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Your GMAT score is vital for gaining an entry ticket to top B-schools. Read your way through this article to know more about the scoring scale in GMAT.

GMAT Score

Are you planning to pursue a career in management? Then, it is best for you to appear for the GMAT test. Scoring high in a GMAT test can help you to add direction to your educational and career paths. Scoring high is the most important thing in GMAT, because it is your GMAT score that decides your destiny as a student. It is natural to have doubts regarding the scoring patterns of important exams like the GMAT. GMAT is a completely computer adaptive test and hence no two candidates can have the same two set of questions. The questions are pulled out from a large pool and difficulty level of each question is modified according to the test taker's performance. If the candidate answers correctly, then the following question becomes harder and if the candidate answers incorrectly, then the following question becomes easier. This helps an average candidate to score a median score in the examination. As the questions become tougher with each correct answer, a high score in GMAT will transport you to the 'most desired student prospect category' and you can easily gain a seat in your dream B-school. Read on to know more about the GMAT scoring pattern.

GMAT Test Score
The total GMAT scoring scale ranges from 200-800. Each section has separate scores and the final score is obtained by adding all scores together. The scoring pattern for the verbal section and the quantitative section are the same but the scoring pattern for the analytical writing assessment is different from the other two sections. The GMAT scoring pattern can be a little confusing, but can still be figured out.

Scoring Pattern of Verbal and Quantitative section
In both these sections, the scoring scale is from 0-60. Each of them deals with entirely different areas and hence they cannot be compared to each other. Verbal sections check English language skills - both reading and writing while quantitative sections check the candidate's proficiency in basic mathematics. Verbal sections have 41 multiple choice questions. The time allotted for this section is 75 minutes. Scores depend on the number of questions answered correctly. The quantitative section will have 37 multiple choice questions and the time give to complete the section will amount to 75 minutes.

Scoring Pattern of Analytical Writing Assessment Section
The scoring pattern for Analytical Writing Assessment is totally different from the other sections. This section consists of two essay questions - to analyze an argument and an issue. Both these questions are rated by an E-rater. The E-rater will churn out two independent ratings and if the ratings show a difference in the score and if the difference is more than one point, then the section will be evaluated again by an expert to find out the actual score and if the difference is of one point, the average of the two scores will be the final score. The E-rater is capable of evaluating 50 linguistic and structural features. It analyses syntactic variety, topical analysis and also organization of ideas. The rating scale of this section is given as 0-6 and the reference scale is given as follows:

0 - Illegible or not written on the topic provided
1 - Deficient in fundamental ideas
2 - Blemished
3 - Limited
4 - Acceptable
5 -Strong
6 - outstanding

How To Calculate Final GMAT Score
  • Take the scaled score of the quantitative section and multiply it with 9.
  • Take the scaled score of the verbal section and multiply it with 7.
  • Add both these products and this will give you the final score.
  • For example, if your scaled quantitative score is 32 and scaled verbal score is 37,your rough total score will be 547.
32 x 9 = 288
37 x 7 = 259
288 + 259 = 547.

Some Facts About GMAT Scores
It is estimated that 2/3rd of the candidates score 400-600.
In verbal section, scores below 9 and above 44 are rare.
In quantitative section, scores below 7 and above 50 are rare.

Average GMAT Scores
Top universities offering management education have GMAT scores as one of their selection criteria. The average GMAT scores required for getting a seat in leading B-schools ranges from 665 to 713.The average for Harvard University was 708, and Stanford University was 713.

Hope what you just read wiped out your doubts regarding GMAT scores and its calculation. Wish you the very best for the challenges that lie ahead.