Kaplan: GMAT: What’s your target?

By Lucas Weingarten

How many of you know what your GMAT score should be? Do you know how to figure that out? Look, you need a target score and I need you to set it. Here’s how:

1. Do some research. Compile a list of all the programs you’d like to attend. Be thorough in your research and clearly identify why you would like to attend each institution that makes it onto your list.

2. Find out what the average GMAT score is for admitted students to each of your listed programs. If, for some reason, you cannot find that information online, call the admissions office and ask.

3. Take the highest score and make it higher. Add on twenty points or so and set that as your target score. Remember, an average is comprised of scores that are higher and lower than the mean presented. You want to be on the top side of that range. In other words, you want to be “above average.”

4. Make it visible. Write that number on a sticky note and put it on your computer, your notebook, your test prep textbook, your dashboard, or all of those places.

A target score, like any goal, needs to be aggressive but achievable. Don’t set an unrealistic score or a score that has nothing to do with where you will apply. Remember, the list of programs you compile is your list. In other words, aim for a target that is relevant to your academic goals, not the goals of someone else. If the most competitive score in your list is a 620, then your target ought to be anchored near there (say, a 650).

Setting a target score matters. You need to give yourself something to aim at. Make it relevant, make it bold, and make it yours.

~Article provided by the courtesy of Kaplan GMAT