Do you need 700+ GMAT score to get into a top business school?

The GMAT is perhaps the most stressful part of any MBA application, doubly so if you’re trying to get into a top business school. 

The GMAT is scored on a scale between 200 and 800; it’s tough to see average GMAT scores of admitted students and not worry. 

Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, for example, has an impressively high average of 737 for their latest incoming class. (And, it has achieved such numbers year after year.)

You’ve just got to face those fears

As most universities and the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) which owns the GMAT exam will tell you, the GMAT is usually the only factor that allows an apples-to-apples comparison of applicants. Everything else stuffed into applications is personal and subjective.

Even undergraduate grade point averages aren’t a strong indicator as universities (and professors) don’t conform to a single set of grading guidelines. It’s much more difficult to achieve high scores in some countries than in others.

It’s difficult to dispute the equalising facets of the GMAT – even though it's only conducted in English. 

In 2013, the United States had more GMAT test takers than India and China combined thought the average test scores of those countries during that time were significantly higher than the American result.

In case you’re wondering, in 2013, 53 countries fared better with GMAT scores than the US¹, and many of them don’t recognise English as an official language in their country. (Actually, neither does the US; it doesn’t have any official languages. But that’s another topic altogether.)

Aiming for 700+

It's true that there are business schools that don’t require the GMAT and those that accept the GRE. But, for the most part, you’re just going to need to buckle down and take the test - aiming for the highest score you can achieve, hopefully one over 700.

And, every b-school you apply to is going to see your test results. And, while every one of them is quick to point out that applications involve a lot more than GMAT scores, they’re certainly going to take a look. And, they’ll need to find reasons to keep you in the mix if you have lower results than they would like to see.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the top European business schools’ average GMAT scores don’t always rival those found in the United States. INSEAD’s average scores have consistently sat between 700 and 710 for the past five years, and London Business School also has rising averages moving from 701 to 107 in the past couple of years. 

Indeed, as much emphasis as the GMAT carries in top business school applications (admissions consultants tend to believe it’s worth about one-fifth of your entire application)⁶, the rest of your application is critical. It’s true if your score is 640 or you’ve managed an incredible 750; none of the top universities admit students solely on the strength of their GMAT scores – not even Stanford.