Wondering what the relationship between GMAT scores and the top MBA programs in America are? We’re here to show you what the average GMAT scores are for the entire test taking pool, along with scores for the top 50 U.S. based programs. You can use this blog to help set your score goals and smartly jumpstart your GMAT prep.
Table of Contents
- Average GMAT Scores, New Edition
- Average GMAT Scores for the Top 50 MBA Programs
- Percentile Rankings
- Takeaway
Average GMAT Scores, New Edition
The current average total GMAT score for the new, shorter exam is 546.01.
We can also break the mean scores down by section:
| Section | Mean Score |
| Verbal | 78.99 |
| Quantitative | 77.71 |
| Data Insights | 74.41 |
| Total Score | 546.01 |
Sample Size: 866,640
Data Period: 2017-2022
Average GMAT Scores for the Top 50 MBA Programs
You need a top score to stand out at a top business school. At the top 20 business schools in America, you generally need a score of at least 665 to be competitive. Still, even in these top programs, some applicants are accepted with scores lower than 645. And a school’s own stated GMAT score preferences can change from year to year. At schools ranked from 30-50 scores tend to range from the high 500s to the low 600s, albeit with outliers on both sides.
| Stanford GSB | ||||
| UPenn (Wharton) | ||||
| Northwestern (Kellogg) | ||||
| University of Chicago (Booth) | ||||
| MIT (Sloan) | ||||
| Harvard | ||||
| NYU (Stern) | ||||
| UC Berkeley (Haas) | ||||
| Yale | ||||
| Dartmouth (Tuck) | ||||
| University of Virginia (Darden) | ||||
| Columbia University | ||||
| Duke (Fuqua) | ||||
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (Ross) | ||||
| Cornell (Johnson) | ||||
| Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | ||||
| UT-Texas – Austin (McCombs) | ||||
| Emory (Goizueta) | ||||
| University of Southern California (Marshall) | ||||
| Indiana University (Kelley) | ||||
| UCLA (Anderson) | ||||
| UNC (Kenan-Flager) | ||||
| Vanderbilt (Owen) | ||||
| Georgetown (McDonough) | ||||
| Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) | ||||
| Washington University (Olin) | ||||
| University of Georgia (Terry) | ||||
| University of Washington (Foster) | ||||
| Rice University (Jones) | ||||
| Ohio State University (Fisher) | ||||
| University of Notre Dame (Mendoza) | ||||
| Arizona State (W.P. Carey) | ||||
| University of Rochester (Simon) | ||||
| Southern Methodist University (Cox) | ||||
| University of Minnesota (Carlson) | ||||
| University of Florida (Warrington) | ||||
| BYU (Marriott) | ||||
| University of Texas at Dallas (Jindal) | ||||
| University of Utah (Eccles) | ||||
| William and Mary (Mason) | ||||
| Michigan State (Broad) | ||||
| University of Maryland (Smith) | ||||
| University of Wisconsin | ||||
| TCU (Neely) | ||||
| UC Irvine (Merage) | ||||
| Boston College (Carroll) | ||||
| Texas A&M (Mays) | ||||
| University of Tennessee (Haslam) | ||||
| Boston University (Questrom) | ||||
| Iowa State (Ivy) | ||||
| University of Arizona (Eller) |
Percentile Rankings
According to GMAC, the folks who create the GMAT, the GMAT score percentiles reveal the link between GMAT score and percentile rank of everyone who takes the GMAT. Percentile rankings help you see how your test performance fares against all other test takers in a certain window. Schools will sometimes publish percentiles, rather than scores, as their benchmarks for acceptance. Looking at percentiles as well as section and overall score can help you set smarter goals.
Takeaway
What does this mean for you and your scores? Check out how GMAT percentiles work. If you’re not sure about your score, check out Magoosh’s GMAT score calculator first, then check out what this means for percentiles! Consider a Magoosh Premium Plan to help you meet your score goals to get into a top MBA program.
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