The question nobody can answer.

Question

My goal for the test is to get a 730 or 760 and want to know how well I need to perform in the quant and verbal section to make that happen. Here is the question I need answered phrased in an easy to understand way. I have asked tons of people and cannot find an answer:

Jason and John are both studying for the GMAT. Jason wants a 730(96th percentile) and John wants a 760(99th percentile). They both have been working hard studying, but are trying to decide if they are ready to take the test. They both want to know the same thing: "what percentile do I need to score on the quant and verbal section to earn my desired score?" They know that this varies a little over time because it depends on how everyone else does on the test during the months or year when they take their test, so they are okay with the data from 2015 or 2014 because they know it doesn't change much each year. They both are asking the same questions: If, when I'm practicing, I'm working in the quant section at the 99th percentile, what would I need on the verbal to earn my desired score? What if I'm at the 98th percentile on the quant section? What about 97th? 96th? 95th? ... 85th?

JasonJohn
Wants a 730(96th percentile) Wants a 760(99th percentile)
Quant Percentile Needed Verbal Percentile Quant Percentile Needed Verbal Percentile
99th 99th 
98th 98th 
97th 97th 
96th 96th 
95th 95th 
94th 94th 
93rd 93rd 
92nd 92nd 
91st 91st 
90th 90th 
89th 89th 
88th 88th

bb · Answer

Ha! You have a slightly problem - the total GMAT score does not depend on the percentiles or other test taker performance. The 730 and 760 stays the same regardless of how well or poorly everyone else does. You just need to get a certain scaled section score.

Here are the scores you will need to get on Q and V to get each score respectively. This table does have percentiles but they are older and have not been updated in a few years, so focus on the scaled scores that stay the same, instead of the percentiles that fluctuate over time.

OR

Source: gmat-scores-83890.html?fl=menu

grahamtandrew · Answer

Thank you so much. You do not know how hard I have been trying to find this info. You gave me exactly what I was looking for.

bb · Answer

Glad i was able to help. We don't mess around and try to get to the bottom of the matter. No fluff.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

If you look at bb's chart, you'll also notice that you can continue to improve in verbal--thereby improving your overall 200-800 score--even when you're at the 99th percentile. This is one of the most important things that students overlook. You can "max out" the verbal percentile even if your actual verbal score is lower than your quant! On the flip side, your quant score can't get any higher than 97% these days (98% when that chart was made).

So in short, focus on the scaled scores, as bb suggested, and keep working on both equally unless one is substantially higher on the 51-point scale than the other. Here's a link to our updated version of the chart: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/gmat- ... alculator/ Every time, I check it against student reports, it is either spot-on or 10 points off (there is some underlying variation in scaled scores, basically due to rounding). You'll find that it's gotten a bit tougher to reach those high scores. A colleague of mine even reported a 51/51/790. (Rounding strikes again!)

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