10 business schools that require a high GMAT score
It should come as a surprise to no one that the average GMAT score accepted by business programs varies widely from one school to the next. This said, which schools require the highest GMAT scores? To find out, I’ve sorted through programs from across the United States and organized ten schools by the average GMAT score of their incoming class.
- Stanford University: 732
- University of Pennsylvania (Wharton): 728
- Harvard University: 726
- University of Chicago (Booth): 724
- New York University (Stern): 721
- Yale University: 719
- University of California-Berkeley (Haas): 717
- Columbia University: 716
- Dartmouth College (Tuck): 716
- University of California-Los Angeles (Anderson): 715
Not surprisingly, all of these schools are very prestigious and offer extremely high quality facilities and programs. To be considered for any of them will require scoring above a 700. The good news is that with the proper study methods and materials, scores in this range are entirely within reach assuming that you dedicate a lot of time and effort into GMAT prep.
However, you should also know that raw GMAT scores alone do not directly predict the quality of a business program. It is true that very prestigious programs can afford to be extremely selective and therefore the average GMAT scores for their incoming classes is always high, however even within the top tier of business schools there is a certain amount of leeway. The above list of top schools by average GMAT scores does not match line for line with top 10 rankings of business schools issued by major publications. This suggests two things. Firstly, top 10 rankings of business schools based upon prestige and perceived quality of education are subjective. Secondly, even at high levels, business schools place varying weights upon the actual importance of GMAT scores. Just to be clear, I am in no way saying that the GMAT is less important than other aspects of your application. The fact is scoring well on the GMAT is an absolutely essential part of the application process. However, admissions boards clearly weight values differently depending upon which school you are applying for. Unfortunately, business schools do not publish their precise methods of deciding who is and who is not admitted into their program. Ultimately, the best advice I can give you is to try to score as high on the GMAT as possible.
At the end of the day, there is no denying that securing an acceptance letter from a top business school requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Not only will you have to put in years of effort to keep your GPA and professional credentials at an impressive level, but you will also have to master all of the different aspects of the GMAT. Scoring in the top percentiles is a daunting task, but fortunately that is where we come in. WYZprep is here to help you not just all the way to the testing room, but also cover the entire journey to your dream school.