So, how did you do on the GMAT Exam?

That seems like a simple question.

But it’s not. The answer is nuanced and, in many ways, unique to each individual test-taker.

That said, there is an objective measuring stick of GMAT success, and it’s called Percentile Rankings. The GMAC recently released the updated percentiles for the new GMAT Exam, so let’s start there.

GMAT PERCENTILE RANKINGS

Percentile rankings indicate what percentage of test takers a candidate performed better than. For example, a percentile ranking of 72% means that a candidate performed better than 72% of other test takers.

At a quick glance, then, it's easy to use percentiles to determine whether a given GMAT score is average, below average, or above average. For many business school applicants, getting a score that puts you in the 50th percentile or better is all you need. If you're applying to a top-tier MBA program, they often prefer you to have a score in the 80th percentile or higher.

Below are key percentiles for Total Score benchmarks for the GMAT Exam (Focus Edition).

Note: The Total Score range for the GMAT Focus Edition is 205-805.

THREE OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE UPDATED GMAT PERCENTILES

As you use percentile rankings to interpret your GMAT score, here are three things that stand out to us about the updated GMAT percentiles.

1. The median (50th percentile) score is slightly higher than the mean score. As you can see in the chart above, the average (mean) score on the GMAT Exam is 553.35. However, a score of 555 is listed at the 49th percentile, meaning that the 50th percentile is just north of that. If you want to score higher than 50% of all other GMAT test takers, then shoot for a score of at least 565, which is currently the 52nd percentile. For a full, detailed breakdown of percentiles for all GMAT Exam total scores in 10-point increments, visit the GMAC website and click "Detailed" above the Percentile Rankings table.
2. A score in the 600's is a really solid GMAT score now. For years under the old GMAT, students were fixated on cracking 700. Indeed, it almost wasn't worth applying to a Top 10 MBA program if your GMAT score wasn't over 700. With the newly recalibrated scoring scale for the GMAT Focus Edition, however, a score of 655 is comparable to a 700 on the old GMAT, each landing you in the 90th percentile. While scoring over 705 is still possible on the GMAT Exam, doing so would land you in the 98th percentile, a rare feat indeed. Learn to be okay with a GMAT score in the 600's (or even upper-500's) and rest assured that MBA admissions officers understand that it's now a competitive score. To better understand how current GMAT scores correspond to the old score scale, see: "Equating GMAT Focus vs GMAT Scoring Scales."
3. Beware Data Insights! Below are the section-specific percentile rankings for the three sections of the GMAT Exam (Focus Edition). Remember that all three sections are scored on a scale from 60-90. As you can see, Data Insights has the lowest average section score at 74.89. Interestingly, the average Quant score (78.05) is now below the average Verbal score (79.28). The major change with the Quantitative Reasoning section in the new Focus Edition is that Data Sufficiency questions have been relocated to the Data Insights section. That seems to have accomplished at least part of the GMAC's goal of leveling out the score scale. While comparing averages is interesting, percentile rankings are more telling when it comes to interpreting GMAT scores. Look at a section score of 80, for example. That would place you higher than 57% of other test takers on Verbal, 64% on Quant, and a whopping 84% on Data Insights. While you shouldn't get too wrapped up in your individual section scores, as it's your Total Score that schools look at the most, it's still interesting to note the relative difficulty level of each section. Indeed, it appears that boosting your Data Insights score is the surest way to improve your overall Total Score on the GMAT Exam relative to other test takers.

WHAT IS A GOOD GMAT SCORE?

Now that we're familiar with percentile rankings and what they tell us about GMAT scores, let's circle back to our original question: What constitutes a good GMAT Exam score?

Are percentile rankings all that we should consider?

If you don't score in the 90th percentile, are you doomed?

While students often have a target GMAT score in mind, that score is usually arbitrary based on things they've heard from friends, read on message boards, or is simply chosen assuming that "higher is better." This is where we come back to our assertion that a "good" GMAT score is relative to each individual test taker and to the school(s) to which he is applying.

Rather than using percentile rankings to decide whether or not your GMAT score stacks up, let us suggest a healthier definition of a "good" GMAT score:

A good GMAT score is any score that helps get you accepted to your top-choice MBA program.

Years ago we remember hearing about a student who got admitted to Harvard Business School with a GMAT score of 560 (old score scale). For that student, 560 was a good score despite being in the 40th percentile. Would a 700 have been better? No, not for that student. He ended up in the same classrooms as students who scored 780. For him, 560 was good enough.

The point is, don't over-obsess about your GMAT score. Don't live and die by a few percentage points on the percentile rankings charts. Check the admission requirements and GMAT score expectations for each school that you're applying to and use that as a gauge for what to shoot for. Then put your head down, get to work preparing for the GMAT Exam, do your best on test day, and be proud of any GMAT score that gets you accepted.