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Guide to GMAT Percentiles
Lots of questions about percentiles come up and I hope this topic can address them all so it can be used as a reference for all your percentile questions including Low IR and AWA scores.
Why use percentiles for GMAT scores?
Percentiles is an easy way of understanding how one's scores compares to the general population. A percentile of 50 means the performance is absolutely average and a percentile of 90, means that the score is above 90% of all other test takers, meaning this person is in the top 10% of all test-takers. This is helpful if you don't understand scores and need a fast reference. However, this also gets a bit confusing and dangerous when percentiles get very condensed. For example, the highest possible quant score of Q51 is only 97th percentile and next score down, Q50 is 87th percentile and a perfectly good Q49 (only 2 points away from max) is a 73rd percentile 😱 but this is not your problem, rather the scoring problem (more on this later)
Do GMAT Percentiles Matter?
Your GMAT score matters. Your raw (sectional) scores matter but not so much the percentiles associated with them. (There are minimums that schools refer to and I will cover that in more details further). At the end of the day, business schools care about your overall big number score. This is in big part because that's what gets put into rankings and that's what matters and what people compare at the end of the day - e.g. 730 average score listed in US News but you will never see percentiles listed. Percentiles become scary and almost counter-intuitive in Quant, IR, and AWA. The only place they still make some sense is Verbal and more on that below as well.
What is a Good Percentile on the GMAT?
Any percentile in the top 10% is a great result. Getting 90th percentile on the GMAT is equivalent to 710 in 2022 and is a solid score.
At the same time, for admission to the Top 10 MBA programs, the most competitive category, being in the top 10% is often not good enough and you want to be in the top 5% which is 730 and is about the average for the top MBA programs. These numbers get even higher for the ultra-competitive demographic applicants (you know who you are
). Several years ago we have done a survey of all Indian students in Ross, and all but 1 had a GMAT Score of 750 or above. That means they were all 98th percentile or higher. Nuts! We have included the results of our research into the What are My Chances Tool that predicts your admission chances based on your scores as well as other factors such as work experience and academic performance. In general, applying with an above average score is a safe bet. A good score won't get you into a high-ranking program by itself but it can keep you out.
How do you calculate your GMAT Percentile?
If you have the official score, you will get your percentile indicated next to it. Usually your overall score
Best | Good | OK | Stretch | Subpar
I did not post the rest of the table past Sub-35th percentile basically because I don't think anyone cares. So trying to keep these clean and tidy.
The overall ranking of how good/bad your score and percentiles are will be driven by the school's average. This table is for the Top 30 MBA programs
Is low IR Percentile, is it a problem?
No.
As long as your IR score is 3 or higher, which is 17th percentile, you should be fine. IR does not show up in rankings or class profiles.
Same for the AWA, as long as you score AWA 4 or higher, AdCom does not care about this score. It does not show up in any rankings or class profiles.
But don't take my word for it. Here is YouTube of Ross, Yale, Darden, AdCom answering our question about IR and AWA
You can see the scores and what combinations of percentiles are required for scoring a certain score on the GMAT https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-scores-83890.html
Let me know if you have any further questions - I will update this guide with additional information.
All percentiles are as of Dec 2021 - Latest data currently available from GMAC Percentile tables
-BB
Lots of questions about percentiles come up and I hope this topic can address them all so it can be used as a reference for all your percentile questions including Low IR and AWA scores.
Why use percentiles for GMAT scores?
Percentiles is an easy way of understanding how one's scores compares to the general population. A percentile of 50 means the performance is absolutely average and a percentile of 90, means that the score is above 90% of all other test takers, meaning this person is in the top 10% of all test-takers. This is helpful if you don't understand scores and need a fast reference. However, this also gets a bit confusing and dangerous when percentiles get very condensed. For example, the highest possible quant score of Q51 is only 97th percentile and next score down, Q50 is 87th percentile and a perfectly good Q49 (only 2 points away from max) is a 73rd percentile 😱 but this is not your problem, rather the scoring problem (more on this later)
Do GMAT Percentiles Matter?
Your GMAT score matters. Your raw (sectional) scores matter but not so much the percentiles associated with them. (There are minimums that schools refer to and I will cover that in more details further). At the end of the day, business schools care about your overall big number score. This is in big part because that's what gets put into rankings and that's what matters and what people compare at the end of the day - e.g. 730 average score listed in US News but you will never see percentiles listed. Percentiles become scary and almost counter-intuitive in Quant, IR, and AWA. The only place they still make some sense is Verbal and more on that below as well.
What is a Good Percentile on the GMAT?
Any percentile in the top 10% is a great result. Getting 90th percentile on the GMAT is equivalent to 710 in 2022 and is a solid score.
At the same time, for admission to the Top 10 MBA programs, the most competitive category, being in the top 10% is often not good enough and you want to be in the top 5% which is 730 and is about the average for the top MBA programs. These numbers get even higher for the ultra-competitive demographic applicants (you know who you are
). Several years ago we have done a survey of all Indian students in Ross, and all but 1 had a GMAT Score of 750 or above. That means they were all 98th percentile or higher. Nuts! We have included the results of our research into the What are My Chances Tool that predicts your admission chances based on your scores as well as other factors such as work experience and academic performance. In general, applying with an above average score is a safe bet. A good score won't get you into a high-ranking program by itself but it can keep you out. How do you calculate your GMAT Percentile?
If you have the official score, you will get your percentile indicated next to it. Usually your overall score
Best | Good | OK | Stretch | Subpar
| Overall GMAT Score | Verbal | Quant | |||||
| 800 | 99% | -------- | V51 | 99% | -------- | Q51 | 97% |
| 790 | 99% | -------- | V50 | 99% | -------- | Q50 | 87% |
| 780 | 99% | -------- | V49 | 99% | -------- | Q49 | 73% |
| 770 | 99% | -------- | V48 | 99% | -------- | Q48 | 65% |
| 760 | 99% | -------- | V47 | 99% | -------- | Q47 | 57% |
| 750 | 98% | -------- | V46 | 99% | -------- | Q46 | 53% |
| 740 | 97% | -------- | V45 | 99% | -------- | Q45 | 50% |
| 730 | 96% | -------- | V44 | 98% | -------- | Q44 | 44% |
| 720 | 94% | -------- | V43 | 98% | -------- | Q43 | 41% |
| 710 | 90% | -------- | V42 | 96% | -------- | Q42 | 36% |
| 700 | 87% | -------- | V41 | 93% | -------- | Q41 | 34% |
| 690 | 84% | -------- | V40 | 90% | -------- | Q40 | 32% |
| 680 | 80% | -------- | V39 | 88% | -------- | Q39 | 28% |
| 670 | 78% | -------- | V38 | 84% | -------- | Q38 | 27% |
| 660 | 74% | -------- | V37 | 81% | -------- | Q37 | 25% |
| 650 | 70% | -------- | V36 | 79% | -------- | Q36 | 22% |
| 640 | 64% | -------- | V35 | 74% | -------- | Q35 | 20% |
| 630 | 62% | -------- | V34 | 69% | -------- | ||
| 620 | 58% | -------- | V33 | 67% | -------- | ||
| 610 | 54% | -------- | V32 | 64% | -------- | ||
| 600 | 50% | -------- | V31 | 59% | -------- | ||
| 590 | 47% | -------- | V30 | 56% | -------- | ||
| 580 | 43% | -------- | V29 | 54% | -------- | ||
| 570 | 40% | -------- | V28 | 49% | -------- | ||
| 560 | 37% | -------- | V27 | 44% | -------- | ||
| 550 | 34% | -------- | V26 | 41% | -------- | ||
I did not post the rest of the table past Sub-35th percentile basically because I don't think anyone cares. So trying to keep these clean and tidy.
| BB's GMAT Percentile Rankings | |||||
| Overall GMAT Score | Quant | Verbal | AWA | IR | |
| Best | 750 - 800 (98 - 99%) | Q49 - Q51 (73 - 97%) | V42 - V51 96 - 99% | 4 - 6 (18 - 87%) | 4 - 8 (31 - 90%) |
| Good | 710-740 (90 - 97%) | Q47 - Q48 (57 - 72%) | V35 - V41 (70 - 95%) | 4 - 6 (18 - 87%) | 4 - 8 (31 - 90%) |
| OK | 650 - 700 (70 - 89%) | Q44 - Q46 (44 - 56%) | V32 - V34 (60 - 69%) | 4 - 6 (18 - 87%) | 4 - 8 (31 - 90%) |
| Stretch | Sub 650 (Sub 69%) | Q44 - Q45 (Sub 43%) | Sub V31 (Sub 59%) | Sub 4% | Sub 17% |
Is low IR Percentile, is it a problem?
No.
As long as your IR score is 3 or higher, which is 17th percentile, you should be fine. IR does not show up in rankings or class profiles.
Same for the AWA, as long as you score AWA 4 or higher, AdCom does not care about this score. It does not show up in any rankings or class profiles.
But don't take my word for it. Here is YouTube of Ross, Yale, Darden, AdCom answering our question about IR and AWA
You can see the scores and what combinations of percentiles are required for scoring a certain score on the GMAT https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-scores-83890.html
Let me know if you have any further questions - I will update this guide with additional information.
All percentiles are as of Dec 2021 - Latest data currently available from GMAC Percentile tables
-BB
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