MBA Acceptance Rates At The World’s Top Business Schools

Getting into top MBA programs isn't easy. Find out what the MBA acceptance rates are at the world's top business schools, including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and more

If you’re applying to an MBA program at one of the world’s top business schools, you’ll want to know the MBA acceptance rates.

Acceptance rates are the percentage of applicants who are admitted into an MBA program. They tell you how competitive a school is and how likely your MBA application is to be successful.

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Stanford’s MBA acceptance rate is 6.2% on average, making Stanford the world’s most competitive MBA program. The most recent data shows 7,367 people applied to the full-time MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business but only 455 got accepted.

Fewer still enrolled in the Stanford MBA class—only 426 (an enrollment rate of 6%). Schools will always admit more candidates than they enroll, with many accepting offers from other schools or dropping out.

In 2020 there was a record number of deferrals—a jump from 3% to 7% from 2019—with admitted students postponing their studies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This number meant the 2021 cohorts were made up of a large number of deferrals—HEC Paris reported that 44% of participants on the newly-started MBA cohort deferred from previous years.

BusinessBecause used data from the US News Report and other available sources to break down the MBA acceptance rates at top schools—including the M7 business schools.