Gmat how is the score calculated

The Verbal and Quantitative sections are each scored separately, with scaled scores ranging from 0 to Because they measure different elements, these scores should not be be compared to each other. Rather, each should be viewed independently, and in fact each has its own percentile distribution. In practice, what this means is that when considering what target Verbal and Quant scores to aim for, you should also take into account their percentiles — for most people achieving a 46 on Quant is far easier than achieving a 46 on Verbal.

The average scores for students admitted to the 50 top ranking MBA programs is around — you can find this kind of information for a particular school on their admissions page. However, always remember that your score is just one data point in a holistic application including your essays, admission interviews, undergraduate GPA, recommendation letters, work experience, work prestige, and extracurricular involvement. So while getting a top-notch GMAT is important, it is not everything.

Scores are based on 3 main factors: 1. The number of questions answered correctly — There are 31 questions in the Quantitative section and 36 questions in the Verbal section, but not all of them count towards your score. The total number of questions answered: Every section of the test needs to be completed. In Quant, this means 31 questions in 62 minutes, and in Verbal, this means 36 questions in 65 minutes.

So, you have two minutes on average per quant question and a bit less for each verbal question. This is a really fast pace, and as such practicing your time management should be an important part of your study process.

Note that there is a penalty for not completing a section of the test! As such, if you run out of time, we strongly recommend guessing the remaining answers rather than leaving a section incomplete. The difficulty of the questions answered: A simplistic description of the adaptive nature of the GMAT is that it starts with a question of medium difficulty. If the question is answered correctly, the next question will be harder and the total score will go up. If the question is answered incorrectly, the next question will be easier, and the score will go down.

The actual mechanism by which questions are selected and score is calculated is a bit more complicated, but the general idea is correct: your overall score is not dependent only on the number of questions answered correctly, but also on their relative difficulty.

Additionally, it is dependent on the difficulty of the questions answered incorrectly. Fact: All questions carry the same weight in the final score calculation. Fact: It is best to study those questions that are only slightly above your current level. The GMAT exam helps you stand out during the admissions process. Take the one business school exam that elevates you from the rest of the pack. Your Official Score Report will include several ways to interpret your exam results.

You may be tempted to pay attention only to your Total score, but the other scores are also meaningful. Those scores offer you and the programs receiving your scores insight into your strengths and areas for development. Analytical Writing Assessment. Essays are scored using professional essay raters and a machine algorithm. The score is reported in intervals of 0. Integrated Reasoning. The Integrated Reasoning score is based on the number of questions you answered correctly.

Some questions may have multiple parts; you must answer all parts to a question correctly to receive credit for that question. Quantitative and Verbal. And while both your Verbal and Quant scores are combined to produce an overall score, the average for each section is different. Have a look at the chart below: the mean for Quant is Now look at the chart again to see what percentage ranking each raw score corresponds with.

You will see that scores below 7 and above 45 are quite rare in the Verbal section, whereas below 6 and above 51 are rare in the Quant. Note that the percentiles do change from time to time. This means that the difficulty of each question you encounter is determined by how you answered the previous question of the same type. You will start off answering questions at an average difficulty level in each type—your first Sentence Correction question will be of average difficulty, your first Critical Reasoning question will be of average difficulty, and so forth and so on.

If you answer these early questions correctly, your ensuing questions in that same topic will jump up a level of difficulty; and if you answer them incorrectly, your next questions in that topic will drop in difficulty. Eventually the algorithm determines your academic competency by presenting you with questions that correspond to your highest level of proficiency.

This chart helps you see what score you need in each section to calculate your dream score. The two subscores are definitely not equivalent in terms of percentile scores.

But does this mean you should forego problem solving and data sufficiency practice in favor of more reading comp? All it means is that the percentile ranking for these sections differs. This in part reflects a vast asymmetry in the GMAT test-taking pool: many more GMAT takers in an international market excel in math and struggle in verbal, so commanding performances in math are reasonably common, whereas commanding performances in verbal are less frequent.

MBA program admissions is a competitive process; in order to compete well with the pool of applicants you will be up against, scoring above will help your chances.

Spoiler: good GMAT prep can help you get there! So the key, as mentioned above, is understanding how your Verbal and Quant scores can be combined to get you to your target score. We have a few thoughts taking the GMAT again that can help you figure out whether to retake the exam—and help you ace the GMAT the next time around if you do.