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If you are planning to take the GMAT exam, then you need to know how is the GMAT score calculated and how to calculate GMAT scores. This is very essential for you to know as based on this knowledge you will be able to set your target score. So, in this article, we are going to talk about the GMAT scores, percentile, how the scores are calculated and more. However, before we proceed to the scores, let’s give you a brief introduction about the GMAT exam.
The Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) is a computer-adaptive test that assesses an aspirant’s critical thinking, logical reasoning, analytical writing and problem-solving skills through four important sections — Integrated reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal reasoning, and Analytical Writing Assessment. The scores obtained in these sections, particularly the verbal and quant sections determine your admissions into a top-tier business school. A good GMAT score is an essential criteria by most reputed business schools.
So, before you send your GMAT scores to the B-schools you are applying to, you will need to understand how is the GMAT score calculated, how to calculate GMAT scores using a score calculator to set a target score for yourself and more.
How is the GMAT Score Calculated?
The GMAT exam is computer-adaptive as already mentioned, therefore, your responses will be graded based on both accuracy and difficulty level. The final GMAT score is calculated on the basis of the difficulty level of questions and the number of questions attempted by you. If you have answered difficult questions with correct answers, it will result in higher scores and easier questions will result in lower scores.
Let us now learn how the different sections of the GMAT are scored.
How are the GMAT Sections Scored ?
Analytical Writing – The analytical writing section goes through two rounds of scoring. The first is done by an e-rater or an automated essay scoring algorithm. This scoring engine assesses your essay for over 50 linguistic parameters and structural features, which includes topical analysis, organization of ideas, and content. The next scoring is done by a trained human rater who also checks for the same features. If the ratings from both differ by more than one point, then the essay goes for another round of evaluation by an experienced human reader who is expected to resolve any discrepancies from the previous ratings.
Integrated Reasoning – The IR section mostly consists of more than one part and you will need to answer all the parts of the question correctly to be able to score the full point for that question.
Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning – Both your Verbal and Quantitative section scores are given separately when you complete your exam. The scores which are shared initially are scaled scores from 0 to 60. They are dependent on the number of questions you answered correctly and the difficulty level of the questions you have answered. The scores are reported in intervals of 1 and a standard error of measurement is 3 points.
We hope the above answers your queries on how is GMAT Quant score calculated and how is GMAT Verbal score calculated as well as how both the analytical writing and integrated scores are calculated.
Summarising the GMAT Scores in a Table
| Sections | Marks | Number of Questions | Duration |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 6-51 | 31 | 62 minutes |
| Analytical Writing | 0-6 | 1 | 30 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 6-51 | 36 | 65 minutes |
| Integrated Reasoning | 1-8 | 12 | 30 minutes |
Official and Unofficial Score Reports
After taking the exam, you will initially receive your raw scores or unofficial score report. This report will consist of your Quantitative, Integrated and Verbal sections scores along with the cumulative score. The unofficial score range is between 6 to 51 for both Quant and Verbal sections and between 1 to 8 for Integrated Reasoning section. If you choose to accept these scores, then you will receive the official score report within 20 days of completion of your exam. If you are not satisfied with your performance or your scores, then you can choose to cancel the scores as well. However, in the event that you initially accept the scores at the center and later decide to cancel the scores, you still have the option to do so within 72 hours of completing your GMAT exam and paying a fee of US $25.
Your official GMAT will be sent across within 20 days of completing your exam. This official score report will consist of the following five components along with the GMAT scoring range:
- Total GMAT Score (200 – 800), with percentile
- Quantitative Score (0 to 60), with percentile
- Verbal Score (0 to 60), with percentile
- AWA Score (0 to 6), with percentile
- Integrated Reasoning score (1 to 8)
What is Percentile?
Apart from your regular score, the GMAT scorecard also includes your percentile rank on the basis of quantitative, verbal and total score. Technically, the percentile reflects your performance against other candidates and it gives you an estimate of how you have fared. For instance, if your percentile is 80, it implies that you performed better than 80% of the candidates and that 20% of the candidates have performed better than you.
The total scale of GMAT score is 200-800 and candidates are given percentiles accordingly. Below is a table of GMAT scores and the corresponding percentile rankings.
| Total Score | Percentile |
| 800 | 99% |
| 790 | 99% |
| 780 | 99.97% |
| 770 | 99.84% |
| 760 | 99% |
| 750 | 98% |
| 740 | 97% |
| 730 | 95% |
| 720 | 94% |
| 710 | 90% |
| 700 | 88% |
| 690 | 85% |
| 680 | 82% |
| 670 | 80% |
| 660 | 77% |
| 650 | 73% |
| 640 | 68% |
| 630 | 66% |
| 620 | 63% |
| 610 | 59% |
| 600 | 56% |
How to Calculate GMAT Scores Using a GMAT Score Calculator?
Now GMAC has been very particular about not sharing details about how their scoring algorithm works. Hence, we don’t know how exactly your raw scores are converted to scaled scores. However, there have been certain score calculators available online which have taken into account a candidate’s raw scores and calculated the scaled score between 200-800 with reasonable accuracy. You can make use of these score calculators to help you find an estimate of your GMAT score. All you will have to do is input your raw score from both the Quantitative and Verbal sections and then click on find your score. This will give you the total score which you are likely to achieve in the GMAT exam.
We hope this article helped you to understand more about how the GMAT score is calculated, how different sections are scored, what percentile is, how to calculate your GMAT scores using a score calculator and more.
Good Luck!
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