Almost all GMAT aspirants come up with the query on how the GMAT is scored and how percentiles are calculated. So, if you are having the same set of questions in your mind, you are not alone. In this page, we will delve into “how the GMAT score is calculated”. But, before we begin to understand the calculations, you must know that you will get two score reports – the Unofficial score report and the Official score report.
The Unofficial Score Report
It is the one which you will receive immediately after finishing your test. It includes the following scores:
- IR score on the scale of 1–8 along with percentile
- Quantitative score on the scale of 0–60 along with percentile
- Verbal score on the scale of 0–60 along with percentile
- Total GMAT score on the scale of 200–800 along with percentile
This is how it looks like:
Unofficial GMAT® Score Report
| Scaled Score | Percentile** | |
|---|---|---|
| Integrated Reasoning | Score on the scale of 1-8 | Number |
| Quantitative | Score on the scale of 0-60 | Number |
| Verbal | Score on the scale of 0-60 | Number |
| Total* | Score on the scale of 200-800 | Number |
*Your Total score is derived from your Verbal and Quantitative scores
**The percentile ranking tables are updated every year, which means that your ranking may change as well. The most up-to-date version is available on mba.com/percentile ranking.
The Official Score Report
This is the one which you will receive in about 20 days after taking the test.
- Quantitative score on the scale of 0–60 along with percentile
- Verbal score on the scale of 0–60 along with percentile
- Total GMAT score on the scale of 200–800 along with percentile
- IR score on the scale of 1–8 along with percentile
- AWA score on the scale of 0–6 along with percentile (in half-point increment)
You will get to see the first four as soon as you are done taking the test (Unofficial Score Report). You will get to see the AWA score only after 20 days when you will get the official score report as it is graded also by a human reader. You will receive an email describing how to access your GMAT Official Score Report. You can also access your GMAT Official Score Report by visiting https://accounts.gmac.com/Account/LogIn?ReturnUrl=%2fOpenId%2fAskUser 48 hours after receiving the mail.
The scores on the scale of 200-800 comprise only the Quantitative and the Verbal scores. It does not include the IR and AWA scores. It is not easy to create a GMAT Scoring Grid as the GMAC never reveals the way it calculates the scores on the scale of 200-800 based on the scores achieved in the Quantitative and the Verbal section of the GMAT.
IR and AWA are scored separately on the scale of 1-8 and 0-6 respectively. So, basically, your GMAT scorecard will consist of 5 scores as mentioned above.
Factors influencing GMAT scores
The scoring of GMAT is different from the other tests. It is a computer adaptive test which means that the first question you will see on the test in a Quant/Verbal section will be of medium difficulty level and if you get it right, then the next question will be of higher difficulty level. However if you get it wrong, then the next question you will see will be easier. Overall, your score depends on the following factors:
- The number of questions attempted
- The number of questions you get right
- The difficulty level of the questions you get right
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