Should you worry about a low GMAT Quant score or percentile?

Though just a third of the test, the GMAT quant section gets star treatment. Why? From a practical perspective, it does have the most weight in terms of admissions: a very low quant score is a question mark and an insanely great one can provide some tail wind. That’s not necessarily true of Verbal or Data Insights.

That said, this effect is relatively small and pales in comparison to your composite (total) score.

So what is the cut-off on the quant?

I think there is a bit of a sliding scale. Meaning, if you have a 99th% total score (715+), the quant score will matter less. If you are squeaking by (relatively speaking) for M7 admissions with a 645 and the quant is looking a little sad then that may weigh on your application.

On the previous version of the GMAT, a 45q was considered something of a dividing line so I would stick with that as a benchmark. A 45 on the old test translates to a 78 on the new one. With that in mind I would say 78+ is generally fine and 80+ is definitely enough.

Are you doomed with a 77?

No. You can still get into HBS with a 77:) The composite score matters much more. Also, there are other ways to show quantitative aptitude.

Of course, as your quant score dips so does the composite. And at a 77 it starts to get challenging to hit the 675+ that you probably want.

If you would like a more detailed understanding of the topic, here is a deep dive into GMAT quant percentiles and how they have changed over the years.

Good luck and happy studies!