2024’s High & Low GMAT Scores At The World’s Leading MBA Programs by: Marc Ethier on January 28, 2025 | 1,775 Views January 28, 2025 Copy Link Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp Share on Reddit Last fall, someone got into Stanford Graduate School of Business ā the most selective business school in the world ā with a 560 score on the Graduate Management Admission Test. Another applicant got into the MBA program at Chicago Booth School of Business, another highly exclusive M7 business school, with a 590. Perhaps most impressive of all was the student who got into Harvard Business School with a 540, a score lower than the mean of all the world’s test takers of the 10th Edition of the GMAT ā scores which are still valid even as students have been exclusively taking the new version of the test, the GMAT Focus, since the start of 2024. BIGGEST GMAT AVERAGE INCREASES AT TOP U.S. B-SCHOOLS 2019-2024 2025 P&Q Rank School Average GMAT 2024 Average GMAT 2019 Trend 30 Vanderbilt Owen 703 680 +23 34 Indiana Kelley 683 666 +17 24 Notre Dame Mendoza 680 665 +15 22 USC Marshall 722 708 +14 10 Duke Fuqua 718 705 +13 11 NYU Stern 733 721 +12 Source: Business schools GMAT SCORES STILL ON THE RISE IN 2024 The GMAT Focus may be the version of the test everyone now takes, but those scores are not yet fully making their way into the averages of most top U.S. schools. We know this because Focus scores trend lower, yet by and large, the scores at top schools in the U.S. and Europe keep pushing ever higher. Of 30 leading U.S. B-schools analyzed by Poets&Quants, nearly half, 14 schools, saw year-to-year GMAT average gains from 2023 to 2024, and four more were even year to year. Five other schools of those 30 report only medians, so only seven of 30 schools saw measurable declines in GMAT average. No top-10 school saw a decline from 2023 to 2024. (See the bottom of the page for the complete list of schools and their scores for the past five years.) Only one school ā Florida Warrington College of Business, No. 43 in our 2025 ranking of U.S. MBA programs ā saw a decline in the four years between 2020 and 2024. Twenty-three others saw their average rise. Medians and unavailability of data account for the others. In the five years since 2019, 19 schools are up, four are down, and two are even. Similarly, between 2020 and 2023, the number of schools that reported a rise in class GMAT average was 22; in 2022, looking at the previous three years, 24 schools reported improvement. BIGGEST GMAT AVERAGE DECLINES AT TOP U.S. B-SCHOOLS 2019-2024 2025 P&Q Rank School Average GMAT 2024 Average GMAT 2019 Trend 26 Rice Jones 694 710 -16 43 Florida Warrington 650 659 -9 14 UCLA Anderson 714 719 -5 3 Chicago Booth 729 730 -1 Source: Business schools WHARTON JOINS RANKS OF SCHOOLS WITH 730 OR GREATER GMAT AVERAGE The highest class average GMAT score in 2024 was at Stanford ā as usual. The GSB reports a class average of 738, which is 5 points higher than the next closest schools, Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and NYU Stern School of Business. The 738 matches Stanfordās school record set in 2023 and 2021. The GSB has had sole ownership of the top GMAT score among U.S. MBA programs every year since 2019; in 2018 it shared the top score with three fellow M7 schools. Five schools notched class averages of 730 or above in 2024, up from four schools in 2023. The newcomer was Wharton, which boosted its class average by 4 points to 732 from 728. Altogether there were 17 schools at an average of 700 or more in 2024, up from 16 the previous year, with UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School the latest to join the club, up from 696 to 707. All schools that report median scores are at 710 or greater. The average rate of growth year to year at the 14 schools that saw increases in their class score was 4.7 points. The biggest jump was 16 points at No. 30 Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, to 703 from 687, and the biggest decline was 8 points at No. 15 Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, to 697 from 705. REPORTED 2024 GMAT RANGES P&Q 2025 Rank School GMAT Range 2023 GMAT 80% Range 2023 GMAT Average 2023 1 Northwestern Kellogg 640-780 620-780 – – 733 731 2 Stanford 560-790 630-790 – – 738 738 3 Chicago Booth 590-780 600-780 – – 729 728 4 Harvard 540-790 500-790 700-770 – 740* 740* 5 Virginia Darden NA NA 680-760 680-750 718 716 6 Dartmouth Tuck 650-780 630-800 – – 727 726 7 Columbia 600-780 610-790 – 700-760 732 730 8 Yale SOM NA NA 700-760 680-760 730* 720* 9 Cornell Johnson 660-740 NA – – 710* 710* 10 Duke Fuqua NA NA 660-760 670-760 718 716 11 NYU Stern 650-780 650-780 690-760 700-760 733 732 13 MIT Sloan NA NA 690-760 700-760 730* 730* 14 UCLA Anderson NA NA 670-750 640-760 714 710 15 CMU Tepper NA NA 640-740 650-750 697 705 16 Texas McCombs NA NA 650-740 670-740 704 704 17 UC-Berkeley Haas NA NA 690-750 680-770 730* 740* 18 UNC Kenan-Flagler NA NA 680-730 NA 707 696 19 Washington Foster 620-770 NA 665-730 660-740 700 702 19 Georgia Tech Scheller NA NA NA 640-722 NA 694 21 Washington Olin 550-780 NA – – 706 696 22 USC Marshall NA NA NA 681-760 722 722 24 Notre Dame Mendoza 560-760 NA NA 610-740 680 687 25 Georgetown McDonough 600-760 NA 640-730 630-743 696 695 26 Rice Jones** NA NA 680-728 NA 694 695 29 Michigan Ross NA NA 690-760 670-760 728 719 30 Vanderbilt Owen NA NA 680-730 640-730 703 687 *Median **Rice Jones publishes a 50% range of scores Source: Business schools SEPARATE SCORES In this era when scores from the old GMAT, known as the GMAT 10th Edition, are still valid (as they will be until 2028), some schools are choosing to report Focus scores separately. Among them are Yale School of Management, which reports a 675 median Focus score and a 730 median 10th Edition score, and UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business, which goes a step further, reporting a 660 median Focus score and 730 median 10th Edition score, as well as a middle 80% range of scores for the Focus test of 615-675 and a middle 80% range of 690-750. One other U.S. B-school among the 30 in P&Qās ranking analyzed for this story reports both scores: Washington Foster School of Business. The Foster School is the only school to report two averages: 675 for the Focus, and 700 for the 10th Edition. Foster also reports a middle 80% range of 595-755 for the Focus and 620-770 for the older test. Some schools exclude the Focus scores from their averages altogether ā more, perhaps, than the few that declare so. UNC Kenan-Flagler āDoes not include Focus scores in its GMAT average,ā the school announces in its MBA class profile. Indiana Kelley School of Business uses an asterisk to note: “GMAT scores reported for the Class of 2026 were earned on the previous version of the exam, not the Focus Edition,ā before adding that the Class of 2026 averaged 683 on the test and 48% of the class scored 700 or higher. OUTSIDE THE U.S.: GENERALLY LOWER SCORES THAN THEIR U.S. COUNTERPARTSĀ Outside the U.S., top B-schools in Europe and elsewhere do not always provide specifics on their MBA classesā GMAT scores, preferring instead to proffer ranges that applicants should aim for. At London Business School, for example: āYou must ensure that your GMAT / GMAT Focus / GRE score is valid by the application deadline of the Round you apply in. Our average GMAT score for the MBA class is around 700, with a typical class range of 600 to 800. āWe will look at all elements of your score and although a good score is preferable, the GMAT is just one of several admissions criteria. Just as a high score does not guarantee admission, a below average score does not always eliminate a candidate. You should however note that the minimum score we will accept is usually around 600. ā¦ āOur GMAT Focus score expectations will be in line with the equivalent scores in the previous GMAT. You should aim for 645, but we are likely to require at least 555 and above.ā INSEAD, based in France, recommends a 60th percentile on the Verbal component of the Focus edition of the GMAT, and a 66th percentile on the Quantitative and Data Insights components. For the 10th Edition, the school recommends a score at or above the 70th percentile in both the quantitative and verbal sections. For the Integrated Reasoning section, āwe recommend achieving a score of 6 or above.ā IE Business School, which reports a GMAT average of 680 in its most recent MBA class, has its own entrance exam, called the IE Global Admissions Test. It is a 1 1/2- to 2-hour online test available in English and Spanish that tests numerical, verbal, and logical reasoning. The IEGAT āaims to identify the most suitable candidates for our programs by assessing various skill sets. Our Admissions Process adopts a holistic approach in evaluating each application to ensure we bring the most talented individuals into our diverse classrooms. Depending on your chosen program, you may take our IE Global Admissions Test (ieGAT) or submit scores from the GMAT, GRE, CFA or CAIA.ā The latest GMAT class scores at the top global B-schools, where available, show scores generally lower than in the U.S. and holding steady or climbing slowly: London Business School: 702 average (up from 700 in 2023), 710 median, range 600-770 ā¦ last year 700 HEC Paris: 690 average, unchanged from 2023 IESE: 652 average in 2023 CEIBS: 680 average, 615 median GMAT Focus; Class profile data is based on the average of MBA 2024, MBA 2025 and MBA 2026 cohorts as of August 2024 Oxford SaĆÆd: 680 median, unchanged from 2023 Cambridge Judge: 697 average (up from 682 in 2023) SDA Bocconi: 665 average in 2023 Toronto Rotman: 675 average (up from 672) Western Ivey: 665 average, 670 median, range 540-740 Alliance Manchester: 650 average IMD: 680 average, unchanged from 2023 IIM Bangalore: 689 average, range 630-780 IIM Ahmedabad: 697 average, 690 median TOP U.S. B-SCHOOLSā GMAT SCORES & TRENDS 2019-2024 2025 P&Q Rank School Average GMAT 2024 (10th Edition) 2023 Trend 2022 2021 2020 4-Year Trend 2019 5-Year Trend 1 Northwestern Kellogg 733 731 +2 729 727 727 +6 730 +3 2 Stanford GSB 738 738 Even 737 738 733 +5 734 +4 3 Chicago Booth 729 728 +1 729 732 724 +5 730 -1 4 Harvard Business School 740* 740* Even* 730* 730* 730* +10* 730* +10* 5 Virginia Darden 718 716 +2 720 715 703 +15 713 +5 6 Dartmouth Tuck 727 726 +1 726 724 720 +7 723 +4 7 Columbia Business School 732 730 +2 729 729 726 +6 727 +5 8 Yale SOM 730* 720* +10* 725* 726 720 NA 721 NA 9 Cornell Johnson 710* 710* Even* 710* 710* 700* +10* 697 NA 10 Duke Fuqua 718 716 +2 718 713 702 +16 705 +13 11 NYU Stern 733 732 +1 733 729 723 +10 721 +12 12 Penn Wharton 732 728 +4 733 733 722 +10 732 Even 13 MIT Sloan 730* 730* Even* 730* 730* 725* +5* 727 NA 14 UCLA Anderson 714 710 +4 711 714 706 +8 719 -5 15 Carnegie Mellon Tepper 697 705 -8 702 691 680 +17 687 +10 16 Texas-Austin McCombs 704 704 Even 706 708 704 Even 704 Even 17 UC-Berkeley Haas 730* 740* +10* 729 726 727 NA 725 NA 18 UNC Kenan-Flagler 707 696 +11 706 696 694 +13 697 +10 19 Georgia Tech Scheller 689 694 -5 690 682 680 +9 681 +8 19 Washington Foster 700 702 -2 703 704 692 +8 695 +5 21 Washington Olin 706 696 +10 670 686 687 +19 695 +11 22 USC Marshall 722 722 Even 732 716 707 +15 708 +14 23 Emory Goizueta 705 709 -4 700 692 683 +12 684 +11 24 Notre Dame Mendoza 680 687 -7 670 670 656 +24 665 +15 25 Georgetown McDonough 696 695 +1 697 705 691 +5 694 +2 26 Rice Jones 694 695 -1 702 705 689 +5 710 -16 29 Michigan Ross 728 719 +9 720 722 710 +18 719 +9 30 Vanderbilt Owen 703 687 +16 690 690 676 +27 680 +23 34 Indiana Kelley 683 685 -2 685 679 652 +31 666 +17 43 Florida Warrington 650 650 Even 648 656 667 -17 659 -9 Source: Business schools DON’T MISS HIGH & LOW GMAT SCORES AT THE WORLD’S LEADING MBA PROGRAMS (2023) and OMBA RANKING 2025: GMAT, GRE, GPA & MORE DATA FROM TOP ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS