Share this post

The GMAT score is complicated; there is no fixed number out of 800 that will guarantee your admission to any Business school; and you need a good minimum score on the Analytical Writing. Assessment (AWA) as well. Here are some facts that will help you understand when someone says “it depends” when you ask them what a good GMAT score is.

What is a good overall score for most Business Schools?

No Business School has a formal GMAT cutoff. The only data some of them release is the median GMAT score of everyone in the qualifying class every year. Based on this, one can observe that, if you score above 710, you are above the median score average of pretty much every big MBA program in the world from Harvard Business School (HBS), to Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), to London Business School (LBS), to INSEAD, to Wharton.

However, this does not mean that scoring above 710 on your GMAT is an automatic qualifier, or that a score below this mark means that you are out of contention. Many factors go into a successful MBA application; a high GMAT score means that you have satisfied the requirements on one criterion, but you still have to do well on all to get in.

How do you get a good Quant score?gmat test prep

On Quant a mixture of strong basics (honed over 3 to 6 months’ prep time, depending on your initial comfort with Quant) and 12 to 15 realistic full mock tests should put you where you need to be, preparation wise. An initial set of sessions with your test prep experts on the Data Sufficiency (DS) format will also help; in Jamboree’s experience, we have seen that DS questions are manageable, but the format can be initially tricky.

How do you get a good verbal score?

Verbal is very different in the GMAT from many other standardized tests; the Verbal questions on this test are based more on logical reasoning and understanding than on breadth of vocabulary. Therefore, there is an easy way to score higher: to spend hours, days and months practising questions in 90 seconds or fewer.

If I am good at Quant or Verbal and not so good at the other, how do I balance both?

The first step is to focus on your strength: if you are great at either Quant or Verbal, get perfect at your strong point, and ensure that you get the highest possible 51 score out of 60 in that section. Once you start hitting that consistently on mock tests, start mastering question types in the section in which you are weaker, and master as many as possible in your prep time till the actual GMAT.

How does the AWA score play into everything?

Your analytical essay does not directly impact the score out of 800, and you just need to score well enough (4.5 or higher, out of 6, is generally safe) on the AWA, to ensure that it doesn’t become a red flag. Simple language, following guidelines, and practice with writing 20+ essays should give you all you need! All these pointers tell you how to get a good score on the GMAT; for a great score, visit Jamboree!

Share this post