out class profiles. As you explore, one of the best resources to consult when setting your target GMAT score range is the ‘incoming class profile’ on most MBA programs’ websites. There, schools provide information about their most recent accepted students’ average GPAs, years of work experience, and, of course, GMAT scores (and you can even get a range in many cases). Consult the incoming class profiles for every program you’re applying to. Your target score should be aligned with or higher than the average score at your intended schools. One or two ‘reach’ schools with higher average GMAT scores don’t hurt, either.

Be both realistic and ambitious. Challenge yourself to improve your score, but be realistic about the time you have to devote to prep before your test date.

For more a detailed guide to setting a goal score, check out our post on what a good GMAT score for you is.

What’s Next?

If you’re still curious about the GMAT scoring scale, find out more in our complete analysis of GMAT percentiles.

For more in-depth information about how to score highly on each section of the exam, check our complete guide to preparing for the GMAT.

If you’re ready to sign up for the GMAT, check out our guide to choosing a GMAT test date.

The post GMAT Score Range: Where Do You Rank? appeared first on Online GMAT Prep Blog by PrepScholar.

Just as getting into business school is competitive, so is excelling on the GMAT. Not only will you get section and total scores, but you’ll also see percentiles that compare your performance to that of everyone else. With average total and math scores on the rise, percentile rankings are more competitive than ever.

This guide will tell you everything you need to know to understand GMAT percentiles, along with some guidelines for what percentiles you need to get into various business schools.

Let’s start with the basics. What exactly are GMAT score percentiles?

What Are GMAT Percentiles?

When you get your GMAT score report, you’ll see percentile rankings for each of your section scores and your total scores. What do these percentiles mean?

Percentiles indicate the proportion of test-takers that you performed better than. If you score in the 75th percentile, then you scored higher than 75% of other people. The remaining 25% scored the same as or higher than you.

Scoring in a high percentile means that you performed better on the GMAT than the majority of other people. Scoring in a low percentile means that you scored lower than most other test-takers.

Your GMAT percentiles are based on data from students who have taken the GMAT over the past three years. Every summer, GMAT percentiles are recalculated.

If you took the GMAT in 2012, then your percentiles may be different today than they were when you first got your official score report. Because percentiles get updated each year, they could fluctuate slightly over time.

For the most part, GMAT percentiles have shifted down as average GMAT scores have increased. The following GMAT percentile charts are based on students who took the GMAT between 2013 and 2015.

GMAT Scores to Percentiles From 2013 to 2015

The charts below contain the most recent data released by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). These numbers are based on a sample of 750,000 students who took the GMAT between 2013 and 2015.

The first GMAT percentile chart shows how total scores correspond to percentiles from 0 to 99%. The next four charts show scores to percentiles in the Quantitative, Verbal, Integrated Reasoning, and AWA sections, in that order.

GMAT Percentile Chart: Total Scores

The percentile chart below shows how total scores match up with GMAT score percentiles. Total GMAT scores range between 200 and 800. According to GMAC, the average score of all GMAT test-takers is 551.94.

To score in the 99th percentile, you need a total GMAT score of 760 or higher.

GMAT Percentile Chart: Quantitative Section

Scores in the quantitative section range from 0 to 60. Since students very rarely score above a 51 or below a 6, GMAC only releases data on scores in this range.

The average quantitative GMAT score is 38.91. As you’ll see in the chart, you need top math scores to score above the 80th percentile.

GMAT Percentile Chart: Verbal Section

Like quantitative scores, verbal scores range from 0 to 60 and most students score between 6 and 51. This chart also shows how scores between 6 and 51 align with percentiles.

The average verbal GMAT score is 26.8, significantly lower than the average quantitative score. Because fewer people score highly on the Verbal section, the GMAT score percentiles are less competitive. A score of 45 and up falls in the 99th percentile in Verbal.

GMAT Percentile Chart: Integrated Reasoning Section

The Integrated Reasoning section, introduced in 2012, is scored between 1 and 8. The average score in this section is a 4.23. A perfect score of 8 corresponds to the 92nd percentile, as about 8% of test-takers get this full score.

GMAT Percentile Chart: Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) Section

Finally, your essay will be graded between 0 and 6. You’ll see this score when you get your official GMAT score report, about 20 days after you take the test. The average AWA score is 4.37. A perfect essay score is considered 90th percentile, as about 10% of test-takers get a 6.

These percentile charts are based on the most recent data from test-takers between 2013 and 2015. If you looked at percentile charts from 10 or 15 years ago, you would see a different story. How have percentiles changed over time?

How Have GMAT Percentiles Changed?

If you look at score reports from the past 15 years, you’ll see that percentiles for Quantitative scores and total scores have gotten more competitive over time as average GMAT scores have gone up. In 2000, for example, a total GMAT score of 630 fell into the 80th percentile. That same score today? It only corresponds to the 69th percentile.

As more and more people score highly on the GMAT, particularly in the math section, it gets harder to score in a high percentile. According to The Wall Street Journal, percentile rankings in math have gotten especially competitive as more and more international students take the GMAT. As students from math-proficient countries like China and India make up a larger proportion of the test-taking population, it gets harder to rank in a top percentile.

On the flip side, it’s still rare for students to get high marks in the challenging Verbal section. If you get a 45 out of 60 in verbal or above, then you’ll still land in the 99th percentile. That same score of 45 out of 60 in Quantitative is considered 59th percentile.

Business schools understand that percentiles fluctuate over time. While they don’t have a strict cutoff, they do consider your GMAT percentiles when evaluating your application. What role do percentiles play in the business school admission process?

Are GMAT Percentiles Important in Business School Admissions?

Business schools consider both scores and percentiles when evaluating your application. While they don’t typically publicize a cutoff score, schools will often look at your GMAT score report as the first part of their evaluation. The committee may make sure that you have a certain score before considering the rest of your application.

Percentiles give committees a sense of how your score compares to the population of other GMAT test-takers. Especially selective schools want competitive candidates, and high percentiles tell them that you tested better than the majority of other applicants.

Most students who get into top business score have their total scores land somewhere in the 90th percentile or higher. Let’s take a closer look at what GMAT scores and percentiles you need to get into graduate school for business.

What GMAT Percentile Do You Need for Business School?

Again, business schools don’t set a strict cutoff for scores or percentiles. Rather, they emphasize that their admissions process is holistic. Rather than just looking at grades and test scores, they also consider your previous education, work experience, essays, and recommendation letters.

That being said, your GMAT scores are still important for revealing whether you have the reasoning skills to excel in a business school classroom. Scores are often used as a jumping off point; a committee may not pay much attention to the rest of your application if your scores are too low.

The average GMAT score of all test-takers is around 552. Especially selective business schools tend to accept students with a GMAT score of 700 or above, which corresponds to the 89th percentile.

Accepted students at the top business schools, like Harvard Business School or the Wharton School at UPenn, average around 720 on the GMAT. Let’s look at the GMAT scores and percentiles of accepted students at the top 15 business schools in the U.S.

GMAT Percentiles for the Top 15 Business Schools

Do you have your sights set on one of the top business schools in the country? What GMAT scores and percentiles do you need in your application?

The chart below shows the average (or in a few cases, median) scores and percentiles of the accepted class of 2017 at the top 15 business schools. They’re arranged in order of the highest average GMAT score to the lowest.

The average GMAT score for top schools falls around 719 and the average GMAT percentile is 95th percentile. These average scores are quite high, but remember that they represent an average. Some people got in with higher scores, and some got in with lower scores.

As you research business schools, how can you figure out what scores the schools want to see?

How to Determine Your Target GMAT Scores and Percentiles

Because percentiles shift from year to year, you should be most concerned with hitting a target GMAT score, rather than a target GMAT percentile. When figuring out what you want to score on the GMAT, you should research your prospective schools’ expectations.

Most schools release data on the average GMAT scores of accepted students. You can find this information on each school’s website. If you can’t track it down, you could call or email the admissions office directly for more insight. Once you know the average score, you can consult the chart above to figure out its corresponding percentile.

After researching business schools, take time to familiarize yourself with the GMAT, like how it’s structured and how it’s scored. Design a personalized study plan that will help you achieve your target score and present a strong candidacy to admission committees. If struggling to improve your score (or just looking for a bit more guidance in your prep), check out PrepScholar GMAT’s comprehensive online course. It’s an affordable option for students looking to quickly and efficiently get the score they need for MBA admissions.

In closing, review these last key points that you need to remember about GMAT score and percentiles.

GMAT Score Percentiles: What You Need to Know

Not only will your GMAT score report tell you how you performed on the test, it will also tell you how you performed in comparison to everyone else. You’ll get percentiles for your total scores and section scores, all of which indicate the percentage of test-takers you scored better than.

Your percentiles can actually shift a little over time, as the Graduate Management Admission Council crunches the numbers every summer. For the most part, you won’t see much change. If you look over the past 15 years, though, you’ll see that average scores have risen and percentiles have shifted down over time.

Average scores in the Quantitative section have especially increased, making it harder to score in a high percentile. Today, you’ll need a very high math score indeed to make it into the 80th or 90th percentile.

Fortunately, business schools understand that percentiles fluctuate over time. For the most part, they’re concerned with your GMAT scores. However, they do look at percentiles to get a sense of how competitive your scores are compared to everyone else’s.

As you prepare for the GMAT, you should do some research on the average GMAT scores and percentiles of accepted students at your business schools of interest. By researching your schools, you can set target scores for the GMAT. Once you have your target scores, you can begin to work toward them with a solid test prep plan and timed practice tests.

What’s Next?

Are you ready to learn more about the GMAT? This full guide to the test explains the history of the GMAT, its purpose in business school admissions, and what skills you need for each section.

How is the GMAT scored? Learn about how each section of the GMAT is scored and what you need to know about adaptive testing with our complete guide to GMAT scoring.

Are you trying to figure out the best way to study for the GMAT? Check out this guide for a full GMAT syllabus and the best prep tips you need to know.

The post Expert Guide to GMAT Percentiles & What Your Score Means appeared first on Online GMAT Prep Blog by PrepScholar.

Worried about how your GMAT quant score stacks up? Wondering where your score fits in relative to other test-takers?

In this article, I’ll go over what makes a good GMAT math score, how much business schools care about section scores, what GMAT quant percentiles mean, and how to set a target score for the quant section.

The Basics: What Is a Good GMAT Quant Score?

On a basic level, a good GMAT quantitative score is one that gets you into the program you want. There isn’t one specific quant score that will guarantee your admission into any business school you like.

Quant scores range from 0 to 60. Scores above 50 or below 7 are rare, and the mean GMAT quantitative score of all test-takers is 38.91. You’ll need to do better than average to get into most MBA programs, though.

The GMAT quantitative score is also included in the total score along with your verbal score, which can also range from 0 to 60. The total score ranges from 200 to 800, and it’s what people are generally referring to when they say “GMAT score.” The separate quant and verbal scores are important, but the total score is more important. It’s also important not to have a large gap between your individual section scores, an issue we’ll go over in more detail below.

How Much Do Business Schools Care About GMAT Section Scores?

The total GMAT score is the most important figure in terms of business school admissions. It’s the total score that usually helps to determine school rankings and eligibility for scholarship funding.

Section scores, however, do still matter. In particular, business schools like to see aptitude in both main sections (verbal and quant). It’s OK to have a particular strength in one or the other, but a large disparity between the two scores may be a red flag. Your quant score will be especially important to admissions officials if your academic background is in the humanities, arts, or another field that doesn’t emphasize quantitative skills.

Bottom line: Business school requires aptitude in both quantitative and verbal skill sets, so MBA admissions committees will want to see that reflected in your scores.

GMAT Quantitative Percentile Rankings

Along with your GMAT scores, you’ll receive percentile rankings on your score report. GMAT percentile rankings tell you how you performed in comparison to other test-takers.

So, for example, according to the below chart, if you scored a 47, you’d be in the 65th percentile of test-takers in the last three years, meaning that you scored equally to or higher than 65% of fellow test-takers and lower than 35% of them.

Here are the most recent GMAT quant percentiles, released by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC):

Do GMAT Quant Percentiles Matter?

The rule of thumb (which you may have heard) used to be that you should score at or above the 80th percentile in both the verbal and quant sections to ensure a score of at least 700 or above and the possibility of admission to top MBA programs.

This standard no longer applies, as the influx of international students and the increasing diversity of test-takers have shifted the average scores, with quant scores going steadily up in the past years and verbal scores going down.

So, for example, a quant score of 45 would have landed you in the 80th percentile in 2000. Now, a 45 would put you in the 59th percentile of test-takers, and being in the 80th percentile would require a quant score above 49. This means that the old 80th percentile rule is outdated, as average quant scores have gone up, so it’s more important to pay attention to your scaled score than your GMAT quant percentile ranking.

How to Set a Target GMAT Quant Score

So if you can’t go by percentile rankings, how can you tell what your GMAT math score should be to impress a particular school? A good quant score for you is one that gets you to your goal total score, so the key is to estimate roughly where you need to score on the quant section to reach your overall goal. Unfortunately, doing so is a bit tricky.

The first step is to make a chart with the business schools you’re targeting and their average (or median, if they don’t list the average) total GMAT scores. Next, determine your baseline score by taking an official practice test under realistic conditions (a quiet room where you won’t be interrupted, no food or water except during timed breaks, etc.). After you’re done, the software will calculate your scaled scores, total score, and percentile rankings for all five sections, including the quant.

Based on the difference between your total score and your goal score, you can estimate how much you need to improve on Verbal and Math: a 2-3 point increase on verbal or quant corresponds to a 20 point increase of the Total score. These numbers are based on crowdsourced data and therefore not entirely reliable, but they should give you at least a rough idea of where to set verbal and quant score goals in order to get the total score you’re aiming for.

For example, if my baseline is 650 Total, 33 Verbal, and 47 Quant and my goal is a 700, I’ll want to increase about six points across the two sections. I’m currently right around the 70th percentile on both sections, but I have a lot more room to improve on verbal, so I could set my verbal goal as 37 and my quant goal as 49.

Ultimately, a good quant score for you is one that enables you to hit the total GMAT score that would put you safely in the average for your target schools, without letting your verbal score dip too far below it. You want to ensure that your verbal and quant scores don’t suggest a wide discrepancy between your skill levels in the two subjects.

If your GMAT quantitative score is significantly lower than your verbal score, but you have a background in undergraduate success in courses requiring quantitative skills, the score won’t matter as much to many admissions committees. If your quant score is low but you don’t have that background to highlight on your transcript, consider taking some additional courses in statistics, calculus, or other subjects that could highlight your proficiency in that area.

Review: Understanding Your GMAT Quant Score

There’s no doubt that your GMAT quant score matters for MBA admissions. However, the GMAT total score is still the most important number on your application, you should focus primarily on 1) setting a target total GMAT score rather than a section-specific one and 2) making sure there isn’t a wide gap between your verbal and quant scores.

What’s Next?

Our overall guide to what a good GMAT score is will give you more insight into your overall GMAT score and what it will mean for MBA admissions.

To learn more about the quant section, check out our full review of the GMAT Quant Section.

To learn how to prep for GMAT quant questions effectively, head over to our list of the best sources for GMAT quant practice.

The post What Is a Good GMAT Quantitative Score? appeared first on Online GMAT Prep Blog by PrepScholar.