Making the decision to pursue a full-time MBA takes lots of time and care. It means taking a break from your normal life and job, in hopes that the degree will accelerate your career and increase your earning potential.
If you’ve made the decision to do an MBA, you probably want to know what it takes to attend the best business schools available.
Without a doubt, the GMAT is one of the most important aspects of a business school application; a quality indicator for schools when measuring your suitability for an MBA program.
Understanding GMAT score ranges
GMAT score ranges tell you what both the lowest and highest scoring students in an MBA class earned on their GMAT exam.
Like average GMAT scores, when applying to a top MBA program, understanding the range of GMAT scores which current students at your target school submitted and were accepted for will help you understand what GMAT score you should aim for.
Applying to business school can become expensive, and if your GMAT score is significantly below a school’s GMAT test score range, it may not be worth applying. By analyzing GMAT score ranges, you can determine which schools you have a higher chance of getting into, or where you may need to increase your score to get accepted.
GMAT score ranges for top business schools
Top 10 business schools according to Financial Times MBA Ranking
What GMAT score to aim for?
While it is important to use the information GMAT ranges provide, it is also important to remember there are some limitations as to what can be learned.
What they do not tell you, is the specific scenario around each score. For example, was the applicant who scored the lowest a straight A student in their undergraduate studies, who scored poorly on the GMAT because they were going through a difficult time?
Was the applicant who scored the highest a C-student during their undergraduate studies and barely skated through business school admission due to their high GMAT score?
Total GMAT scores range from 200 to 800. While scores in the 500s are considered low, many of the world’s best business schools admit students with these GMAT scores.
For example, there may be years where Harvard Business School accepts applicants with scores lower than 590, or years where no accepted applicants score 800.
Scoring within the Harvard GMAT range does not automatically mean you will be accepted into Harvard. However, you should be aiming to score on the higher end or above the GMAT range if you want a better chance of being accepted into your target school.
Check out: How to get into Harvard
Harvard vs Stanford GMAT range
Of course, different schools have different GMAT ranges. Harvard, the best business school in the world according to the Financial Times, has students who scored in the 500s, which is very low, as well as students who earned a perfect GMAT score. While Stanford, which is ranked lower, accepted no students who scored lower than 600.
How could it be that the top business school accepted students who scored lower on the GMAT?
This is where the limitations of GMAT ranges comes into play. Maybe the student who scored a 590 had stellar grades but was going through a difficult time which was explained later on in their application. Maybe the person who had a perfect score was a terrible student and had an inspirational personal statement which helped them with their admittance.
While GMAT score is important, it’s not everything when it comes to applying to business school.
Next read: Average GMAT Scores For Top MBA Programs
This article was written by John Karageorge of MBA Insights.
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