A student preparing for GMAT has many questions in their mind, for example, what is an ideal GMAT score? What GMAT score will help me get into Ivy League, etc.
To help you clear up all your doubts regarding the GMAT score we have created this blog where we will be answering questions like What is a good GMAT score? How is the total GMAT score calculated? etc.
We hope that by the end of the article you gain mental clarity regarding GMAT score and GMAT results. Happy reading!
According to the GMAT exam pattern, the test adapts according to the student’s performance to align with their skills. This means that when a student starts answering questions correctly, the student will start getting hard questions as they start moving across questions. On the other hand, if the student attempts the questions wrongly, the GMAT exam will adapt accordingly and will start showing easier questions.
Let’s understand the reason behind it. Suppose there are two students one is a genius in the quant section whereas the other one is not so good in quant. Imagine if the GMAT is a non-adaptive test, all the quant questions will be the same for both students. The one who is excellent in quant will ace the test and the exam won’t be able to gauge the highest potential of that student in quant. Going by the same logic, the student who is not-so-good in quant will perform poorly and the exam won’t be able to gauge in entirety as to the level of questions that student can handle.
The adaptive GMAT solves this problem by adapting the difficulty level to match the performance of the test-taker. The student genius in content will see harder and harder questions until the exam figures out the students’ ceiling and determines the score accordingly. Similarly, the student who is not so good at quant will come across less harder questions until the exam is figured out on her floor.
The answer to the question “What is a good GMAT score?” depends upon which MBA program you are aiming for. However, trends suggest that if you score above the median GMAT score accepted in your target program, then that will improve your chances of getting accepted. With that being said, having a score above average does not guarantee admission to your targeted MBA program. This is because, to secure admission to one of the top MBA programs a student need both – an amazing GMAT score and a compelling profile to impress the enrollment committee.
Due to the adaptive nature of the GMAT exam, students come across questions with different difficulty levels. Therefore, it isn’t fair for them to calculate their scores by considering the number of questions they answer incorrectly.
To tackle this problem, the GMAT score is calculated by considering the difficulty level of the question the student has answered incorrectly. For instance, if the student has answered 8 easy questions incorrectly, then the student could score in the 60s or low 70s. On the other hand, if the student has attempted difficult questions incorrectly, they could score in the 80s, even though they have incorrectly answered the same number of questions.
In a nutshell, the score is calculated considering the difficulty level of the questions and not the number of questions.
The composite score in GMAT is calculated based on the sub-scores achieved by the student in each of the 3 sections Data Insights, Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning. The sub scores are calculated on a scale from 60 to 90. Each section is weighted equally while calculating the composite score, which is graded on a scale of 205 to 805 points.
In the GMAT score report, a student is provided with percentile rankings for a composite score as well as sub scores. In simple terms, percentile rankings signify the percentage of test takers, an applicant is better than. For instance, if a student has an 80 percentile, this means that they have performed better than 80% of the test takers and 20% of the test takers have performed better than the student.
While preparing for GMAT it is always a great idea to know how much score you should be aiming for. To determine the target score, a student must know the average GMAT score accepted by the top MBA programs that they are aiming for.
The table below will give you a better idea as to how much score you should be aiming for in GMAT as per the scores accepted by top B-schools:
| Business School | Average GMAT Score Accepted |
| Yale School of Management | 720 |
| Columbia Business School | 727 |
| NYU Stern School of Business | 721 |
| MIT Sloan | 720 |
| Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania | 722
|
| Harvard Business School | 730 |
| HEC Paris | 690 |
| INSEAD | 709 |
| London Business School | 708 |
| National University of Singapore Business School | 670 |
| Xavier School of Management | 680 – 700 |
| Indian Institute of Management – Calcutta | 701 |
| Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore | 690 |
| Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad | 702 |
| Indian School of Business | 730 |
The total scores for the GMAT exam range from 205 to 805. The total GMAT score is made up of the scores from verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and Data Insights sections.
GMAT scores range from 200 to 800, with a current average total score of 565.
Getting a competitive score like 720 on the GMAT is not an easy feat, especially for professionals who have busy schedules. Candidates struggle to get into top B-schools due to their low score in GMAT.
To get into Harvard, students need to have at least a 700+ GMAT score.
Yes, IIMs accept GMAT scores. There are seven IIMs precisely that accept GMAT scores including IIM Calcutta, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, etc.
