| Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... |
Last Updated on September 24, 2023
Whether you’re just beginning to look into the GMAT for business school admissions or you’ve been preparing for it for a while, a key question you may have is “How much can I increase my GMAT score?” So, in this article I’m going to discuss answers to this question, both some myths and the reality. I’ll also discuss some things you can do to ensure that your GMAT preparation results in score increases.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
- Myths About How Much You Can Increase Your GMAT Score
- You Can Increase Your GMAT Score as Much as You Want
- What Is a Reasonable GMAT Score Increase?
- If People Can Continue to Increase Their GMAT Scores, Why Don’t They?
- How to Continue to Increase Your GMAT Score
- How Much Can You Improve Your GMAT Score?: Key Takeaways
- What’s Next?
Let’s start by discussing some of the myths surrounding the question of how much you can increase your GMAT score.
Myths About How Much You Can Increase Your GMAT Score
Before we answer the question of how much you can increase your GMAT score, it will be good to get some myths surrounding that question out of the way. The main myth surrounding that question is the “peak score” myth. So, let’s start with that one.
Myth #1: The “Peak GMAT Score”
The “peak score” myth is the idea that every GMAT aspirant has a peak score that that person can achieve and that, basically, more preparation won’t get that person to a higher score.
One thing contributing to this myth is some study results published by the Graduate Management Admission Council. These results showed that, when people who had scored 600 or higher on the GMAT retook the test, their scores didn’t increase much. The results also showed that, when these people took the GMAT a third or fourth time, their scores barely increased. Finally, the results showed that, on average, when people who had scored above 700 retook the GMAT repeatedly, their scores plateaued or even decreased.
So, we can see why these results would cause the peak score myth. People see the results and decide that the reason why GMAT test-takers didn’t increase their scores is that they couldn’t.
Meanwhile, these results contributed to another myth as well, that your score decreases from too much preparation.
Myth #2: The Score Decrease From Too Much Preparation
The myth of the score decrease from too much preparation is the idea that, if you do more than a certain amount of GMAT study, your test score will decrease rather than increase. Now, while it’s true that, if you prepare for a long time, you may forget some things you learned early in your preparation, this myth doesn’t really make sense. After all, you can review things you learned early in your prep. Also, many people study for the GMAT for extended periods of time and continue to achieve higher and higher scores. Still, some people believe this myth.
So, if you’ve heard of either the “peak score” myth or the myth that your score will decrease from too much preparation, you now know part of the reason why these myths exist. The truth is that not achieving score increases and not being able to achieve score increases are two different things. As we’ll see, this difference is the reason why these myths are myths, and the reality is different.
KEY FACT:
Two myths that go around about GMAT score improvements are the peak score myth and the score decrease from too much preparation myth.
So, what’s the reality? Let’s discuss that now.
You Can Increase Your GMAT Score as Much as You Want
My view is that you can increase your GMAT score as much as you want and achieve any score goal on test day. Clearly, this view is at odds with not only the myths we just discussed but also what many people believe about themselves. All the same, I find this view completely reasonable, and here’s why.
Increasing your GMAT score just takes learning new things and developing new skills. We can all learn new things and develop new skills. So, we can all increase our test scores. Thus, logic dictates that we can all increase our GMAT scores as long as we keep preparing.
In fact, during the time I’ve worked in the GMAT space I’ve seen this logic prevail multiple times. One example is that of my friend Dan Cummins. Dan took the GMAT multiple times and went from a starting score of 430 to a final score of 710. The most powerful example I’ve seen is that of Dalal Aldilaimi, who started near the bottom of the GMAT score range at 250 and ended up at the top of the range at 780.
Logic dictates that we can all increase our GMAT scores as long as we keep preparing
Of course, the idea that you can improve your GMAT score as much as you want is nice, and it’s nice to see some examples of off-the-charts GMAT score improvements. However, you’re likely wondering what is a reasonable, rather than amazing, GMAT score increase. So, let’s discuss that now.
What Is a Reasonable GMAT Score Increase?
Here’s what I’ve seen people achieve with what we could call “reasonable” amounts of GMAT preparation. With what we could call an average effort, people typically achieve GMAT score increases of around 70 to 100 points. With a somewhat greater than average amount of preparation, people often achieve above-average score increases of 150 points or more. Finally, people who decide to prepare extensively often achieve GMAT score increases close to or even larger than 200 points. So, we could say that a “reasonable” GMAT score increase is anything up to around 200 points.
That said, achieving a particular score increase is easier for some people than for others, for a variety of reasons. One reason is that, generally, it’s easier to achieve a particular score increase from a lower level than it is to achieve the same increase from a higher level. For instance, it’s generally easier to go from 400 to 500 than to go from 640 to 740.
Another factor that can affect how easy it is to achieve a particular score increase is how much a student has to do to achieve that increase. For instance, someone who has to review some math to achieve a 100-point increase will likely achieve that increase more easily than someone else who has to learn the same math for the first time to achieve that increase.
KEY FACT:
A “reasonable” GMAT score increase is anything up to around 200 points.
Of course, you’ve likely noticed that not all GMAT test-takers achieve 200-point score increases or their score goals. Thus, you may be wondering why they don’t, if the reality is that they can score as high as they want and 200 points is a reasonable GMAT score increase. So, let’s explore why.
If People Can Continue to Increase Their GMAT Scores, Why Don’t They?
There are two main reasons why people’s GMAT scores stop increasing.
One of the reasons is simple: they stop preparing for the GMAT. Of course, when someone stops preparing for the GMAT, his or her score stops increasing. At the same time, the fact that this reason is simple doesn’t mean that it’s not important. After all,if much of the reason why people’s scores stop increasing is that they stop preparing, then we can clearly see that score increases are possible if we keep preparing.
The second main reason why people’s GMAT exam scores plateau is that the way they’re preparing doesn’t support further increases. In other words, they’re preparing for the GMAT in ways that will increase their scores only up to a point.
For instance, it’s possible for GMAT students to improve their quant section scores up to a certain point by learning math concepts. However, to go beyond that point, we have to do more than learn concepts. We have to improve our skill in applying those concepts in the context of GMAT quant by learning strategies and answering practice questions. So, if a student’s GMAT quant preparation involves mostly learning concepts, the score improvement that student achieves will be limited.
KEY FACT:
The two main reasons why people’s GMAT scores stop increasing are that they stop preparing and that the way they’re preparing doesn’t support further score increases.
So, what can you do to keep making progress and achieve the score you need for your target MBA programs? Let’s discuss that now.
How to Continue to Increase Your GMAT Score
If one of the reasons people’s GMAT scores stop increasing is that they stop preparing, one key aspect of improving your GMAT score and achieving your goal is continuing to prepare. By simply continuing to “show up” and play the GMAT prep game, you can continue to improve your score.
At the same time, continuing to prepare will be sufficient only if what you’re doing is working. If what you’re doing to prepare is effective, then by doing it more, you’ll increase your score more. However, as we’ve discussed, there are GMAT prep approaches that work only up to a point. So, what can you do if your GMAT performance plateaus?
Better Understand What the GMAT Tests
One thing that causes people’s GMAT total scores to plateau is that their understanding of what the GMAT tests isn’t accurate. For instance, while the GMAT verbal section involves grammar, it doesn’t really test grammar knowledge. It uses grammar to test verbal reasoning skill. Thus, if someone has the impression that the GMAT verbal section tests grammar knowledge rather than verbal reasoning skill, that person’s verbal score may plateau as a result.
So, if your performance is plateauing, you may be able to resume making progress by better understanding what the GMAT tests. What it tests includes reasoning skill, skill in the use of resources, ability to work under pressure, attention to detail, and other skills that are integral to success in both business school and business itself.
Adjust How You Are Preparing
Another thing you can do to keep your GMAT score increasing is adjust how you are preparing. If your performance on GMAT practice tests plateaus, review the GMAT prep resources, approaches, and study plan you’re using and seek to determine how well they’re working for you.
What do your score reports indicate? Are the concepts and methods you’re learning from your study resources helping you score higher? Are you getting a greater number of questions correct by practicing in the way you’re practicing? If not, then it’s likely that, to continue to increase your score, you have to change something about how you are preparing.
You may need some new resources or strategies. Alternatively, it could be that you have great resources and strategies, but you have to adjust how you’re using them. I’ve talked with many GMAT students who radically improved the results they were getting from their preparation by just making a few key adjustments.
Find New Levers to Pull
Finally, to continue progressing toward your GMAT score goal, it may be that you need to find new levers to pull. The possibilities are endless, but I can give some examples. I’ve seen GMAT students use pattern-matching games, meditation, exercise, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, the Pomodoro method, the TTP Streaks Method, reading coaching, accountability coaching, tutoring, and many other things to get their scores increasing again. You can learn through research, introspection, and trial and error what new things will work for you. The key is to keep trying things until you find something that works.
TTP PRO TIP:
To get your score to start increasing again if it is plateauing, better understand what the GMAT tests, adjust how you’re preparing, or find new levers to pull.
Let’s now wrap up by reviewing what we have discussed.
How Much Can You Improve Your GMAT Score?: Key Takeaways
Here are some key takeaways from what we have discussed regarding how much of a GMAT score improvement you can achieve.
- The ideas that people have “peak GMAT scores” or that preparing too much for the GMAT can be counterproductive are basically myths.
- The reality is that you can increase your GMAT score as much as you want. There are examples of people who have increased their GMAT scores by 300, 400, or even over 500 points.
- A reasonable GMAT score increase is an increase of up to around 200 points.
- The main reasons people’s GMAT scores stop increasing are that they stop preparing or prepare in ways that can increase their scores only up to a point.
- You can continue to increase your GMAT score by better understanding what the GMAT tests, adjusting how you are preparing, or finding new levers to pull.
What’s Next?
For some additional insights into how to increase your GMAT score, you can read this post on how to increase your GMAT quant score or this one on how to score high on GMAT verbal.
