You’ve got your GMAT Focus score in front of you. Now what? When you receive your Official Score Report after taking the GMAT™ Focus Edition, it’s natural to be drawn to your Total Score as the primary indicator of your performance. However, the introduction of the new score scale with the GMAT™ Focus Edition has added another important dimension to the evaluation process—the percentile ranking. To gain a comprehensive understanding of your performance, it is imperative to give due consideration to both of these metrics.
The percentile ranking provides valuable context by showing where you stand relative to other test-takers. It represents the percentage of candidates you’ve outperformed. For instance, if your percentile ranking is 75%, it means you’ve scored better than 75% of your peers who took the same exam. This information can be instrumental in assessing your competitiveness in the admissions process for business schools.
It’s reassuring to know that educational institutions have been well-prepared to handle this transition. They have received the necessary tools, training, and resources to make fair and accurate comparisons between candidates who have taken different versions of the GMAT exam.
In essence, while your Total Score remains significant, embracing the percentile ranking is essential for a holistic evaluation of your GMAT™ Focus Edition performance. This dual approach empowers you with a clearer perspective on your abilities and your standing among fellow test-takers, ensuring that you are well-prepared to pursue your academic and career goals in the world of graduate business education.
What Are GMAT Percentile Rankings?
Percentile rankings provide insight into the percentage of test-takers you’ve outperformed. For instance, a percentile ranking of 75% implies that you’ve scored better than 75% of your fellow test-takers, with 25% performing better than you.
In the case of GMAT™ Focus Edition, due to changes in the Total Score scale and score distribution, it’s inappropriate, inaccurate, and unmeaningful to compare total or section scores from a previous GMAT exam version to the GMAT™ Focus Edition.
Suppose you need to assess your competitiveness based on the GMAT™ Exam: Focus Edition compared to the previous GMAT™ Exam version. In that case, evaluating percentile rankings rather than directly comparing total scores is more fitting.
Percentile rankings show what percentage of test takers you performed better than.
Deciphering Your Percentile Ranking
Total Score Percentile
Your GMAT™ Focus Edition Total Score is an aggregate of the exam’s Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights sections. Each section score carries equal weight in determining your Total Score. Total Scores for the GMAT™ Exam Focus Edition range from 205 to 805.
Sample Size: 866,640
Standard Deviation: 89.08
Data Period: 2017-2022
Total GMAT Focus Score
Format: The GMAT™ Focus Edition Total Score encompasses the exam’s Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights sections. The contribution of each section’s score to the Total Score is evenly distributed across these sections.
What it Measures: The GMAT™ Focus Edition assesses the advanced reasoning and data literacy skills essential for success in the modern, technology-driven, data-rich landscape of graduate business management.
Score Range: GMAT™ Focus Edition Total Scores span from 205 to 805.
Discover more resources on the GMAT Focus exam: GMAT Focus Edition: Scoring Changes Explained, GMAT Focus Edition FAQs, The New GMAT Focus Edition: Exam changes explained
Score Concordance
The GMAT™ Focus Edition’s Total Score encompasses a range of 205 to 805, while the previous GMAT™ Exam featured a Total Score range of 200 to 800. Since the scores are not on a standard scale, it’s inappropriate to directly compare GMAT™ Focus Edition scores to scores from the earlier exam version. Despite appearances, scores like 600 and 605 indicate substantially different performance levels in various skill areas.
The concordance tables below illustrate score distributions between the two exam versions based on percentiles for those seeking to understand their relative competitiveness.
