What does the GMAT score comprise and how to interpret the different sections of the score report? Is my GMAT score good enough to secure a B School admit? Is my score average or well above it?
In this GMAT Blog, we answer these questions and more! Let’s dive right in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your score comprises the following components –<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Total GMAT Score<\/strong>: The total score starts from 200 points. The maximum score is 800 points. The total score is in increments of 10 points. The GMAT score report that is given right after you finish the exam (the one without the GMAT AWA score) is called the unofficial GMAT score report. The GMAT score report that you receive within a fortnight (the one with the AWA score) is called the official GMAT score report. The latter is the one that will be sent to the business schools you intend to apply to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will also see a percentile corresponding to each of your scores. For e.g., the percentile score corresponding to a verbal score of 40 for the period 2019-2021 is 90%ile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do the GMAT percentiles mean? If the GMAT percentile chart shows that you are in the 90th percentile, then 10% of the GMAT test-takers in the 3-year period have scored 40 or more in the verbal section. Your percentile is not as important to top business schools as your total GMAT score and your Quant and Verbal scores are. However, the percentiles help you better understand where you stand in relation to your peers and understand whether you have a GMAT score good enough to present a compelling application to business schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you complete the exam, the GMAT score calculator will compute individual section scores for the IR, Quant, and Verbal sections and the total score on a scale of 200 to 800. You will be shown a preview of your score for 120 seconds. You are not alone in having this question!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is my GMAT score of 700 good or bad? Is 530 a bad one? The numbers might be different. I have had students ask me, is 600 a good GMAT score and have also had some students who have asked whether 650 is a bad score. And in one instance, I had a student ask, whether 780 is a good GMAT score. There is no correct answer to this question. A good way to judge is to look at the GMAT score average in the class profile statistics of your reach business schools. A few days after cancelling your score, if you realize that you should not have cancelled your score, you have a recourse to reinstate it – costs $50 – anytime up to 4 years and 11 months (Because the score validity is 5 years) from the date of your exam. You can send your GMAT score report to 5 business school programs, free of cost, when you take the exam. You will be asked to select those programs when you take the test – even before you are shown the first question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are sure about the business schools that you will be applying to, go ahead and ask GMAC to report your GMAT scores to those schools. Lastly, if you choose your schools incorrectly, don’t fret. You can request GMAC to send your scores to your new list by paying a fee of $35 per school. Essentially, if you get your school list right when you take the test, you save $175.
Please note that the GMAT scores for the Quant and Verbal sections are converted from the 0-51 scale to the 200-800 scale. There is equal weightage given to the Quant and Verbal sections while computing the total GMAT Score. However, the scores for the AWA and IR sections are reported as standalone numbers and are not used toward the calculation of the total score.
You will know your scores in the IR, Quant, and Verbal sections and the total score immediately after you complete the test because these sections are evaluated by the computer. You will receive your AWA score within a fortnight of writing the test because a human evaluator has to read your essay and mark it. <\/p>\n\n\n\nPoints to note:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
1b. GMAT Scores: What happens after you complete the test?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You will have the option to accept the score or to cancel it in those 120 seconds. If you got a GMAT score that’s good enough to apply with, accept it.
Conversely, if you will not meet the GMAT score average required to make the cut to the school of your choice, cancel the score and GMAC will not report the scores of this test. If you fail to decide, your score will get cancelled by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo Cancel or Not To Cancel?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
When <\/strong><\/em>in doubt – cancel the score. Yes! cancel the score.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, if you accept the score in the GMAT test centre, your option to cancel the score online is available only for 72 hours for a fee of $25. The window to cancel a score is much shorter than the one to reinstate a cancelled score. So, when in doubt, cancel.
If you cancel the score, the AWA will not be evaluated and you will not get to know the scores. As soon as you decide to reinstate the score, the mechanism to evaluate the AWA will also get triggered and you will get the score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1c. Free GMAT score report to 5 business schools<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Choose your programs wisely based on the range of scores you got during your mock GMAT tests.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Most often, we are not sure about the business schools that we will apply to without knowing our scores. In that case, a good strategy is to pick 5 business schools in which the median GMAT score or the average GMAT score of students admitted the previous year is 10 points lesser than your lowest score in the last 3 mock GMAT tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caution: <\/strong>In your zeal to save this $175, do not lose focus on the main objective – getting the highest GMAT score you possibly can.<\/p>\n\n\n