Clarification on Score: Shouldn't an increased Q mean increased total?

Question

Hi experts,

I gave 2 attempts on the GMAT in the same month and got a 710 on both attempts with the V-40, IR-5 and AWA-6 (and their respective percentiles) being the exactly same in both instances. However, my Q did increase from 47 (61%) to 49 (74%) in my second attempt. But despite this, my total score remained a 710 (90%) both times.

Can anyone please clarify if this is normal? Since typically one would expect their total score and their percentile to increase if they performed better and increased their quantitative score (with everything else remaining  exactly  the same).

I had sent this same query sometime back through the "contact us" option on mba.com as well, but have not received any response on it.

Thanks!

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

Hello  LadyGaladriel

Different sectional scores but the same total score is a common phenomenon on the GMAT. The short answer is that for a specific score range, the total score is the same. Please visit a few posts on the same topic; I hope you'd get some clarity. Even though we have a scoring grid, I am not sure whether GMAC exactly follows it.

GMAT Scoring Grid:  https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-scoring-grid-288156.html

Topic: Different sectional scores but the same total score
 https://gmatclub.com/forum/different-overall-score-for-same-quant-and-verbal-score-234633.html 
 https://gmatclub.com/forum/same-overall-score-same-q-score-different-v-scores-105426.html 
 https://gmatclub.com/forum/has-gmat-changed-the-verbal-and-quant-score-mapping-for-final-score-216278.html

LadyGaladriel · Answer

Thank you very much for the response. I went through the links you shared and they address my concern (though I still wish I had gone up to a 720!)

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

Those links are fine, except for the one that says that changes have been made to the way the GMAT is scored. No changes have been made to the way the GMAT total, verbal, and quant scores are calculated.

As some of the other posts point out, the total score you see is derived from  slightly  more accurate score estimates. Here is  a more complete look at the process .

bb · Answer

Basically your total and sectional scores are calculated using different formulas. Thus you may end up with slightly different scores.

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Clarification on Score: Shouldn't an increased Q mean increased total?

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