GMAT: How to set a target score

Estee Katcoff

So you've just finished your first GMAT diagnostic. Good for you! The next step that I recommend is to develop a target score based on the following percentile chart. 

Let's say that you got a 620 on your practice exam -- a 90th percentile in Verbal and a 33rd percentile in Quant. Eek!

You might think that you need to focus on quant, and you'd be right. However, you'd be making a mistake if you focused on quant exclusively.

Let me explain. 

You want to get a 700. Look for the 700 on the chart. You can get a 700 by exclusively working on quant, but you'd have to achieve a 66th percentile in order to do that. Depending on your ability to study hard, this may be feasible for you -- but there might be an easier way to get to that 700.

Following the chart to the right, you can see that there are other paths to a 700:
- you can get a 58th percentile in quant and 96th in verbal
- you can get a 43rd percentile in quant and a high-99th percentile in verbal

For many American test-takers who find verbal easier, this may be an easier way to reach that 700. Will your 99th percentile Verbal/ 43rd math look good to MBA programs? Short answer -- most schools value the final GMAT score above all else (because that's what affects their rankings). That being said, you should prepare an answer for your interview in case the school asks if you'll be able to handle heavy quantitative analysis in MBA classes. But your answer can touch on other quant experience that you've had at work -- it doesn't necessarily need to be based on your GMAT score.

Click here to see a more extended chart on how math/verbal combines.
Feel free to develop your own personal target score.