Your GMAT Score

As soon as you complete the GMAT, you will have the option of either canceling your score (in which case neither you nor anyone else will ever know how you did on the test) or accepting your results. If you accept your test results, you will see your scaled score immediately. However, you must wait a few weeks before receiving your results on the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) by mail, as a real person actually grades the essays.

Scores you will see on your GMAT score report:

• Overall scaled GMAT score (200-800 points)
  Your combined performance on the Verbal and Quantitative sections results in one single scaled score ranging from a minimum of 200 to a maximum of 800 points, reported in 10 point increments.
• Scaled Verbal and Quantitative subscores (0-60 points)
  Although scaled subscores ranging from 0-60 points will also be reported for the Verbal and Quantitative sections, most graduate business schools are primarily concerned with your overall GMAT score.
• A GMAT percentile score (1-99)
  Because the GMAT is graded on a preset curve, you will also receive a corresponding percentile score ranging from 1-99 that represents the percentage of all test takers who scored lower than you on the test. For example, a scaled score of 670 corresponds to the 90th percentile, indicating that the test taker scored better than 90 percent of all other test takers. The median GMAT score is 530 and corresponds to the 50th percentile. Your percentile score is important because graduate business school admissions officers can use it to get a quick idea of where you rank in the overall applicant pool.
• Scaled AWA score (1.0-6.0)
  Your performance on the AWA results in a scaled score ranging from 1.0-6.0 points, which is reported in 0.5 point increments (possible AWA scores are 4.0, 4.5, or 5.0 points, for example). This score is separate from your overall GMAT score, and in most cases plays a relatively small role in business school admission decisions.

What your GMAT score means to Business Schools

Although many factors play a role in business school admissions decisions, there is no question that your GMAT score is one of the most, if not the most important. While average business schools may accept some applicants with GMAT scores in the 550-600 point range, most applicants need a score of at least 600 to be considered competitive by second-tier business schools. And in order to have a realistic chance of being accepted by top business schools such as Stanford, Chicago, Kellogg (Northwestern University), and Wharton (University of Pennsylvania), you will need a GMAT score in the 650-700 point range—above the 90th percentile!

Click here to see the median GMAT scores of students accepted to the top 20 business schools in the United States.

Are you ready for the GMAT? You will be. Because all inlingua Test Preparation courses include extensive, realistic practice testing and one-on-one instruction with certified test experts who know exactly how to help you achieve your target score, success on the GMAT is just a phone call away.

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