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1a. What is the GMAT?
1b. GMAT Scores & B-School
1c. How the GMAT CAT Works
1d. GMAT Pacing Strategies
1e. GMAT Tips & Strategies

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GMAT Prep Guide: 1b. GMAT Scores and Business Schools

You'll receive four GMAT scores:

  • Quantitative scaled sub score, ranging from 0 to approximately 51.
  • Verbal scaled sub score, ranging from 0 to approximately 51 (note that the max scores for these sections varies from year-to-year). 800score tests are updated for 2008 with the most recent scoring adjustments.
  • Overall scaled score, ranging from 200 to 800. This is an overall score that is the combination of your Math and Verbal scores (hence, the name " 800score": an 800 is a perfect score). The 200 to 800 cumulative score is what business schools primarily use.
  • Analytical Writing Assessment score, ranging from 0 to 6. This is a separate score that is less important than the 200 to 800 cumulative score.

The test is graded on a preset curve so that your scaled score will correspond to a certain percentile. An overall score of 630, for example, corresponds approximately to the 90th percentile, meaning that 90 percent of test takers scored at or below this level.

Sample approximate percentiles within the score range of 200-800. Percentiles may vary from year to year.
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Rising Average GMAT Scores
 
 
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The average * GMAT score of accepted students at Harvard Business School is 707.

Those six-figure starting salaries have had an impact on MBA admissions... everyone wants one. In the early nineties the average GMAT score of accepted students at New York University (Stern) Business School was 610. By 2008 the average GMAT test score had jumped 90 points to 700. Getting a high score on the GMAT is crucial because the business schools are getting flooded with applicants. Expect around a 690 average score for the top-ten business schools.

That 690 figure is deceptive because that average includes many students who were accepted for favorable traits (diversity, unusual accomplishment or success, etc.) that allow them to gain acceptance with a lower score. If you have none of these types of traits, then you probably need to break 750 (that's the 99th percentile) to have a good chance at a top-ten school. Expect even stiffer competition for MBA admissions in 2009 as the global economy weakens and workers seek to ride out the downturn at business school. 800score has seen a huge boost in customers from the finance industry, particularly the now defunct investment banks. Competition at business schools may be fierce, and you may not get into your first choice school, but getting an MBA right now is a wise way to ride out a once-in-a-lifetime economic storm. GMAT preparation is of prime importance in this brutally competitive MBA admissions cycle.

Average GMAT scores of major MBA programs (2007)
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According to GMAC, the average salaries for 2007 MBA graduates exceeded $100,000. The appeal of high salaries will only serve to increase competitiveness and the importance of high GMAT scores.

 
 


Continue to How the GMAT CAT Works (page 3 of 5 in Chapter 1)

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