GRE Scores & Submission Rates At The Top 50 U.S. MBA Programs

The Graduate Record Exam has been steadily gaining ground on the Graduate Management Admission Test for years. As Poets&Quants reports each year, it’s overtaking it at a growing number of U.S. MBA programs — and this year continues the trend, even in the wake of the launch of the revamped GMAT exam.

According to the latest available data, including the trove from the 2023-2024 admissions cycle published by U.S. News & World Report as part of its annual ranking, 17 of 54 MBA programs reported receiving more GRE than GMAT submissions in the most recent admissions cycle — a figure that has nearly doubled since 2022, when just nine programs crossed that threshold. Even more telling, nine of the top 10 U.S. business schools as ranked by P&Q saw an increase in GRE volume this year, continuing a quiet but consistent shift that’s been building over the last decade across graduate business education.

At the most selective B-schools, the test mix continues to tilt. Among the top 10 MBA programs, the GRE now accounts for 37.2% of submissions, U.S. News reports, up from 31.1% just two years ago. Over the same period, GMAT submissions have slipped from 55% to 50.8%.

GRE SCORES AT LEADING U.S. MBA PROGRAMS, 2021-2024

P&Q Rank	School	2024 Quant Average	2024 Verbal Average	2024 Total	2023 Total	2022 Total	2021 Total	4-Year Change
8	Yale SOM	166*	164*	330	330	329	330	None
11	New York (Stern)	164	164	328	326	325	324	+4
2	Stanford GSB	164	163	327	328	327	330	-3
4	Harvard Business School	163*	163*	326	326	326	326	None
1	Northwestern (Kellogg)	163*	162*	325	326	NA	327	-2
12	Pennsylvania (Wharton)	163	162	325	324	324	324	+1
22	Southern California (Marshall)	NA	NA	324	323	321	321	+3
3	Chicago (Booth)	163	161	323	325	NA	325	-2
17	UC-Berkeley (Haas)	162*	161*	323	323	324	323	None
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	161	161	322	322	NA	324	-2
29	Michigan (Ross)	162	159	321	322	320	320	+1
16	Texas-Austin (McCombs)	162	159	321	321	319	319	+2

*Median

Source: Business school class profile data

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GOING MAINSTREAM

That trend holds across the top 25 schools as well, where the average GMAT share has dropped nearly 12 points since 2022 — from 54.2% to 42.7% — while GRE share rose from 29.6% to 32.6%. The shift has been particularly pronounced at schools like UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where GRE submissions now make up 58% of the total — up 48 points since 2017 and five points from last year.

Berkeley is one of two schools with a GRE majority. The other is the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, where GRE submissions skyrocketed to 59% from just 6% a year earlier. That same school also saw the largest drop in GMAT submissions — falling from 72% to 41% — and reported the highest share of New GMAT submissions (25%), making it the only school in the sample where the new version of the test outpaced the legacy GMAT.

GRE volume has also grown among a broader range of schools. Thirty-one of 54 programs now report at least 25% of applicants submitting GRE scores, compared to just 23 in 2022. And while the number of schools reporting GRE majorities is just two this year, up from one last year and zero two years ago, the directional movement is consistent.

Meanwhile, the GMAT, long considered the gold standard for business school admissions, continues to decline in prominence at many programs. This year, 36 of 54 schools reported a drop in GMAT submission volume. Eleven of those saw double-digit declines, including Florida Warrington, which lost 31 percentage points year-over-year.

Still, the GMAT remains dominant at several schools. Ten schools reported GMAT usage above 50%, and William & Mary’s Mason School reported a full 100% of test submissions via the GMAT.

GRE SCORE RANGES AT THE TOP 10, 2023-2024

P&Q Rank 2025	School	2024 Quant Range (10th-90th Percentile)	2024 Verbal Range (10th-90th Percentile)	2024 Writing Range (10th-90th Percentile)	2023 Quant Range (10th-90th Percentile)	2023 Verbal Range (10th-90th Percentile)
1	Northwestern (Kellogg)	NA	NA	NA	146-170	148-170
2	Stanford GSB	NA	NA	NA	150-170*	149-170*
3	Chicago (Booth)	156-169	155-167	3.5-5.5	158-169	156-167
4	Harvard Business School	NA	NA	NA	145-170	150-170
5	Virginia (Darden)	155-168	155-166	4.4-5.0	154-168	154-166
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	154-167	156-166	4.0-5.5	154-167	154-166
7	Columbia Business School	155-169	156-167	4.0-5.5	154-168	154-167
8	Yale SOM	161-170	159-170	3.7-5.5	158-170	158-169
9	Cornell (Johnson)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
10	Duke (Fuqua)	151-167	152-166	3.5-5.0	152-167	151-166

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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AVAILABLE DATA ON ACTUAL GRE SCORES

From what is publicly available, we know that GRE scores at the top schools remain competitive. Among the leading B-schools that post GRE scores in their own class profiles, Yale School of Management reported the highest median GRE score for the incoming Class of 2026 — 330 — while New York University’s Stern School of Business had the top average overall score at 328. Stern and Stanford Graduate School of Business tied for the top average Quant score at 164; Stern also posted the highest average Verbal score (164). (See table above.)

U.S. News, meanwhile, began publishing only GRE ranges two years ago. Among those, Yale School of Management had the highest minimums in 2024: 161 in Quant and 159 in Verbal. (See pages 2-4 for complete tables of score ranges and submission rates of both the GRE and GMAT, as per U.S. News.)

At the other end of the spectrum, Michigan State Broad and Florida Warrington posted low-end Verbal scores of 145, and the Broad College and Minnesota Carlson School of Management shared the Quant low of 145.

Analytical Writing scores saw little movement. Among the 44 schools that reported writing data, 11 reached a high end of 5.5, but none reported a perfect 6.0 in 2024. Two schools did so in the previous cycle: Virginia Darden and Michigan Ross. Both reported high writing scores of 5.0 in the most recent intake.

GMAT VERSUS GRE AT THE U.S. TOP 10, 2023-2024

P&Q Rank 2025	School	% GMAT 2024*	% GMAT 2023	% GRE 2024	% GRE 2023
1	Northwestern (Kellogg)	67%	67%	30%	29%
2	Stanford GSB	57%	61%	42%	39%
3	Chicago (Booth)	57%	63%	37%	32%
4	Harvard Business School	63%	69%	41%	34%
5	Virginia (Darden)	32%	35%	38%	34%
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	51%	61%	46%	42%
7	Columbia Business School	50%	53%	35%	26%
8	Yale SOM	60%	62%	37%	37%
9	Cornell (Johnson)	39%	42%	22%	16%
10	Duke (Fuqua)	32%	34%	44%	37%

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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TEST POLICY SHIFTS & THE NEW GMAT

The GRE is not rising everywhere. Twenty schools reported a drop in GRE volume this year, including Georgia Tech (down from 30% to 14%), UCLA Anderson (32% to 21%), Carnegie Mellon Tepper (24% to 20%), and Texas-Austin McCombs (30% to 28%).

Still, those declines are outnumbered by 29 schools that posted gains — up from 23 last year and 21 in 2022. That includes four schools with double-digit increases, led by Berkeley, Yale, and NYU. The GMAT, for its part, made modest gains at 15 schools — up from eight last year — though in most cases the increases were marginal.

The revised GMAT, formerly known as GMAT Focus, is only now beginning to show up in any discernible way in the data. U.S. News this year began separating new GMAT scores, which tend to be lower, from “old GMAT” scores, which are still good through January 2029. Just four schools reported double-digit submission rates via the new format: Florida Warrington (25%), Texas A&M Mays (17%), Rutgers (16%), and BYU Marriott (11%). Across the board, most applicants continue to favor the established GRE or legacy GMAT formats.

Only five schools posted gains in both GMAT and GRE volume. Meanwhile, 12 schools saw declines in both tests; half of those were schools with test-optional policies or waiver availability.

Test-optional policies remain an important part of the landscape. This year, of 54 B-schools analyzed by P&Q, 12 did not require a test score, and another eight offered waivers under specific conditions. That’s down from 20 no-test schools last year, and far below the 37 programs that were test-optional or waiver-granting during a more pandemic-impacted 2022.

TOP SCHOOLS FOR GRE SUBMISSIONS, 2024

P&Q Rank 2025	School	% GRE 2024	% GRE 2023	% GRE 2022	% GRE 2021	% GRE 2020
43	Florida (Warrington)	59%	6%	46%	62%	45%
17	UC-Berkeley (Haas)	58%	53%	45%	36%	35%
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	46%	42%	38%	37%	39%
10	Duke (Fuqua)	44%	37%	36%	33%	38%
25	Georgetown (McDonough)	44%	37%	49%	48%	54%
2	Stanford GSB	42%	39%	33%	24%	25%
4	Harvard Business School	41%	34%	30%	29%	22%

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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EXPERT ADVICE: HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE TESTS

Choosing between the GMAT, administered by the global nonprofit Graduate Management Admission Council, and the GRE, administered by the Educational Testing Service, a nonprofit organization based in Princeton, New Jersey, is a strategic decision — but it’s just one part of the bigger picture, writes Judith Silverman Hodara of Fortuna Admissions.

“Your score alone won’t make or break your candidacy,” she writes, “but it can open doors and reinforce your story when paired with strong academics, professional impact, and compelling essays.”

Silverman Hodara emphasizes the importance of timing and readiness.

“Whatever path you choose, make it intentional,” she writes. “Prep strategically. Apply when you’re truly ready. As one Fortuna coach puts it: ‘I want my clients to apply as the best version of themselves — fully prepped, confident in their story, and ready to stand out.’”

Bryce Warwick, president of Warwick Strategies, recommends starting with a diagnostic test for both options.

“Understanding your starting scores is only one piece of the puzzle,” he explains. “I try to understand your strengths and weaknesses, what you enjoy, how you learn best, and the constraints of your timeline in order to recommend the test that best suits your needs.” The exam that plays to your natural strengths — Verbal, Quant, or format — will often yield a better score with less prep time.

GRE VERSUS THE OLD & NEW GMAT TESTS

P&Q Rank 2025	School	% GRE 2024	% New GMAT 2024	% Old GMAT 2024
1	Northwestern (Kellogg)	30%	3%	64%
2	Stanford GSB	42%	NA	57%
3	Chicago (Booth)	37%	4%	53%
4	Harvard Business School	41%	NA	63%
5	Virginia (Darden)	38%	NA	32%
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	46%	NA	51%
7	Columbia Business School	35%	NA	50%
8	Yale SOM	37%	4%	56%
9	Cornell (Johnson)	22%	3%	36%
10	Duke (Fuqua)	44%	2%	30%
11	New York (Stern)	23%	3%	42%
12	Pennsylvania (Wharton)	38%	0%	64%
13	MIT (Sloan)	39%	NA	52%
14	UCLA (Anderson)	21%	0%	41%
15	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	20%	7%	37%
16	Texas-Austin (McCombs)	28%	4%	28%
17	UC-Berkeley (Haas)	58%	2%	38.6%
18	North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)	23%	4%	31%
19	Washington (Foster)	31%	4%	39%
19	Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)	14%	6%	23%
21	Washington (Olin)	17%	1%	18%
22	Southern California (Marshall)	34%	5%	18%
23	Emory (Goizueta)	25%	NA	34%
24	Notre Dame (Mendoza)	27%	7%	24%
25	Georgetown (McDonough)	44%	4%	22%
26	Rice (Jones)	35%	7%	28%
27	Georgia (Terry)	39%	7%	13%
28	Rochester (Simon)	25%	3%	30%
29	Michigan (Ross)	39%	4%	32%
30	Vanderbilt (Owen)	31%	5%	23%
31	Brigham Young (Marriott)	9%	11%	20%
32	Arizona State (Carey)	29%	5%	21%
33	UC-Irvine (Merage)	22%	4%	30%
34	Indiana (Kelley)	17%	2%	26%
35	Wisconsin	13%	5%	16%
36	Boston (Questrom)	26%	2%	17%
37	Texas-Dallas (Jindal)	28%	4%	22%
37	Michigan State (Broad)	14%	0%	21%
39	William & Mary (Mason)	6%	NA	100%
40	George Washington	10%	0%	18%
41	Texas A&M (Mays)	28%	17%	19%
42	Rutgers Business School	29%	16%	23%
43	Florida (Warrington)	59%	25%	16%
44	Fordham (Gabelli)	7%	3%	13%
45	Southern Methodist (Cox)	20%	2%	11%
46	Northeastern (D’Amore-McKim)	9%	0%	5%
47	Minnesota (Carlson)	15%	3%	13%
48	Babson (Olin)	8%	1%	13%
49	Maryland (Smith)	24%	NA	13%
50	Ohio State (Fisher)	23%	6%	26%
51	Boston (Carroll)	17%	5%	31%
53	Utah (Eccles)	38%	2%	15%
56	Pittsburgh (Katz)	25%	0%	6%
60	UC-Davis	16%	2%	16%

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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Next Page: GRE submission rates at the top 50 U.S. B-schools from 2017 to 2024.