Average GMAT Score by School – 2024
January 31, 2024
Going to business school is a competitive endeavor. Any business student worth their salt is going to want to optimize their GRE and GMAT test scores by figuring out the best program they can get into, given their results. But what do the numbers really look like for the best business school programs today? We’ve compiled a list of the top 25 business schools in 2023-2024 as ranked by U.S. News and World Report, and we’ve found the corresponding available data on their average and/or median GMAT scores for admitted, incoming students. It’s worth studying as much as you can to prepare yourself for the difficulty of the exam. Getting the highest score possible for you will open more doors—and you’ll be opening more acceptance letters (scroll down for average GMAT score by school).
How Does the GMAT Weigh Into Admissions?
The majority of schools will require you to submit either your GMAT or GRE score. The GMAT is the exam used for business school admissions, while the GRE can be used for many different kinds of graduate school admissions. If you’re applying to more than just business schools, you may want to focus on the GMAT.
It’s also worth considering how the GMAT might weigh into an admission officer’s decision-making. Let’s look at the top-ranked University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business by way of example.
Booth takes “a holistic approach that considers every component of your application.” They’re considering how you stack up in the following three areas:
- Curriculum
- Evidence of academic preparedness, intellectual curiosity, and communication skills as demonstrated via your GPA, GMAT, GRE, and English as a Foreign Language test scores (if applicable); academic recognition; merit-based scholarships; and more.
- Community
- Chicago Booth seeks students whose experiences will help to create a “strong, congenial community,” such as leadership, collaboration, teamwork, mutual respect, philanthropic tendencies, and what they call “a unique perspective,” among other things.
- Career
- Chicago Booth is looking at your letters of recommendation, resume, professional recognition, and communication skills in your interview in order to assess your potential for future success.
Average GMAT Score by School (Continued)
As you can see, the GMAT fits into the larger holistic puzzle for admissions at Chicago, but this is also true at any school where you apply. In its admissions FAQ, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, for example, grants more space the question of previous work experience between your undergraduate experience and MBA than the GMAT. Although previous work experience is not necessary, “the admissions committee does seek individuals who will come to the program with diverse experiences and professional maturity.”
Here, again, we can see evidence of attention to the holistic nature of admissions, of which the GMAT makes up a part.
Depending on the school, some estimate that the GMAT accounts for anywhere from 15 to 25 percent of your admissions profile, which makes it incredibly important, but also means it does not outweigh any of the other criteria within your application.
Dedicate the same time and attention to the GMAT as you do the other aspects of your professional and academic profile, and you’ll be setting yourself up for success.
What Makes the GMAT Difficult?
Like many types of standardized entrance exams, the GMAT is tricky in that it taxes your problem-solving and critical thinking skills, but in ways that are somewhat idiosyncratic to the test itself. So, you might be a really adept thinker, but getting yourself prepared by practicing the types of questions available on the GMAT will increase your chances of getting a higher score.
The sections of the GMAT include:
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Verbal Reasoning
- Integrated Reasoning
- Analytical Writing Assessment
Part of the puzzle of doing well on the test is understanding the nature of the test itself. Being aware of your own individual strengths and weaknesses and studying and practicing across these sections is essential.
If you’re a high schooler already thinking about pursuing your MBA, you might consider these top MBA feeder universities that will equip you with the skills to ace the GMAT.
Average GMAT Scores
We’ve taken the top 25 business schools as ranked by U.S. News and World Report and compiled their most recently available GMAT data from each school’s admissions profile. The number breakdown is going to be fairly intuitive: the more highly ranked schools do tend to have higher GMAT averages and splits.
Mind the fact that this information is based on the available data from the twenty-five schools. Some schools report their average GMAT scores, while others report a median. Some schools provide a full range of accepted scores, some list a middle 80 percent range, and some don’t list a range at all. Paying attention to these distinctions and how they apply to your own personal situation may be your first step at practicing your integrated reasoning skills for the test.
1) The University of Chicago Booth Full-Time MBA
Outside of the 64 percent of students who come from the United States, 17 percent come from Asia, 11 percent from Central/South America and Mexico, 3 percent from Africa, 3 percent Europe, 1 percent from Canada, and 1 percent from the Middle East.
- Average GMAT: 728
- Full Range: 600 – 780
- 66 percent of applicants applied with the GMAT instead of the GRE
2) Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
Kellogg’s 2025 class is 48 percent female and 13 percent first-generation students.
- Average GMAT: 731
- Full Range: 620 – 789
3) The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania
There are 70 countries represented at Wharton, whose 2025 class is 50 percent female.
- Average GMAT: 728
4) MIT Sloan School of Management
The 2025 class size is 409 students, 40 percent of which are international.
- Median GMAT: 730
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 700-760
5) Harvard Business School
Harvard breaks its data down by section, providing both a range and the median scores.
- Verbal Range: 25 –51
- Quantitative Range: 31 – 51
- Total Range: 500 – 790
- Median Verbal: 42
- Median Quantitative: 49
- Median Total: 740
69 percent of the Class of 2025 submitted GMAT scores and 34 percent submitted GRE scores, with some students submitting scores from both tests.
Average GMAT Score by School (Continued)
6) Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University
Interestingly, 31 percent of the 2025 Tuck class have partners; 5 percent have children.
- Average GMAT: 726
- Full Range: 630 – 800
7) Graduate School of Stanford Business
Stanford is highly competitive; out of 6,190 applicants, they took 431 new students in 2025.
- Average GMAT: 738
- Full Range: 630 – 790
8) Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Ten percent of the students at Ross identify as LGBTQIA2S+.
- Average GMAT: 719
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 670 – 760
9) Yale School of Management
48 percent of the students at Yale are students of color; 18 percent are underrepresented students of color.
- Median GMAT: 720
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 680 – 760
10) Stern School of Business, New York University
The 2025 class at NYU is made up of 13 percent LGBTQ+ students as well as 13 percent U.S active military or veteran students. Average GMAT: 732
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 700 – 760
- Full range: 650 – 780
Average GMAT Score by School (Continued)
11) Columbia School of Business
There are 900 students at Columbia, divided into 12 different clusters.
- Average GMAT: 730
- Full Range: 610 – 790
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 700 – 760
12) Duke Fuqua School of Business
Duke reported only one range for its most recent incoming class, that of 2025, which is 45 percent women.
Middle 80 Percent Range: 670 – 760
13) Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
The largest pre-MBA employment field for the 2025 Berkeley class is “Consulting,” from which 24 percent of students hail.
- Average GMAT: 733
- Median GMAT: 740
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 680 – 770
14) University of Virginia Darden School of Business
There are 67 languages spoken among the 2025 class at UVA.
- 716 average
- Median 710
- 680-750 middle 80
15) Cornell University SC Johnson School of Business
Cornell had the same median GMAT for the incoming classes of both 2024 and 2025.
- Median GMAT: 710
Average GMAT Score by School (Continued)
16) University of Southern California Marshall School of Business
The highest number of students, 19 percent, come from the financial services industry before coming to Marshall.
- Average GMAT: 722
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 681 – 760
17) Emory University Goizueta Business School
Emory has released only its average GMAT for the 2025 incoming class.
- Average GMAT: 709
18) Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business
Carnegie Mellon, in Pittsburgh, PA, has included its average, median, and middle 80 percent range of GMAT scores.
- Average GMAT: 705
- Median GMAT: 710
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 650 – 750
19) UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA’s students come from 41 different countries.
- Average GMAT: 710
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 640 – 760
20) University of Washington Foster School of Business
University of Washington’s class of 2025 is 53 percent students of color and 24 percent underrepresented students of color
- Median GMAT: 710
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 660 – 740
Average GMAT Score by School (Continued)
21) Indiana University Kelley School of Business
Students range between 23 and 47 years old in Kelley’s 2025 class.
- Average GMAT: 685
- Percentage with 700+: 45 percent
- Percentage with 600-699: 53 percent
- Percentage with 500-599: 3 percent
22) University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
53 percent of UNC’s 2025 class have a non-business background.
- Average GMAT: 696
23) Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
Students come with an average of five and a half years of work experience before entering Georgetown.
- Average GMAT: 695
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 630 – 743
24) Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business
The average undergrad GPA is 3.46 at Rice.
- Average GMAT: 702
- Middle 50 Percent Range: 680 – 730
25) Georgia Institute of Technology Tech Scheller College of Business
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 58 percent of students at Georgia Tech come to Scheller College after earning a STEM undergraduate degree.
- Average GMAT: 694
- Middle 80 Percent Range: 640 – 722
Average GMAT Score by School – Additional Resources
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