How Long Does it Take to Get Your GMAT Score?

Receiving Your GMAT Scores and Sending Them to Your Chosen Schools

How long does it take to get your GMAT scores? How do you send them to the universities you’re applying to? Find out what you need to know so your business school application can go smoothly.

A great GMAT score is crucial if you want to increase the likelihood that you’ll get into the grad school or business school you want. But of course, it’s not enough to do well. You still have to get your GMAT scores and send them to the business schools you’re applying to. How else will they know you did well in the GMAT?

You’ll have to do this the right way and keep in mind that these schools have deadlines for admissions as well. You can’t just tell them your GMAT scores and expect them to take your word for it. You have to do things the right way.

Your GMAT Scores

The GMAT consists of 4 scored sections:

• Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). Scores range from 0.0 to 6.0, in half-point increments
• Integrated Reasoning (IR). The possible scores range from 1 to 8, in 1-point increments.
• The scores range from 0 to 60. However, in practical terms, the scores actually range from 6 to 51 points. That’s because it’s extremely rare for anyone to get less than 60 or to get more than 51 points.
• The same rules for Quantitative scores apply for the Verbal.

Your Unofficial Scores

When you use a computer in the testing center to take the GMAT, that same computer screen will also show you your unofficial scores at the end of the exam. These scores include the scores for the IR, Quant, and Verbal. Your unofficial scores will also give you your percentile ranking for each section.

You don’t get the AWA scores yet because the AWA scores are obtained through a machine algorithm and approved human raters.

Also, you get the combined scores for Quant and Verbal, though your raw scores are converted into a point range from 200 to 800 points. You also get your percentile ranking for this score. The Quant and Verbal sections are treated this way because most grad schools focus more on your performance on these 2 sections rather than on the other sections.

The Option to Cancel

Your scores are still considered unofficial because you still have to option to cancel these scores. Once you see your scores, you can keep them or not, depending on whether you’re satisfied with your GMAT performance.

If you keep your scores, the scores will then be sent to the schools you’ve chosen to receive them (which you’ve indicated during the GMAT registration process). But if you cancel the scores, it will be like they never existed. Only you will know these scores and the schools won’t receive your unsatisfactory scores.

So, how do you know if you did well? You can set your own standards, of course. Also, schools have their own GMAT standards. Some schools can really set the bar high, with their accepted grad school applicants boasting of extremely high GMAT scores.

To give you an idea of whether you did really well or were just average, here are some GMAT stats to consider:

• The average score for the Quant is usually at 39 points.
• For the Verbal, the average is 27 points.
• The composite total score average is about 552 points. About ⅔of all GMAT test-takers score within the range of 400 to 600 points.

If you cancel your scores, that doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind later on. The same goes if you decide to keep your scores since you can still cancel your scores later.

• If you decided to keep the scores and then changed your mind, you can still cancel within 72 hours of taking the exam. However, you will need to pay a fee of $25.
• If you decided to cancel your scores after seeing your unofficial scores, and then changed your mind, you can still reinstate your GMAT scores. This will require a fee of $50.
• If you cancel your GMAT scores, you will also have to wait another 16 days to retake the GMAT. This may delay your application process for business school, and it may make you miss application deadlines.

Receiving Your Official Scores

You will receive your official GMAT scores after your AWA section has been properly checked and scored. Pearson VUE, which helps GMAC in administering the GMAT, will send you an email to notify you. You’ll get this email within 20 days after taking the GMAT.

The mail will give you a special link to click so you can see your scores. The scores will most likely be the same as the unofficial scores, but this time you also get your AWA scores.

If you think that your AWA score is inaccurate in any way, you can use the Essay Rescore Request Form to ask that your essay should be re-scored. Just keep in mind that this will cause another delay.

If you are planning to retake GMAT, check our top GMAT Prep picks here.

How Your Chosen Schools Get Your Official GMAT Scores?

Your original GMAT registration fee already covers the expenses of having your scores sent to the schools you indicated. During the registration, you can select up to 5 schools that can receive your GMAT scores. The schools will then receive your GMAT scores at about the same time you get them. That is, they’ll receive the scores within 20 days of taking the GMAT.

You also have the option of sending your GMAT scores to other schools at a later date. But to do this, you first have to wait 20 days and get your official GMAT scores. Then these additional schools will get your GMAT scores, 5 days after you receive your official GMAT scores. You’ll also have to pay $28 for each additional school that receives your GMAT scores.

Conclusion

You have to know the deadlines for submission when it comes to the business schools you’re applying to. This way, you can make sure that all these schools get your official GMAT scores within the deadline. If you forget this, then you may fail to get into the business school of your choice—simply because you weren’t able to send your GMAT scores on time!