Now that you’ve decided which exam you’ll take for business school, you may ask, “What is a good GMAT score?” Before we answer that question, it’s useful to review how the GMAT is scored overall and what components of your GMAT score report are more important than others.

The Components of your GMAT Score and How to Chart Them

• Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)
  • Scored on a range of 0 – 6 (in ½ point increments)
  • Scores are determined by professional essay raters and a machine algorithm
• The Integrated Reasoning Section
  • Scored on a range of 1 – 8 (in 1-point increments)
  • Scoring is not adaptive; based on 12 questions, some of which have multiple parts. You must get each part of the question correct to gain credit for the question.
• GMAT Verbal Sub-score
• GMAT Quantitative Sub-score
  • Both scored on a range of 0 – 60 (but in practice it’s really 6 – 51)
  • Both scores are based on a number of factors:
    • Number of questions answered
    • Number of questions answered correctly
    • Difficulty of questions
  • Scoring is complex and based on the question-level adaptive nature of the two sections
• GMAT Total, or Composite, Score
  • Scored on a range of 200 – 800 (in 10-point increments)
  • The test makers have not revealed how exactly the scoring mechanism works, but it is believed that the verbal component contributes a bit more highly to the composite score. Analysis of GMAT score charts have indicated this to be true.

What GMAT Scores are Most Important?

Most business schools will focus primarily on your Total (Composite) score and secondarily on the breakdown between your Verbal and Quantitative sub-scores. Though it is preferable to have more of a balance between Verbal and Quant, a super strong Verbal score, for example, will help to drive up your composite score. The additional Integrated Reasoning and Essay scores, though not unimportant, are not nearly as significant as the Quant, Verbal, or composite scores.

What is an Average GMAT score?

The average GMAT scores, based on the 50^th percentile, are as follows:

• Average GMAT Score for Total (Composite Score): 556
  • About 65% of the scores fall between 400 and 600.
• Average GMAT Score for quantitative sub-section: 41
• Average GMAT Score for verbal sub-section: 27
• Average GMAT Score for Integrated Reasoning: 4.4
• Average GMAT Score for Analytical Writing Assessment: 4.5

What is a Good GMAT Score?

What is a good GMAT score? The answer is not the same for every aspiring MBA candidate. A good GMAT score is that score for which your desired business school will accept you. It’s always best to check with individual business schools to determine what scores are compatible with acceptance into their schools. The following GMAT score chart presents a sampling of GMAT composite scores and their corresponding GMAT score percentiles:

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