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Hello!

I just got a 690 on my GMAT, and I'm very happy with it! The breakdown:

47Q (79%) and 38V (83%)

Should I include the percentages in my apps? They will change over time, and I feel like they are very skewed right now. 79% for a 47 in quant? That percentage sounds so ugly - like I got a C!

The schools will get my official scores in a few weeks - is it possible that those will have different percentages?

mixpanda wrote:Hello!

I just got a 690 on my GMAT, and I'm very happy with it! The breakdown:

47Q (79%) and 38V (83%)

Should I include the percentages in my apps? They will change over time, and I feel like they are very skewed right now. 79% for a 47 in quant? That percentage sounds so ugly - like I got a C!

The schools will get my official scores in a few weeks - is it possible that those will have different percentages?

I don't know what schools you are targeting, but realize that the GMAT score is looked at in context of your work experience, the quant courses you took and grades you earned. Don't look at the GMAT in a vacuum.

Best,
Linda

Hello Linda,

Thank you for your advice. I definitely recognize that the GMAT isn't everything, and that the other components of an application are equally important.

But here is another question: What happens if I am applying to programs not usually used to seeing gmat scores? I keep reading everywhere that 680/690+ is what is needed to get into the top 10 business schools - this is true because business schools have experience with the GMAT, and they know what high scores are.

I'm worried because I am applying to a couple of programs that are not even business schools, but instead businessy programs at advertising schools. They require GMAT or GRE, but I took the GMAT because my other schools needed it. What worries me is that these advertising programs were not even on the list of possible schools to which I could send my scores! I'm worried that these programs do not have enough experience with the GMAT to automatically know that 690 is a good score!

To someone who doesn't know much about the GMAT, wouldn't 690/800 sound bad? If you convert it to a percentage, it's about 86% - it's a B! But in reality it's an A!

First, I need you to assure me that a 690 is in reality an "A" - If this is true, if a 690 is a top mark, then how can I convey that to the admissions committees? I guess I could trust them to just know how difficult the GMAT really is...

Do I have any options?

Hello! And congratualations on your good score --that should stand you in good stead come application time.

A few mechanics to start....

First, your percentages are already reported to the school so there is no need to include them; the only reason to include them, in my mind, would be to highlight a particular strength that you are already focusing your application on. For instance, a great quant score and you want to go into finance.

Second, your "score" is not a grade!! It's a percentile! What that means is that some 79% of OTHER GMAT test takers scored lower than you did. It's not like school where most people (hopefully) score above, say, 60, with a couple of total slackers getting lower than that. I also emphasize that you are not being compared to the general population but to the world of other GMAT test takers. How about thinking of it like this: you're in the top 22%!!


My take on "low" quant scores is that if they are part of a larger pattern of poor quant skills than you need to address it. For instance, if you have lousy quant grades in college, lousy quant GMAT, you're talking about your love of finance, and you're applying to a quant school (Chicago, Duke, etc.) then you need to take that bull by the horns.

On the other hand, if you're talking about going into something less quantitative, have good quant scores in other areas, and aren't applying to a "pointy head school" then you're probably fine.

In general, and this gets to my philosophy of applications, you need to think through how your GMAT scores fit into your story. Do they enhance or detract (or are they neutral) in terms of the case you are making for getting into somebody's program?


Finally, you got a great score. Well done. There may be some thinking to be done on the quant side but don't forget to pat yourself on the back and recognize how very much you have helped yourself.

Stay in touch and let me know if you have other thoughts / questions--

Paxton



47Q (79%) and 38V (83%)

Should I include the percentages in my apps? They will change over time, and I feel like they are very skewed right now. 79% for a 47 in quant? That percentage sounds so ugly - like I got a C!

The schools will get my official scores in a few weeks - is it possible that those will have different percentages?