GMAT Scores for MBA Admissions: Target by School

By Muntasir Aug 06, 2026 7 min read

TL;DR

GMAT scores matter for MBA admissions, but committees weigh your whole file, not one number. The GMAT Focus scale runs 205 to 805 in 10-point steps, with Quant, Verbal, and Data Insights each scored 60 to 90. Around 80 percent of new entrants at top-ranked US and European full-time MBA programs were admitted with a GMAT score, per GMAC data. Class medians vary widely: Harvard's Focus median sits at 685, Chicago Booth's at 675, UT Austin McCombs' at 655, and Indiana Kelley's average lands at 607. Retakes are allowed up to five times in a rolling 12 months, with a 16-day wait between attempts, and GMAC automatically reports your best section scores as a Superscore.

GMAT Scores for MBA Admissions: Target by School

Admissions committees at top MBA programs treat your GMAT score as one data point among many. GMAC's own guidance states admissions teams take a holistic view, weighing work experience, motivations, recommendations, and career goals alongside your test result. Still, the number carries weight: approximately 80 percent of new entrants to top-ranked US and European full-time MBA programs were admitted with a GMAT score, according to GMAC enrollment data. A strong score also feeds into merit scholarship decisions at many schools.

This guide breaks down how admissions offices treat your score, what class GMAT medians mean in practice, and whether retaking the exam is worth the time and cost. Every figure below comes from an official GMAC or school admissions page, linked in the Sources section.

How Admissions Committees Weigh the GMAT

GMAC frames the GMAT as evidence of readiness for MBA-level coursework, not a pass or fail gate. Two of the schools covered here put a no-minimum policy in writing on their own class-profile pages. Harvard Business School's class-profile page reads, "There is no minimum GMAT or GRE to apply and we do not have a preference towards a particular test." Wharton's class-profile page states, "There is no minimum GMAT or GRE score requirement to apply to the Wharton MBA program, and we don't have a preference for one test over another." Both statements bind only the school publishing them. Check the policy page of every program on your list.

Your undergraduate GPA travels alongside your test score in every class profile. Harvard's Class of 2027 average GPA is 3.76 on the US 4.0 scale, Chicago Booth's average is 3.6, UT Austin McCombs' median is 3.53, and Indiana Kelley's average is 3.48. The middle-80% ranges below show one thing clearly: enrolled students land across a wide score band at every program publishing a range.

The GMAT Focus Score Scale

Score Scale and Sections

The GMAT Focus Edition reports scores on a single scale, built from three equally weighted sections.

Total Score: 205 to 805, in 10-point increments, always ending in 5
Quantitative Reasoning: 60 to 90
Verbal Reasoning: 60 to 90
Data Insights: 60 to 90
All three sections weighted equally toward the Total Score

What Your Score Report Shows Schools

Schools receive your total score, each section score, and the percentile tied to each figure, along with registration and exam details. They do not see the fuller breakdown you get as a test taker, which additionally splits performance by content domain, question type, and fundamental skill.

No GMAC page or school admissions FAQ confirms whether committees weigh one section over another during evaluation. If a specific section worries you, check the admissions FAQ of each program directly, since no documented industry standard exists on this point.

Target GMAT Scores by School

Five programs publish exact GMAT figures on their own class-profile pages. The table below holds six rows because Chicago Booth reports the Focus edition and the 10th edition separately. Use these as reference points, not requirements.

School	Test Format	Median or Average	Middle-80% Range
Harvard Business School (Class of 2027)	GMAT Focus	Median 685	645-735
Chicago Booth (Class of 2027)	GMAT Focus	Median 675	615-725
Chicago Booth (Class of 2027)	GMAT 10th/Standard Edition	Median 730	690-770
Wharton (Class of 2026)	GMAT legacy/10th edition	Average 732	Not published
UT Austin McCombs (Class of 2027)	GMAT Focus	Median 655	615-695
Indiana Kelley	GMAT current/Focus	Average 607	Not published, see score bands below

Harvard also reports section medians for its class: Verbal 86, Quantitative 84.

Score Bands at Indiana Kelley

Indiana Kelley breaks its GMAT figures into score bands instead of a middle-80% range.

700 and above: 5 percent of the class
600-699: 53 percent of the class
500-599: 42 percent of the class

Target Bands by Program Tier

The five schools above sort into three tiers by published GMAT figure. Find the tier holding the programs on your list, then confirm the exact number on each school's own class-profile page.

Tier	Schools representing it here	Published GMAT figure	Score band of the enrolled class
Top tier	Harvard Business School, Chicago Booth, Wharton	Focus median 675 to 685. 10th edition median 730, average 732	645-735 Harvard Focus, 615-725 Booth Focus, 690-770 Booth 10th edition
Middle tier	UT Austin McCombs	Focus median 655	615-695
Lower tier	Indiana Kelley	Focus average 607	95 percent of the class scored 500 to 699

Harvard, Chicago Booth and Wharton represent the top tier, so treat a Focus score near 685 as the working target for programs of this kind. UT Austin McCombs represents the middle tier at a Focus median of 655. Indiana Kelley represents the lower tier, with 53 percent of its class between 600 and 699.

For a program outside these five, read the median and range off its own class-profile page. Stanford GSB, Kellogg, MIT Sloan and Columbia Business School each publish class statistics on their admissions sites, and those pages hold the current-cycle figures.

GMAT vs GRE at These Programs

Several of these schools accept the GRE as a substitute score. In Harvard's Class of 2027, 44 percent of the enrolled class submitted a GRE score, 34 percent submitted a score the school labels simply GMAT, meaning the current Focus edition, and 28 percent submitted the GMAT 10th edition, with some overlap between groups. Chicago Booth reports 42 percent GRE submissions among its class. If you are weighing which exam to submit, or whether your target program grants a GMAT waiver, read our guide comparing GMAT waivers against submitting a GRE score instead.

Run your GMAT Focus practice score through our free GMAT score calculator to see where it lines up against these ranges. For a full breakdown of what counts as a good GMAT score, and how these totals translate into percentiles, see our guides on what a good GMAT score looks like and how GMAT percentiles work.

Score Validity and Sending Your Score to Schools

A GMAT score stays valid for five years from your test date. Score validity rules affect timing decisions for reapplicants.

Scores up to 5 years old: sendable to any school without restriction
Scores 5 to 10 years old: sendable only if you have not retaken the GMAT within the past 5 years

Is a GMAT Retake Worth It for Admissions?

GMAC permits up to five GMAT attempts in a rolling 12-month period, with no lifetime cap and a minimum 16-day wait between attempts.

Up to 5 attempts per rolling 12 months
No lifetime limit on total attempts
Minimum 16-day wait required between attempts
GMAC reports an average increase of 20 to 30 points among repeat test takers

GMAC automatically calculates a GMAT Superscore, combining your highest eligible section score across Quant, Verbal, and Data Insights from every valid GMAT Focus Edition attempt within the five-year validity window. It is reported on the same 205-805 scale, included on every Official Score Report you send, and is not optional to exclude.

If you retake the exam, follow each program's own instruction on reporting multiple attempts. Wharton's admissions FAQ asks applicants who have taken the GMAT more than once to list the highest score first, and states official scores are requested for verification only after Wharton extends an offer of admission. This policy covers Wharton alone. Other programs set their own verification timing, so read the FAQ of every school on your list.

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