GMAT to IQ converter

The Focus Edition replaced the Classic GMAT (200 to 800), and GMAC publishes a concordance table for translating between them. A few anchor points from that table show the pattern: a Focus 555 is roughly a Classic 580 to 590, a Focus 605 is about a Classic 650, a Focus 655 is about a Classic 700 to 710, and a Focus 705 is about a Classic 750.

To use this converter with a Classic score, find its equivalent in GMAC's current concordance table and enter that Focus score. The two scales are not the same, and a Classic 700 does not equal a Focus 700. Do not enter a Classic score directly.

The GMAT measures quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning (critical reasoning and reading) and data interpretation, with no essay in the Focus Edition. Quant is school-level arithmetic and algebra, and geometry was dropped in the Focus Edition. Verbal leans on reading comprehension and argument analysis, and Data Insights on interpreting tables, graphs and multi-part problems.

Test-takers are MBA and business-master's applicants, most of them working adults with a bachelor's degree and a majority from outside the US. Many are writing in their second language. That combination of a selected group and a high share of non-native English speakers makes it harder than usual to compare scores across people.

We found no peer-reviewed study of individual-level GMAT and IQ correlation. A country-level paper links average GMAT scores to national IQ estimates, but that does not tell us how closely one person's score tracks their own IQ. The converter assumes a correlation of .60, and says so.

The Focus scale does not spread scores evenly. From 555 (near the median) to 655 is about 43 percentile points, but from 655 to 745 is only about 9. A 745 beats 99.7% of test-takers.

That is why the percentile table matters more than the mean and SD for this test. Using the mean and SD alone puts a 655 about 1.1 SDs above average, but the percentile table says it is about 1.3. This converter uses the published table, so the estimates reflect the real shape of the distribution.

Business schools use the GMAT alongside work experience, essays and interviews. They do not care about an IQ figure, and the estimate here is for curiosity. If you want a practical reading, look at the percentile: a 655 places you at about the 90th percentile of recent test-takers, which is what an admissions team would see.

The estimated IQ tells you something different: how a score like that tends to relate to reasoning ability in the general population once you allow for the fact that test-takers are already a capable group. That is why the estimated IQ for a 655 is a good deal lower than the percentile might suggest to someone reading it as a general-population rank.