GMAT®

  1. Home
  2. GMAT®
  3. GMAT® Scoring System

GMAT® Scoring System

Back to GMAT®

There is no better way to understand GMAT®’s scoring system than to analyze a sample GMAT® Score Report. The GMAT® Exam score looks like this. Alternately, you can download a sample GMAT® scorecard by clicking here

Test Date Verbal Quantitative Total Analytical Writing Integrated Reasoning
29 September 2015 44 / 98% 51 / 97% 770 / 99% 6.0 / 91% 7 / 81%

Please note: The ‘%’ actually represents percentile which can be interpreted as the percentage of GMAT® test takers who score less than you in that particular section. So, a 98%ile on Verbal implies that the candidate has actually scored better than 98% of the GMAT® test takers.

Score Range Verbal Reasoning Quantitative Reasoning Total AWA Integrated Reasoning
Highest Possible Score 60 60 800 6.0 8
Lowest Possible Score 0 0 200 0.0 1
Score Increment 1 Point 1 Point 10 Points 0.5 Point 1 Point

Interpreting the above score screenshot:

  1. The candidate scored 44 (2nd column) on a scale of 0 to 60 in Verbal which translates to a 98%ile for that section.
  2. The candidate scored 51 (3rd column) on a scale of 0 to 60 in Quantitative which translates to a 97%ile for that section.
  3. The candidates overall score is 770 (4th column) on a scale of 200 to 800 which translates to 99%ile overall. The 770 (or 99%ile) is based on the candidate’s performance in verbal & quantitative sections where he has scored 44 and 51 respectively.
  4. The Analytical Writing section (5th column) is scored separately and does not contribute to the Total Score. The score of 6 in this section, on a scale of 0 to 6, equates to 91 %ile. This implies that since the candidate has scored a complete 6.0 out of 6.0, 91% of the students have scored less than 6.0 out of 6.0 in the test.
  5. The Integrated Reasoning section (6th column) is scored separately and does not contribute to the Total Score. The score of 7 on a scale of 1 to 8 translates to 81%ile. 

While the Total Score is based on the combination of Verbal and Quantitative sectional scores, most universities look for candidates with a balanced Verbal & Quantitative sections. Thus, the individual Verbal (2nd column) and Quantitative scores (3rd column) are also critical. The raw scores for both Verbal and Quantitative sections range from 0 to 60; scores below 9 and above 45 for the Verbal section and below 7 and above 51 for the Quantitative section are rare.

Is a 36 in Verbal or a 41 in Quantitative or a 4.5 in AWA or a 7 in IR GOOD or BAD?

The raw scores alone do not mean much. Each raw score therefore comes with a percentile: If a 36 in Verbal corresponds to 81%ile, it means that 81% of all GMAT® takers scored less than you on the Verbal section. The below tables present the raw score – percentile conversions:

GMAT® Raw Score - Percentile Conversion Tables
OVERALL
SCORE %ILE
800 99%
790 99%
780 99%
770 99%
760 99%
750 98%
740 97%
730 96%
720 94%
710 92%
700 89%
690 87%
680 84%
670 83%
660 80%
650 77%
640 72%
630 71%
620 67%
610 64%
600 61%
590 58%
580 54%
570 51%
560 48%
550 45%
540 42%
530 38%
520 36%
510 34%
500 31%
VERBAL
SCORE %ILE
45-60 99%
44 98%
43 96%
42 96%
41 93%
40 90%
39 89%
38 85%
37 83%
36 81%
35 76%
34 71%
33 69%
32 66%
31 61%
30 58%
29 56%
28 51%
27 46%
26 43%
25 38%
24 36%
23 32%
22 30%
21 26%
20 22%
19 19%
18 17%
17 15%
16 12%
15 10%
QUANT
SCORE %ILE
51-60 97%
50 88%
49 79%
48 74%
47 68%
46 66%
45 63%
44 58%
43 56%
42 51%
41 49%
40 47%
39 43%
38 41%
37 40%
36 36%
35 33%
34 31%
33 30%
32 27%
31 24%
30 22%
29 20%
28 19%
27 16%
26 15%
25 13%
24 12%
23 11%
22 9%
21 8%
AWA
SCORE %ILE
6 92%
5.5 81%
5 60%
4.5 44%
4 21%
3.5 13%
3 6%
2.5 5%
2 3%
1.5 3%
1 3%
0.5 3%
0 0%

IR
SCORE %ILE
8 92%
7 81%
6 67%
5 52%
4 37%
3 25%
2 12%
1 0%

Can I get the same Total score (out of 800) with different Verbal – Quantitative raw scores/percentiles?

Yes, a particular total score (out of 800) can be achieved through different combinations of Verbal and Quantitative scores. Below table shows different combinations of Verbal & Quantitative score and the corresponding total score.

  V 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51
Q % 56% 58% 61% 66% 69% 71% 76% 81% 83% 85% 89% 90% 93% 96% 96% 98% 99%
34 31% 530 540 550 560 560 570 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690
35 33% 540 550 560 560 570 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700
36 36% 550 560 560 570 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710
37 40% 560 560 570 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720
38 41% 560 570 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720
39 43% 570 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730
40 47% 580 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 680 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740
41 49% 580 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740 750
42 51% 590 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 680 680 690 690 700 710 710 720 730 740 750 750
43 56% 600 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740 750 750 760
44 58% 610 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 680 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740 750 750 760 770
45 63% 610 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740 740 750 760 770 780
46 66% 620 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740 750 750 760 770 780 780
47 68% 630 640 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 720 730 740 750 750 760 770 780 780 790
48 74% 640 640 650 660 670 680 680 690 690 700 710 720 730 730 740 750 750 760 760 780 780 790 800
49 79% 640 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 730 740 740 750 750 760 770 780 780 790 790 800
50 88% 650 660 670 670 680 690 690 710 710 720 730 730 740 750 750 760 770 770 780 790 800 800 800
51 97% 660 670 670 680 690 690 700 710 720 730 740 740 750 750 760 770 780 780 790 800 800 800 800

Navigation

Social Media