The GMAT Scoring Scale

An official GMAT score report consists of four parts:

• Verbal Scaled Score (on a scale from 0 to 60)
• Quantitative Scaled Score (on a scale from 0 to 60)
• Total Scaled Score (on a scale from 200 to 800)
• Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) Score (on a scale from 0 to 6)

The total score is a scaled combination of the verbal and quantitative scaled scores, and thus reflects a student's overall performance on the multiple choice sections of the test. The AWA score is independent of and has no impact on the total scaled score.

The Multiple Choice Sections

There are a total of 78 multiple choice questions: 41 in the verbal section and 37 in the quantitative section. To compute the scaled score for each section, GMAC uses an algorithm that takes into account the following factors:

• the number of questions answered within the time permitted
• the number of questions answered correctly
• the statistical characteristics (including level of difficulty) of the questions answered

At the beginning of each section the computer presents a question in the middle range of difficulty. If the question is answered correctly, the next question will be harder, and the score will adjust upwards. If the question is answered incorrectly, the next question will be easier, and the score will adjust downwards. (The test taker does not see this adjustment, however, because the score is not revealed until the entire test has been completed.) Thus, the computer is constantly recalculating the scaled score as the student progresses through the section.

The more questions that are answered, the more familiar the computer becomes with the skills of the test taker and consequently, the more certain the computer is of the scaled score it has calculated. Hence, the questions at the beginning of the section count much more than do the questions at the end of the section. For example, by the time Question 36 appears, the computer has had 35 questions' worth of information from which to derive the proper score range. So even if Question 36 were answered correctly, the increase in score would be minimal compared to the increase in score if Question 2 had been answered correctly.

Upon completing the test, the student must decide whether or not to keep the score. A student who chooses to keep the score is allowed to view the total scaled score along with the separate verbal and quantitative scaled scores. A student who chooses to cancel the score is not allowed to view it.

In order to understand the value of a GMAT score, it is helpful to know the percentile ranking assigned to that particular score. The percentile ranking expresses the percentage of the test-taking population that receive scores below a particular score. Therefore, the higher the percentile ranking, the more competitive the score. The following table shows all 61 of the possible GMAT total scaled scores and the percentile rankings assigned to each of them.

While the total scaled score ranges from 200 to 800, approximately two-thirds of test takers score between 400 and 600. A score of 540 places a test-taker in the 50th percentile and therefore represents the median score of the test-taking population.

The verbal and quantitative scaled scores are also assigned percentile rankings. The following table shows all 61 of the possible verbal and quantitative scaled scores and the percentile rankings assigned to each of them.

Although the verbal and quantitative sections are both scored on the same scale (from 0 to 60), the percentile associated with an individual score in the verbal section may be different from the percentile associated with the same score in the quantitative section. For example, a verbal scaled score of 38 places a student in the 85th percentile for that section.

A quantitative scaled score of 38, however, only places the student in the 55th percentile for that section.

The Analytical Writing Assessment

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) score is a single number that is the average of the Analysis of an Issue essay score and the Analysis of an Argument essay score. Each essay is scored twice—once by a human reader, and once by E-rater, a computerized essay evaluation program—and given a grade on a scale from 0 to 6. If the two scores are identical or differ by exactly one point, the average of the two scores becomes the final score. However, if the scores differ by more than one point, a different human reader resolves the discrepancy and determines the final score. Once the final score has been determined for each essay, those two final scores are averaged and then rounded to the nearest half-point. This number is the test-taker's AWA score.

The following table lists all of the possible AWA scaled scores and the percentile rankings assigned to each of them.

Over 90% of test-takers score at least a 3 on the AWA scale. Since human readers are involved in the AWA grading process, students cannot view their AWA scores on the same day that they take the test. Students who choose to keep their scores receive an official GMAT score report via regular mail approximately two weeks later. The AWA score is included in this score report.

GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council.

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