How Long Does It Take To Get GMAT Scores Back?

Aaron • Last updated on January 2, 2023

Since a GMAT score report could be your key to an MBA program, you need to make sure that its release will match your target school’s admission schedule. How do you make sure that it will be released in time? Well, you need to know how long it will take to get GMAT score results in order for you to pick a strategic date for your exams.

Hence, in this article, we will find out how long you need to wait to get your unofficial and official GMAT score report. We will also find out how immediate your GMAT score results could be accessed by your selected b-schools.

How Long Does it Take to Get GMAT Scores?

You get five scores for your GMAT. You will receive a score for individual sections, and a total score that is based on your Verbal and Quant Section Scores. You will also be informed of your percentile ranking, which is an indicator of how well you performed in comparison with the other test-takers’ results for the past three years.

You could get all of these in the official GMAT score report that shall be issued after 20 calendar days. However, you get unofficial results on three sections, plus the total score as soon as you finish your exams.

How Long Does it Take to Get Unofficial GMAT Scores?

Twenty days may be enough time to release the GMAT score, but for an anxious test taker, these days could be quite long. Of course, you want to have an idea of how well you fared with the examination. This is provided to you by the unofficial GMAT score result.

Right after completing the GMAT, you get an overview of the unofficial results. Your computer screen will display this result that includes your unofficial verbal, quant, IR, and unofficial total score.

The unofficial GMAT Score report has a new look, which includes security verbiage for the admissions committee of B-schools which reminds the school professionals to use the GMAT official score reports to validate the data in the unofficial document.

If you accept the results, you could leave the testing center with a print copy of your unofficial GMAT score report. Although this particular document may not be used for your admissions application, your unofficial GMAT score could help you make important decisions. For instance, do you have potentially competitive enough results to make it to your target program? Should you cancel or do you need to retake the exam?

You could find a sample unofficial GMAT score result (1) at MBA.com. A portion of this is featured in the image below.

Another thing you need to remember is that you will need the authentication code provided in your unofficial GMAT score report to access your official score report online. Since this code will not be sent to you again, you better keep your unofficial score report.

Canceling your GMAT Score Results

Right after the exams, you could opt to accept or cancel your GMAT score results. You could do it for free at the testing center after your exam or you could do it for a fee within 72 hours after the scheduled start of your GMAT.

You will only have two minutes to decide whether to accept or cancel your GMAT score result based on your unofficial verbal, quant, IR, and total score.

You might be curious, how close is your unofficial GMAT score could be to your official result? It is not very usual to have different official and unofficial GMAT score results. If ever there would be any difference, it might only be a few points.

These changes in the GMAT score result could be due to the double-checking of the difficulty level of the questions you have answered. You might want to remember that in GMAT, you are scored not only based on the number of questions that you have answered correctly but also based on the level of difficulty.

Hence, we could say that your unofficial result is a pretty clear snapshot of how well you have done.

If you don’t make a decision after two minutes, your GMAT scores will be canceled automatically. It would therefore be ideal to set a clear target of your desired GMAT score results. This way, you could make the best decision within the two-minute period.

How Long Does it Take to Get Official GMAT Scores?

You could expect to access your official GMAT score report after 20 calendar days. You would receive an email from Pearson VUE, which would notify you once the scores are reportable. This could be downloaded or printed.

This official GMAT score report will include your score for each of the four sections, along with your overall score. This is also going to include your official percentile rankings. This document will also show all your GMAT scores for the past five years.

You could see a sample official GMAT score report (2) at MBA.com. A portion of a sample official GMAT score result is featured in the image below.

This is the only time you would see your score for Analytical Writing Assessment, which is rated by an automated scoring engine and human reviewer.

Your percentile ranking reflects your GMAT score’s standing in comparison with other test-takers’ scores for the past three years. Hence, it will be updated every year.

How long does it take for GMAT scores to reach schools?

Just like you, schools could have your GMAT score report in 20 calendar days after your GMAT. It depends, however, if you have included the school in your five selected programs during the test day. Your GMAT exam fee includes the sending of your GMAT score result to the five schools that you have selected before you take the exam.

You may opt to send your GMAT score result to more than five schools. An additional fee of $28 per school would apply, however. Further, you could only do this after you receive the official GMAT score result. Then, additional score reports could be released in about five business days after your request.

Hence, picking your five schools during the test day may not necessarily be based on your order of preference. You might want to prioritize their admission deadlines to make sure that the results would be submitted to your selected schools within their set admission schedules.

In Summary

How long does it take to get GMAT scores? You can have a snapshot of your performance through the unofficial GMAT score report right after you complete the exam. However, this would only display your unofficial results for verbal, quant, IR, and total score. This GMAT score report may not be used in admissions applications but could be useful to help you decide whether to cancel the score or retake the examination.

If you are waiting for the official results for submission to the school you are applying for, you need to bear in mind that it would take about 20 calendar days. Since this is what the schools would require, you need to make sure that you schedule your GMAT in consideration of this 20 day waiting period,

Further, if you have a very specific target GMAT score in mind, you might also need to take into consideration that you could only retake the GMAT once every 16-day period (for a maximum of five times in one year.) Hence, planning when to take your GMAT is just as important as preparing well for the actual exam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Your previously canceled GMAT scores could be reinstated within 5 to 20 days after you made the request for reinstatement but could be made available within 5-7 days. Hence, you need to carefully plan and set your target GMAT score in order for you to make the best decision within the 2-minute period when you will be asked whether to accept or cancel the score. Your 2 minutes start right after the unofficial score is released.