GMAT Percentile Rankings

You may have heard that GMAT exam scores were overhauled with the advent of changes to the GMAT initiated on November 7, 2023.  As a result, the GMAT scoring scale has changed significantly. And along with the new scoring scale, there are new GMAT score percentiles that will appear on official score reports. 

In this article, we’ll take a look at the GMAT percentile rankings that GMAC (the test-maker) released in August 2024. We’ll also discuss the following:

• how to interpret GMAT score percentiles
• how GMAC calculated the new GMAT percentiles
• how percentiles could change over time.

Here are all the topics we’ll cover:

• Basics of the GMAT Scoring System
• What Do Percentile Rankings Indicate?
• How Are GMAT Percentiles Calculated?
• Aspects of the post-2023 GMAT that Might Affect the Score Percentiles
  • Shorter Testing Time
  • Question Review & Edit
  • Increased Emphasis on Data Insights
• GMAT Percentile Rankings
  • The New Total Score Percentiles
  • The New Quant Score Percentiles
  • The New Verbal Score Percentiles
  • The Data Insights Score Percentiles
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  • What score is 95th percentile in GMAT rankings?
  • What percentile is a 770 GMAT score?
• What’s Next?

To start, let’s review some basics of the new GMAT scoring system.

Basics of the GMAT Scoring System

One of the big changes that came after November 2023 is that there are only 3 sections of the exam: 

• a Quantitative section (problem-solving questions)
• a Verbal section (Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions)
• a Data Insights section (Integrated Reasoning and Data Sufficiency questions)

Each section is 45 minutes long, for a total testing time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. There is no longer an Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). 

Moreover, the 3 sections of the exam have a common scoring scale and contribute equally to the GMAT Total Score.

KEY FACT:

The 3 sections of the GMAT have a common scoring scale and contribute equally to the GMAT Total Score.

Let’s take a look at the new scoring scales.

Note that since the Total Score is given in 10-point increments but is on a scale of 205 to 805 (rather than 200 to 800), all GMAT Total Scores earned after November 2023 will end in a 5.

KEY FACT:

All GMAT sections are scored on a scale of 60-90 in 1-point increments. The Total Score is scored on a scale of 205-805 in 10-point increments.

You can learn more about scoring on the GMAT, including score report changes, in our guide to GMAT scoring. And if you’d like to know more about the ins and outs of scoring on the current GMAT, this guide to how the GMAT is scored has answers. 

For now, let’s move on to our discussion of the GMAT percentile rankings. We’ll start with a review of what percentile rankings indicate about how test-takers performed.

What Do Percentile Rankings Indicate?

Each of the GMAT exam scores you receive for a given test is associated with a percentile ranking. So, when you take the GMAT, on your official score report, you see a percentile ranking associated with each section score and with your Total Score.

GMAT score percentiles tell you how your overall and section scores stack up against the scores of other recent test-takers. For example, scoring in the 89th percentile means that you scored higher than 89 percent of recent GMAT test-takers.

Note that while the 3 sections of the GMAT all use the same scoring scale of 60-90, we cannot expect the percentile rankings for each section to be the same. After all, unlike your scaled scores, which are based solely on your own performance, your percentile rankings are based on how all test-takers performed. 

So, the percentage of test-takers who score, say, 85 on the Quantitative section won’t necessarily be the same as the percentage of test-takers who score 85 on the Verbal section.

With all this in mind, we can see that GMAT score percentiles are pretty important, as they give business schools a view of how your scores fit into the broader landscape of GMAT performance. 

In other words, percentiles add greater meaning to GMAT scores. Exactly how good is a 695 on the GMAT? If we know that 695 is a 98th percentile score, then we can see that it’s pretty great. After all, only 2% of GMAT test-takers were able to achieve or exceed that score.

KEY FACT:

GMAT score percentiles tell you how your overall and section scores stack up against the scores of other recent test-takers.

How Are GMAT Percentiles Calculated?

At this point, you may be wondering, how could GMAC have created GMAT percentile rankings with limited data available since November 2023? Great question! 

Typically, to calculate score percentiles, GMAC historically has used scoring data from all GMATs taken in a recent, continuous 3-year period. GMAC periodically recalculates these percentiles as time goes by, so that they always reflect the scores of recent test-takers. 

Of course, GMAC doesn’t have 3 years of scoring data since the first test administrations that began in Q4 of 2023. So, GMAC does not have 3 years of scoring data from that time period. That said, GMAC does have plenty of scoring data related to how test-takers perform on the question types that this new edition includes. After all, those question types already appear on the previous GMAT and on the Executive Assessment (EA). 

So, although the data doesn’t quite translate perfectly, they are still meaningful. Moreover, for the purpose of calculating these initial percentiles, GMAC used 5 years of data (from July 2017 to June 2022) instead of 3 years — a sample size of 866,664 tests. And the score percentile chart that was updated in August 2024, used the 5-year period (from July 2019 to June 2024), with a sample size of 596,155. That’s pretty significant!

Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that the current percentile rankings are not completely based on post November 2023 GMAT scores. However, the percentiles will be adjusted periodically. Eventually, it is expected that GMAC will calculate percentiles based on  3 years of recent, real-world test data.

KEY FACT:

GMAC used a sample size of 596,155 GMATs from a recent 5-year period to calculate GMAT percentiles.

Aspects of the post-2023 GMAT that Might Affect the Score Percentiles  

It appears that the new GMAT score percentiles, even though they are partly based on the previous GMAT format, are a pretty accurate projection of how test-takers ae performing.

However, there are some aspects of the post-2023 GMAT that may play a somewhat unknown role. Let’s review 3 of the most obvious ones.

Shorter Testing Time

It’s difficult to say exactly how the shorter testing time on the GMAT has affected test-taker performance. Are test-takers more mentally alert for the shorter duration of the exam, and thus able to perform better than on the previous version? 

Of course, shorter doesn’t necessarily mean easier; the content of the exam matters. So, we can’t assume that everyone will perform better on the shorter GMAT than they would on the previous version just because of the shorter time. 

Question Review & Edit

The ability to review and edit answers is most likely affecting test-taker performance. GMAC has always acknowledged that there would be “ implications for testing behavior.” 

However, even GMAC cannot yet specify the impact of this feature. Again, content matters. If test-takers are stumped by many challenging questions on the GMAT, having the ability to review and edit answers won’t make much of a difference.   

Increased Emphasis on Data Insights

GMAT test-takers now must prepare for the Data Insights (DI) section in a more rigorous fashion than past GMAT test-takers prepared for the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section. After all, the Data Insights score factors into a test-taker’s Total Score, while Integrated Reasoning did not. Moreover, Data Insights makes up one-third of the exam — on par with Quant and Verbal. 

So, let’s say test-takers have responded to the increased importance of Data Insights with increased preparation for that section. In that case, past test-taker performance on IR questions most likely will not be an accurate predictor of performance on Data Insights.

KEY FACT:

Shorter testing time, Question Review and Edit, and the increased emphasis on Data Insights may affect test-taker performance in unpredictable ways.

It’s likely that GMAC has taken all these factors into account in formulating the percentiles. So, it could be that even with a few years of real-world scoring data, the current percentiles won’t change much or at all. Conversely, it could be that some aspect of the post-2023 test experience has a greater impact on performance than anyone expected.

With all of this in mind, let’s look at what the current GMAT percentile rankings are.

GMAT Percentile Rankings

Before we take a look at the percentile rankings, it’s important to reiterate that since the score scale was changed, percentiles took on increased importance. After all, we can’t compare scores from the previous GMAT to scores from the post-2023 GMAT 1:1. Those scores have different meanings.

For example, the often sought-after score threshold of 700 on the previous GMAT does not have the same meaning for the new GMAT version. In fact, a 700 on the previous GMAT is associated with the 89th percentile, a 705 on the current GMAT is associated with the 99th percentile.

So, since MBA programs are likely to see a mix of standard GMAT and post-2023 GMAT scores from applicants for the next few years, admissions committees will be looking more closely at percentile rankings than at numerical scores in order to compare applicants’ performances across the two versions. (You can include the GRE and the EA in that mix as well.)

With that key point in mind, let’s look at the new Total Score percentiles first.

The New Total Score Percentiles

Below are the current GMAT Score percentile rankings, which GMAC based on data from 596,155 tests administered in the period from July 2019 to June 2024.

If you’re familiar with the percentile rankings for the GMAT version administered before November 2023, you can see that the GMAT percentiles are significantly different. 

For example, a Total Score of 760+ on the previous GMAT put test-takers in the top 1% (99th percentile) for that exam. However, on the post-2023 GMAT, scores as low as 715 are in the top 1%. 

So, what does this shift indicate? Well, these rankings indicate that it is markedly harder for test-takers to score 705 on the post-2023 version than to score 700-710 on the previous GMAT. In other words, although there are fewer questions on the new GMAT, those questions appear to be more difficult overall.

KEY FACT:

There is an indication that the post-2023 GMAT will feature more difficult questions overall.

If you’re interested in comparing the pre- and post-2023 GMAT percentiles, have a look at GMAC’s score concordance table.  

Now, let’s have a look at the Quantitative section percentiles.

The New Quant Score Percentiles

Like the Total Score percentiles, the Quantitative section score percentiles below are based on data from 596,155 tests administered in the period from July 2019 to June 2024.

A couple of interesting things to note about how the rankings above compared to those for the previous GMAT. A perfect GMAT Quant score of 51 for the previous GMAT put you in the 97th percentile. However, on the post-2023 GMAT, a perfect Quant score of 90 puts you in the 100th percentile. 

A post-2023 Quant score of 89, one point below perfect, puts you in the 97th percentile. On the previous GMAT, a score of 50, also a point below perfect, put you in the 87th percentile. 

So again, these rankings indicate that the Quant section of the current GMAT appears to be somewhat harder for test-takers than the Quant section of the previous GMAT.

KEY FACT:

The Quant section percentile rankings indicate a somewhat harder Quant section on the current GMAT than on the previous version of the GMAT.

Now let’s look at the Verbal section percentiles.

The New Verbal Score Percentiles

Once again, the Verbal section score percentiles below are based on data from 596,155 tests administered in the period from July 2019 to June 2024.

On the previous GMAT, any Verbal score from 45 to 51, inclusive, put you in the 99th percentile for Verbal. As we can see above, a 99th or 100th percentile score on the current GMAT is a score of 88 or 89, a much smaller range of scores. 

Additionally, if we look at the middle of the score scale, which is a score of 75, we see a percentile ranking of 18. So, roughly 80% of test-takers score at or above the mid-range Verbal score on the post-2023 GMAT. In contrast, on the previous GMAT, only about 50% of test-takers scored at or above the mid-range Verbal score.

Thus, we see an indication that the current Verbal section is somewhat easier than the previous GMAT Verbal section.

KEY FACT:

The Verbal section on the current GMAT appears to be somewhat easier than that of the previous GMAT.

Finally, let’s look at the Data Insights score percentiles.

The Data Insights Score Percentiles

Below are the Data Insights section score percentiles, which again are based on data from 596,155 tests administered in the period from July 2019 to June 2024.

On the previous GMAT, a perfect Integrated Reasoning (IR) score of 8 put you in the 90th percentile. This means that the top 10% of test-takers of GMAT test-takers earned a perfect score in IR. 

For the post-2023 GMAT percentiles, a much smaller percentage of test-takers are earning the highest possible score in Data Insights than did in IR, as a perfect DI score of 90 is a 100th percentile score.

KEY FACT:

According to the GMAT percentiles, a much smaller percentage of test-takers will earn the highest possible score in Data Insights than did in IR.

Key Takeaways

Both scores and percentiles are important to business schools evaluating your GMAT performance. So, if you’re planning to take the GMAT, it’s a good idea to get acquainted with the new percentile rankings associated with the exam.

Those percentile rankings indicate that the GMAT instituted on November 6, 2023, may be a tougher exam overall for test-takers. However, since limited real data exists, we must recognize that the recently published percentiles are somewhat inconclusive, since they are based on both real and projected data.

Nevertheless, GMAC did use 5 years of recent testing data — a total of nearly 600,000 tests — to formulate the most recent percentile rankings. And that data would be quite meaningful, as all of the question types on the GMAT already appear on both the previous GMAT and the Executive Assessment.

Most importantly, keep in mind that current GMAT scores do not equate 1:1 to scores on the previous GMAT. So, for instance, while you needed to earn a 750 on the previous GMAT in order to rank in the 98th percentile, a score of 695 puts you in the 98th percentile for the post-2023 GMAT.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Let’s answer a couple of common questions about the new GMAT percentile rankings.

What score is 95th percentile in GMAT rankings?

A Total Score of 675 would put you in the 95th percentile.

For the Quantitative section, a 95th percentile score is 88.

For Verbal, 85 is a 94th percentile score.

For Data Insights, 83 is a 96th percentile. 

What percentile is a 770 GMAT score?

There is no 770 score on the post-2023 GMAT. All scores are given in 10-point increments, and all Total Scores end in a 5.

That said, both a 765 and a 775 on the current GMAT would land you in the 100th percentile, per the current rankings. 

In fact, any score of 735 and up is a 100th percentile score.

What’s Next?

To learn more about the post-2023  GMAT, check out our article about starting your GMAT preparation.

Additionally, you can get an in-depth breakdown of the new GMAT section in this guide about preparing for Data Insights

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