GMAT score range, section scores, and percentiles explained
Read the total score as evidence, not a fixed admission guarantee.
The GMAT reports a Total Score derived from performance across all three sections, plus individual section scores. GMAC's current total scale runs from 205 to 805 in ten-point increments.
Percentile is not the score
A percentile describes how a score compares with a reference population. It can move as GMAC updates the comparison data even though the scaled score remains the same. Use the current official percentile table when interpreting a result.
What counts as “good”
There is no universal passing mark. A useful target comes from each programme's published expectations, admitted-student profile, scholarship context, and the strength of the rest of an application. Schools control their own admission decisions.
Use a diagnostic properly
Record section accuracy, pacing, item type, and confidence. A total score alone cannot tell you whether the next gain should come from algebra, inference, argument evaluation, data sufficiency, or time management.
GMAC states score-validity and reporting policies on mba.com. Verify the current period and score-sending process before planning an application cycle.