750 is the threshold for the 99th percentile and the GMAT does not award that distinction to specialists (people who do extraordinarily well on only one section of the exam). At that level, you need to excel in both sections. So, although last week we discussed how the verbal section can pick up the slack from a weaker quant performance, if your sights are set on 750+, you need to be in top form in both areas.

Your overall score out of 800 results from your performances in quant and verbal, each of which is first scored independently on a scale of 0-60. These subscores are then combined to yield your overall score according to formulae to which only ETS (the organization that administers the GMAT) is privy. Each subscore (verbal and quant) receives a percentile ranking as well. This indicates the percentage of test-takers who scored below your level over the past few years. So, for example, if you receive a verbal subscore of 40, you are in the 90th percentile, which means that 90% ...more