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The 4 GMAT Scores On Your Report

TheGMATPill | GMAT Prep Tips (About the GMAT).

Business schools actually take a look at all 3 scores on your score report, not just the single score on the 800 scale.

First, let’s identify all the scores that will show up on your score report and that bschools will see:

1) Quant Score (out of 51 and percentile)
2) Verbal Score (out of 51 and percentile)
3) Overall Score (out of 800 and percentile)
4) Essay (AWA) Score (out of 6.0, increments of .5 and percentile)

What is the relationship between all the different scores?

Business schools pay more attention to the first 3 scores. For example, someone might score a 650 (35V, 44M). This translates into an overal percentile score of 80% which means he/she scored better than 80% of GMAT test takers. The writing score has NO IMPACT on your overall score. It’s like a side score that is treated separately.

The “650″ is the overall score and translates into the 80th percentile.
The “35V” is the verbal raw score out of 51 that has already been weighted by difficulty of questions and # correct. A 35V is at the 75th percentile.
The “”44M” is the quant score also out of 51 and is at the 90th percentile.

Schools see all of these scores so they can assess whether you are strong/weak in a particular section. For example, a PhD in Physics is expected to have a high quant score. Schools will probably pay more attention to this applicant’s verbal score to see how well-rounded he/she is. If you are aiming to be considered by a Top 20 business school, you should aim to be above the 80th percentile mark for both subjects (36V and 40M).

It is important to note that the “raw score” is NOT the same as the number of questions anwered correctly. In fact, there are 41 verbal questions and only 37 quantitative questions yet the raw score for both sections is out of 51. The raw score takes into account the level of difficulty of your questions as the computer adapts to your performance on the exam.

TABLE: Converting RAW Scores to Total Scores and Percentile Rankings

Below are tables of the most recent GMAT percentile ranking.
They will help you understand how your GMAT score relates to
other test-takers’ scores from the past years.

Verbal Section		Quantitative Section		Total Scores
Percentage Ranking	Score	Percentage Ranking	Score	Percentage Ranking	Score
99	46-51	99	51	99	760-800
98	45	95	50	98	750
97	44	89	49	97	740
96	43	85	48	96	730
95	42	81	47	95	720
93	41	79	46	93	710
89	40	77	45	92	700
88	39	72	44	90	690
84	38	70	43	88	680
82	37	66	42	87	670
80	36	63	41	84	660
75	35	61	40	82	650
70	34	57	39	78	640
68	33	55	38	77	630
65	32	52	37	74	620
60	31	48	36	71	610
57	30	44	35	68	600
55	29	42	34	65	590
50	28	40	33	62	580
44	27	36	32	59	570
42	26	32	31	56	560
37	25	30	30	53	550
35	24	26	29	50	540
30	23	25	28	45	530
28	22	21	27	44	520
24	21	20	26	41	510
20	20	16	25	38	500
17	19	15	24	35	490
15	18	14	23	33	480
12	17	11	22	30	470
10	16	10	21	26	460
8	15	9	20	24	450
7	14	8	19	22	440
5	13	7	18	20	430
4	12	5	17	18	420
3	11	4	14-16	16	410
2	10	3	13	14	400
1	7-9	2	11-12	12	390
0	6	1	7-10	11	380
Sample Size: 616,490Standard Deviation: 9.0		0	6	10	370
		Sample Size: 616,490Standard Deviation: 10.5		8	360
				7	350
				6	340
				5	330
				4	320
				3	290-310
				2	260-280
				1	230-250
				0	200-220
				Sample Size: 616,490Standard Deviation: 118.6

Note that this table shows that the GMAT is biased towards stronger performance in the Verbal section. Far fewer people score in the top percentile for verbal than for quant. Therefore, they are rewarded with a high score for a strong verbal performance. See my post on The Easiest Way to Raise Your Score (NOT math).

The Analytical Writing Assessment Score will NOT be given to you at the end of your exam. It is graded by both a person and a computer program, so the results will come later in the mail.

You WILL receive your overall score at the end of your exam. However, you will not receive your writing score until after the exam by mail or email, whichever option you chose during registration. Essays are scored by an automated essay-scoring engine and one human being. If the two ratings differ by more than 1 point on a scale from 0 to 6, then another expert reader resolves the discrepancy.