How to Calculate and Understand GMAT Score

How to Calculate GMAT Score - Admission to top business schools around the world is very competitive and requires candidates to have strong academic profiles. Among other aspects like essays and resume, how to calculate GMAT score is a very vital point for the study abroad intakes. The GMAT cut-offs are very high for top b-schools. Further, there are some universities that make their decision based on the section-wise score in GMAT. So it is important for GMAT test takers to know how to calculate and understand GMAT scores. Before you send your GMAT score to your dream university, you have to understand how to calculate and understand your GMAT score. Read further to know more about this.

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This Story also Contains

1. How Are GMAT Scores Calculated?
2. Know the GMAT Score Terms
3. Understanding Your Score
4. Elements in the GMAT Score Card
5. When do you Get Your GMAT Score?
6. How to Convert your GMAT Score into Percentile Ranking
7. Know Your Target GMAT Score

How Are GMAT Scores Calculated?

Based on your performance in the three main sections under the GMAT Focus Edition, your scores are calculated, namely: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights. Each section is scored between 60 to 90. These values are then inserted in a formula to evaluate the overall GMAT score ranging between 205 to 805. When you get the official reports, there will be scores of all the 3 sections along with an overall score and your percentile ranking.

GMAT Score Calculator Formula

(Quant + Verbal + Data Insights - 180) * 20/3 + 205 = the raw score

Once the GMAT score is calculated, it is rounded off to the nearest interval of 5.

Note: GMAC has never released the official GMAT score calculator publicly. The exact scoring system is only known by the GMAC. This calculator is just an approximation. Students are advised to check the scores through this formula only as an estimation.

Know the GMAT Score Terms

Before we take you through the nitty-gritty of how to calculate GMAT scores, we explain some terms used in the GMAT test to help you understand your GMAT score and how it is calculated.

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Computer Adaptive -

GMAT is a computer adaptive test, which basically means that the difficulty level depends on your performance through the test. So, the computer analyses the candidate’s responses on the problems and produces the end result on that basis. The difficulty level of the GMAT test depends on the candidate’s responses to the questions. So, the next question in the test will be harder if your estimated score is higher and you were able to correctly answer most of the previous questions. However, the next question will be easier if your estimated score is lower. An important aspect of how to calculate GMAT score is that the final GMAT score is calculated depending on the difficulty level of questions that the student had attempted. Correct answers to difficult questions will result in higher scores, while correct responses to easier questions will result in lower scores.

Percentile Score -

Besides raw scores, GMAT score card also includes the percentile rank of the students against the verbal, quantitative and total score. Percentile rank reflects your performance against other candidates and hence the percent of candidates you performed better than. So, if your percentile is 70, it means that 30% of the test takers performed better than you, and you performed better than 70% of the candidates. The percentile, therefore, does not just depend on your performance, but also on your performance against your competitors. This is another aspect of how to calculate GMAT score.

Understanding Your Score

To know how to calculate GMAT score, firstly start with understanding the score for each section in the test. GMAT candidates receive 4 GMAT scores for the GMAT Focus Edition—one for each section, i.e. quantitative, verbal and data insights, and the total—after they take the test.

Section-wise GMAT scores

Elements in the GMAT Score Card

The GMAT Focus Edition score card contains score categories based on the GMAT pattern - quantitative, verbal, data insights and an overall score.

When do you Get Your GMAT Score?

There are two ways of getting your GMAT result - Unofficial and Official. Test takers can get their unofficial GMAT scores at the end of their test. The unofficial GMAT report card covers only verbal and quantitative scores. However, candidates are only shown their unofficial scaled scores, not their percentiles.

Here’s is a break-up of an unofficial scorecard:

The Official score of GMAT is available after 20 days from the test date. Test takers are emailed a link through which they are directed to the GMAT Score Reporting website. Candidates can check their GMAT result by entering the authentication code stated on the Unofficial Score Report.

How to Convert your GMAT Score into Percentile Ranking

GMAT scores are also represented as percentile ranking in the process of how to calculate GMAT score. As mentioned above in the article, a percentile ranking means the percentage of candidates that performed better than you in the GMAT exam.So this means when you are understanding how to calculate GMAT score, you have to consider that though your GMAT score will remain the same, your GMAT percentile ranking may change as the GMAC calculates the percentile rank every summer using the GMAT exam date from the previous three years. So suppose your GMAT score is 700 and you are in the 90th percentile, it means that your GMAT score remains constant as 700, while you performed better than 90% of candidates who took the GMAT exam. Here is a table that depicts the GMAT score with their corresponding GMAT percentile.

GMAT Score and GMAT Percentile

How is the GMAT Exam Scored?

As far as the computer adaptive sections, i.e. the verbal and quant sections are concerned, the number of questions you answer combined with the number of correct answers and the difficulty level of questions you attempted and got correct will decide your final score. If you are short of time and, because of which, you do not complete all the questions in the GMAT, you will be levied a penalty. You have to understand this if you are wondering how to calculate GMAT scores.

It is crucial that you make an effort to respond to each question in each section. The GMAT score range of 0 to 60 is applied to both the verbal and quantitative raw scores. In 1-point increments, the verbal and quantitative parts' scores are provided. Although the GMAT score scale actually has a 0 to 60 range, in reality the quant and verbal scores only have a range of 6 to 51. The final scaled score, which ranges from 200 to 800, is created by adding the verbal and quantitative values (both out of 60).

Therefore, if you respond to more questions, do so correctly on a greater number of those questions, and are eligible for questions of greater complexity, you will score better. But before, during, or after the exam, you are unable to determine the level of difficulty of a question.

Know Your Target GMAT Score

Students should know their target GMA scores before starting their GMAT exam preparation. Other than knowing their target GMAT score, the students also have to evaluate the gap that lies between their present level of preparation and the GMAT score that they wish to achieve. Some of the key points are provided below, which will help them understand their target GMAT score:

• Know the MBA colleges that you have always wanted to pursue. You need to shortlist your dream B-schools. If you take your decision through its courses available, specialisations and placements secured there, etc., then it won't be harmful in any situation.
• Take GMAT mock tests available to know your current level of preparation. This helps you know the current level vs what you want to achieve.

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