The 4 GMAT Scores on Your Report

Business schools actually take a look at all 3 scores oncorrect. A 35V is at the 75th percentile.
your score report, not just the single score on the 800- The ""44M" is the quant score also out of 51 and is
scale.at the 90th percentile.
First, let's identify all the scores that will show up onSchools see all of these scores so they can assess
your score report and that bschools will see:whether you are strong/weak in a particular section.
1) Quant Score (out of 51 and percentile)For example, a PhD in Physics is expected to have a
2) Verbal Score (out of 51 and percentile)high quant score. Schools will probably pay more
3) Overall Score (out of 800 and percentile)attention to this applicant's verbal score to see how
4) Essay (AWA) Score (out of 6.0, increments of .5well-rounded he/she is. If you are aiming to be
and percentile)considered by a Top 20 business school, you should
What is the relationship between all the differentaim to be above the 80th percentile mark for both
scores?subjects (36V and 40M).
Business schools pay more attention to the first 3It is important to note that the "raw score" is NOT the
scores. For example, someone might score a 650same as the number of questions answered correctly.
(35V, 44M). This translates into an overal percentileIn fact, there are 41 verbal questions and only 37
score of 80% which means he/she scored better thanquantitative questions yet the raw score for both
80% of GMAT test takers. The writing score has NOsections is out of 51. The raw score takes into
IMPACT on your overall score. It's like a side scoreaccount the level of difficulty of your questions as the
that is treated separately.computer adapts to your performance on the exam.
650 (35V, 44M)Far fewer people score in the top percentile for verbal
- The "650" is the overall score and translates into thethan for quant. Therefore, they are rewarded with a
80th percentile.high score for a strong verbal performance. See my
- The "35V" is the verbal raw score out of 51 that haspost on The Easiest Way to Raise Your Score (NOT
already been weighted by difficulty of questions and #math).