The New GMAT Superscore

GMAC recently announced their new superscore policy. They will look across all GMAT test dates and take your highest quant, highest verbal, and highest data insights across all exams and print them in big font, with what the composite score would have been if you got all of those on the same day.

The biggest question is how this might help you.

It certainly cannot hurt, but it does not change much. It does save admissions committees from doing the math that they were always doing. Our strategy has always been to submit multiple scores to reflect your best on each section, and when you did that, admissions committees would look across all to see your highest section scores to understand what you are capable of. I have confirmed with a few M7 admissions committees directly that they will continue to look at the superscore as they always did, even before it was printed on your score report.

Admissions committees look to test scores for two things: whether you are capable of performing in the classroom, and whether you bring up their class average, which helps them in various MBA program rankings.

The GMAT superscore does not really change much with either. They could already see that you are capable by looking across your exam dates. Your superscore will not change your impact on the class average, as the superscore is not an official score and cannot go into their reported class profiles.

The superscore is a nice reminder of your capabilities, but it should not have a major impact on your chances of admission. So please do not look at your superscore and think the work is done. Use it as motivation to keep retesting until you hit your best on all sections on the same day. The superscore is proof that you can.