Undergraduate GPA: The Score You Need To Get Into A Top-50 U.S. MBA Program

Think your undergraduate GPA is too low for a top MBA program? Think again.

In 2024, someone got into the University of Chicago Booth School of Business — ranked among the very best MBA programs in the world — with a GPA of just 2.36. Others got into Dartmouth Tuck with a 2.95, Northwestern Kellogg with a 2.9, Indiana Kelley with a 2.5, and Rochester Simon with a 2.7.

Where full GPA ranges are not available publicly, 80% GPA ranges can be nearly as illuminating, allowing readers to deduce that someone with a GPA below the lower end found a way in. For example, at Rutgers Business School, someone in the entering class of 2024 had a GPA lower than 2.22, the reported low end of the 80% range of scores, while at Maryland Smith School of Business, someone got in with a score below 2.5. Same goes for other ranked programs, including Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business (<2.76), Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business (<2.84), and William & Mary Mason School of Business (<2.8).

GPA RANGES AT LEADING U.S. MBA PROGRAMS: 2020-2024

2025 P&Q Rank	School	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
1	Northwestern (Kellogg)	2.9-4.0	2.8-4.0	2.6-4.0	2.4-4.0	2.5-4.0
3	Chicago (Booth)	2.36-4.0	2.4-4.0	2.4-4.0	2.7-4.0	2.8-4.0
5	Virginia (Darden)	3.2-3.9 (80%)	3.08-3.88 (80%)	NA	NA	NA
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	2.95-3.99	2.7-4.0	2.7-4.0	2.6-4.0	2.60-4.0
7	Columbia	NA	3.2-3.9 (80%)	3.1-3.9 (80%)	3.1-3.9 (80%)	3.2-3.9 (80%)
8	Yale SOM	3.31-3.94 (80%)	3.30-3.91 (80%)	3.34-3.90 (80%)	3.30-3.92 (80%)	NA
10	Duke (Fuqua)	3.17-3.89 (80%)	3.10-3.89 (80%)	3.1-3.9 (80%)	3.1-3.9 (80%)	3.07-3.86 (80%)
11	NYU (Stern)	3.03-4.00	2.96-4.00	3.03-4.00	3.00-4.00	3.01-4.0
14	UCLA (Anderson)	3.1-3.8 (80%)	3.1-3.8 (80%)	3.1-3.8 (80%)	3.1-3.8 (80%)	3.1-3.8 (80%)
15	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	2.92-3.76 (80%)	2.85-3.84 (80%)	2.84-3.82 (80%)	2.93-3.78 (80%)	2.83-3.8 (80%)
17	UC-Berkeley (Haas)	3.38-3.9 (80%)	3.3-3.91 (80%)	3.4-3.92 (80%)	3.34-3.93 (80%)	3.4-3.9 (80%)
22	Southern California (Marshall)	NA	3.09-3.87 (80%)	NA	NA	NA
25	Georgetown (McDonough)	2.76-3.73 (80%)	2.72-3.84 (80%)	2.82-3.77 (80%)	2.85-3.79 (80%)	2.83-3.73 (80%)
26	Rice (Jones)*	3.17-3.76 (50%)	3.20-3.74 (50%)	NA	NA	NA
28	Rochester (Simon)	2.7-3.8	2.7-3.9	NA	NA	NA
34	Indiana (Kelley)	2.5-?	2.5-?	2.5-?	NA	NA

Source: Business school class profiles

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GPA RANGES: A CLEARER PICTURE OF THE FLOOR

While GPA averages have long been used to assess competitiveness, ranges offer more transparency about what’s possible — and who might be the exception. 

Among its many useful metrics, U.S. News & World Report reports 10th-90th percentiles, giving us even more insight into schools’ admissions. According to this year’s trove of data released as part of the magazine’s annual ranking, Georgetown McDonough School of Business, a top 25 school, had a 10th percentile GPA of 2.76, the lowest of any top 25 school. On the other end of the spectrum, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business — also in the top 25 — had a 10th percentile of 3.38, highest in the group. 

One school, UCLA Anderson School of Management, has published the same 80% GPA range — 3.1 to 3.8 — every year since 2020. Others have seen meaningful shifts. Inconsistent data, as always, remains a problem.

U.S. NEWS’ 10TH-90TH PERCENTILE GPA RANGES 2023-2024

2025 P&Q Rank	School	US News 10th-90th Percentile – 2024	US News 10th-90th Percentile – 2023
1	Northwestern (Kellogg)	NA	NA
2	Stanford GSB	NA	NA
3	Chicago (Booth)	3.17-3.92	3.1-3.9
4	Harvard Business School	NA	NA
5	Virginia (Darden)	3.18-3.92	3.1-3.89
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	3.24-3.86	2.97-3.53
7	Columbia	3.3-3.9	3.2-3.9
8	Yale SOM	3.33-3.92	3.29-3.92
9	Cornell (Johnson)	NA	NA
10	Duke (Fuqua)	3.17-3.88	3.1-3.89
11	NYU (Stern)	3.34-3.93	3.34-3.87
12	Penn (Wharton)	NA	NA
13	MIT (Sloan)	3.34-3.95	3.2-3.9
14	UCLA (Anderson)	3.1-3.76	3.02-3.8
15	CMU (Tepper)	2.76-3.76	2.86-3.73
16	Texas-Austin (McCombs)	3.01-3.88	3.0-3.9
17	UC-Berkeley (Haas)	3.38-3.9	3.3-3.91
18	UNC (Kenan-Flagler)	2.9-3.8	2.8-3.9
19	Georgia Tech (Scheller)	2.83-3.76	2.96-3.86
19	Washington (Foster)	2.99-3.8	2.8-3.8
21	Washington (Olin)	3.0-3.9	3.3-4.0
22	USC (Marshall)	3.08-3.84	3.09-3.87
23	Emory (Goizueta)	3.1-3.86	3.01-3.91
24	Notre Dame (Mendoza)	2.84-3.87	2.76-3.86
25	Georgetown (McDonough)	2.76-3.73	2.7-3.8
26	Rice (Jones)	2.97-3.88	2.89-3.94
27	Georgia (Terry)	3.03-3.94	3.2-3.8
28	Rochester (Simon)	3.09-3.84	2.89-3.89
29	Michigan (Ross)	3.01-3.85	3.13-3.76
30	Vanderbilt (Owen)	3.0-3.9	2.8-3.9
31	BYU (Marriott)	3.04-3.93	3.05-3.93
32	Arizona State (Carey)	3.09-3.98	3.0-4.0
33	UC-Irvine (Merage)	3.06-3.68	2.97-3.75
34	Indiana (Kelley)	3.0-3.75	2.85-3.87
35	Wisconsin	2.96-3.82	2.76-3.82
36	Boston (Questrom)	2.82-3.73	2.96-3.82
37	Texas-Dallas (Jindal)	3.10-4.0	3.17-3.9
37	Michigan State (Broad)	2.98-3.86	3.0-3.9
39	William & Mary (Mason)	2.8-4.0	2.7-3.9
40	George Washington	2.9-3.9	2.9-3.8
41	Texas A&M (Mays)	3.05-3.77	2.82-3.98
42	Rutgers Business School	2.22-3.96	2.77-3.7
43	Florida (Warrington)	2.81-3.77	3.15-3.75
44	Fordham (Gabelli)	2.67-3.7	NA
45	SMU (Cox)	3.2-3.92	3.1-3.88
46	Northeastern (D-Amore-McKim)	3.13-3.9	3.2-3.92
47	Minnesota (Carlson)	2.86-3.93	2.85-3.82
48	Babson (Olin)	2.75-3.79	2.73-3.75
49	Maryland (Smith)	2.5-3.7	2.9-4.0
50	Ohio State (Fisher)	3.22-3.89	3.03-3.92
51	Boston (Carroll)	2.77-3.75	2.74-3.77
53	Utah (Eccles)	3.09-3.8	3.05-3.89
56	Pittsburgh (Katz)	3.13-3.85	3.04-3.75
57	Tennessee (Haslam)	2.94-3.95	3.23-4.0
59	Miami (Herbert)	2.8-3.8	2.8-3.7
60	UC-Davis	2.7-3.9	3.1-3.4
68	Alabama (Manderson)	3.05-4.0	3.36-4.0

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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RISING AVERAGES, SHRINKING MARGINS?

Despite the headline-grabbing lows, the overall story in 2024 is one of rising averages, a reflection of continued grade inflation or selectivity — or both.

A record 27 MBA programs saw their average undergraduate GPA rise this year — up from 18 that saw year-to-year increases in 2023 and just 13 in 2022. In contrast, 15 schools saw declines, down from 20 schools between 2022 and 2023. Eleven schools were even this year.

Among the top 25 ranked schools, the trend is even clearer: 15 saw GPA increases, more than double the number that gained between the two previous years. Five held steady and five saw drops. That’s a big shift from last year, when 13 of the top 25 reported GPA average declines.

BIGGEST INCREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2023-2024

2025 P&Q Rank	School	2024 Average Undergraduate GPA	2023 Average Undergraduate GPA	Change
6	Dartmouth (Tuck)	3.60	3.49	+0.11
45	Southern Methodist (Cox)	3.60	3.49**	+0.11
7	Columbia Business School	3.60	3.50	+0.10
12	Pennsylvania (Wharton)	3.70	3.60	+0.10
14	UCLA (Anderson)	3.50	3.40	+0.10
19	Washington (Foster)	3.40	3.30	+0.10
24	Notre Dame (Mendoza)	3.40	3.30	+0.10
31	Brigham Young (Marriott)	3.60	3.50	+0.10

** Estimate using US News 10th-90th percentile; Source: U.S. News & World Report

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BIGGEST DECREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2023-2024

2025 P&Q Rank	School	2024 Average Undergraduate GPA	2023 Average Undergraduate GPA	Change
21	Washington (Olin)	3.50	3.60	-0.10
30	Vanderbilt (Owen)	3.40	3.50	-0.10
41	Texas A&M (Mays)	3.30	3.40**	-0.10
19	Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller)	3.30	3.39	-0.09
32	Arizona State (Carey)	3.50	3.57	-0.07
46	Northeastern (D’Amore-McKim)	3.50	3.56	-0.06

** Estimate using US News 10th-90th percentile; Source: U.S. News & World Report

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STANDOUTS: WHO ROSE, WHO FELL

The biggest upward movers in 2024 were Dartmouth Tuck School of Business and Southern Methodist Cox School of Business, both up 0.11 points to an average of 3.60. Six others notched gains of 0.10.

At the other end, three schools reported a drop of 0.10: Washington Olin Business School (down to 3.50), Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management (3.40), and Texas A&M Mays Business School (3.30). Olin’s drop is noteworthy, as it represents the largest GPA decline in the current top 25.

Over the past seven years, 28 of 57 schools have increased their GPA averages, while 15 have dropped and six have stayed flat. Fourteen schools have gained at least 0.10 since 2018, with MIT Sloan leading all movers with a jump of +0.22 (to 3.70).

Notably, after reporting the same 3.60 GPA for at least seven consecutive years, Wharton finally budged — increasing to 3.70 in 2024.

BIGGEST INCREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2018-2024

2025 P&Q Rank	School	2024 Average Undergraduate GPA	2018 Average Undergraduate GPA	Change
13	MIT (Sloan)	3.70	3.48	+0.22
23	Emory (Goizueta)	3.50	3.30	+0.20
26	Rice (Jones)	3.50	3.30	+0.20
45	Southern Methodist (Cox)	3.60	3.40	+0.20
60	UC-Davis	3.40	3.20	+0.20
11	New York (Stern)	3.64	3.45	+0.19

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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BIGGEST DECREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2018-2024

2025 P&Q Rank	School	2024 Average Undergraduate GPA	2018 Average Undergraduate GPA	Change
33	UC-Irvine (Merage)	3.40	3.55	-0.15
15	Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)	3.26	3.40	-0.14
29	Michigan (Ross)	3.40	3.50	-0.10
43	Florida (Warrington)	3.40	3.48	-0.08
49	Maryland (Smith)	3.20	3.26	-0.06

Source: U.S. News & World Report

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NINE SCHOOLS REPORT UNDER 60% GPA SUBMISSIONS FROM NEW ENTRANTS

In some cases the GPA average published by U.S. News is in conflict with the number posted by a school in its MBA class profile; in these cases, when we detect them, we prefer the school’s number. Some schools, meanwhile, have made significant reporting shifts in recent years: Duke Fuqua School of Business stopped publishing GPA averages after 2021, while Rice Jones Graduate School of Business now reports three-year rolling averages for GPAs and other data — a move that smooths out volatility but makes year-over-year comparisons harder. Other schools, like Washington Foster School of Business, have switched from averages to medians. 

While most schools still report an average undergraduate GPA, not all students admitted to MBA programs actually submit a GPA. In fact, according to U.S. News, only 22 of 57 ranked schools reported that 100% of their incoming students provided a GPA score for admission in 2024. At the other end, Washington Olin reported GPA data for just 48% of its new entrants — the lowest among all ranked schools. This is partly a reflection of international students’ use of a grading system other than the 4.0 system used in the U.S. 

In fact, nine schools had fewer than 60% of students submit GPA scores in 2024; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, P&Q’s top-ranked school this year, reported 60% exactly. See the table on page 4 for details.

See the next pages for tables showing undergraduate GPA averages for 57 of the leading U.S. MBA programs, as well as percentages of GPA submissions.

AND DON’T MISS LAST YEAR’S STORY ON UNDERGRADUATE GPA SCORES AT THE LEADING U.S. B-SCHOOLS