GMAT Score Standards on the Rise
Recently, we interviewed a potential instructor who said that he had gotten a 99th percentile score a number of years ago, but that his total score was a 730.
This did not seem correct. As many people know, the current score threshold for a 99th percentile score on the GMAT is a 760 or higher (out of 800). This is a change from just last year, as even the most recent edition of the Official Guide indicates that 750 is a 99th percentile score. But a 730?
So we examined a copy of this gentleman’s score report with great interest. His score was reported as follows:
October, 1998
Quant Raw Score – 49
Quant Percentile – 97%
Verbal Raw Score – 41
Verbal Percentile – 94%
Raw Score Total – 730
Total Percentile – 99%
It turns out that he was correct – a 730 WAS indeed a 99th percentile score in 1998 (when GMAC first went to the computerized adaptive test format).
It is worth noting that this person’s raw scores NOW would translate to:
Quant Percentile – 90%
Verbal Percentile – 93%
In other words, over the past 9 years, it has become MUCH harder to be at the top percentile in the Math, and slightly harder to be at the top percentiles in the Verbal. His scores now would not place him near the 99th percentile overall.
This just goes to show that it’s gotten, and continues to get, increasingly difficult to get a distinguishing score as competition heats up and preparation levels rise.
(on a side note – we did not hire this particular instructor candidate)