You have already taken, or are planning on taking your Executive Assessment (EA), but you do not quite understand how your EA score will be calculated or assessed. Knowing how your exam will be evaluated and corrected can help you in dividing your time during your exam more efficiently and can also help in the way you plan to approach the exam. You most likely have quite the number of questions that you would like to get the answers to. Well, in this article, we will be breaking down the EA’s scoring method.
What will be discussed is the following;
- The EA exam
- The EA scores
- The EA score calculation
- The EA percentiles
- A list of some of the B-Schools accepting EA scores
1. Back to the Basics
Back in March 2016, the Executive Assessment was announced by GMAC, the creators of the official GMAT exam. The EA was designed to serve professionals who aim to enroll in Executive MBA programs. The test was built to be finished in only 90 minutes, and unlike the GMAT, requires little to no prepping.
The EA is an assessment to evaluate a candidate’s readiness. That means that the score received is not a tool used to compare all the applicants, rather it is used to see if the candidates are capable of handling the programs they applied for.
If you are a busy professional looking for a way to showcase your EMBA readiness to the admission officers without the stress of preparing for the GMAT, then the EA is just the exam for you.
The EA is divided into three different sections, which are, Integrated Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning.
Each of its sections aims to test different skills hidden in its takers. But to get the bigger picture, the whole exam is there to measure skills that are needed in a fulfilling career, as well as, in the Business Programs. These skills include critical thinking, the ability of deep analysis, problem solving, and higher order reasoning.
There are a total of 40 questions to finish in exactly 90 minutes, as mentioned prior in this article. For a more detailed distribution about that matter, take a look at this table below:
| Sections | Number of Questions | Timing |
| Integrated Reasoning | 12 | 30 minutes |
| Verbal Reasoning | 14 | 30 minutes |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 14 | 30 minutes |
2. EA Score
Starting with the picture as a whole, the Executive Assessment has a total score ranging from 100 to 200, with a minimum score of 126, and a maximum of 174, leaving a score of 150 as the midpoint score.
The three sections making up the EA exam all have equal distribution when it comes to their scoring. The three sections’ scores range on a scale of 0 to 20.
Something great about the EA is that there is no “passing” or “good” EA score, what matters is your score and all the other factors in your application that make the admission’s decision. But, of course, the higher your total EA score, the better – especially if you are considering a competitive EMBA program.
However, for most EMBA programs, their consideration of a “good’’ or “ideal” score would be one equal to 150 (the midpoint score) or above.
3. EA Score Calculation
Your total EA score is the summation of the scores you got on all three different sections, plus 120. Let’s suppose you scored 15 on each section, your score would be: 15 + 15 + 15 + 120 = 165. So, that is the scores of all the three different sections on your EA plus 120. If that was really the case, then you would have scored within the 98th percentile.
4. EA Percentiles
Speaking of percentiles, here is all you need to know when it comes to this subject. Percentiles are like rankings that identify where you stand in comparison to the other EA test takers. The higher your total score, the higher the percentile rate, and vice versa.
Taking the example from above, if you scored 165 in total, that means you are in the 98th percentile. That also means that you were from the rare 2% of all the test takers that scored that specific score and that 98% of the test takers scored lower than your score.
Here are the Officially published Executive Assessment Percentiles 2023:
-
- 0th Percentile: 126 (the lowest score)
- 10th Percentile: 141
- 23rd Percentile: 145
- 40th Percentile: 148
- 53rd Percentile: 150 (the midpoint score)
- 78th Percentile: 154
- 86th Percentile: 156
- 99th Percentile: 174 (the highest score)
5. A List of Some of the Schools Accepting EA Scoring
Schools in America:
Schools in Europe:
Schools in Asia:
Moral of the Story
To make a long story short, the EA is known to be the perfect exam for busy professionals that do not have the time needed for all the hassle that comes along with the GMAT prep journey. It is an identification of your readiness and your ability to handle the program you applied to.
If you are looking for professional help to boost your EA performance, head to our official website and book your 30 minutes complimentary assessment session now!
Contributor: Lilas AL-Sammak