Average GRE scores of top MBA Programs and % of class submitting GRE scores

Admission to a top-tier business school in the United States is a coveted achievement for many aspiring professionals. These institutions are renowned for their rigorous academic programs, distinguished faculty, and unmatched networking opportunities.

For years, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) has been the gold standard for evaluating applicants. However, the landscape of graduate business education in the United States has been undergoing a significant transformation in recent years with an increasing number of top-tier business schools now embracing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) opening doors for candidates from diverse academic backgrounds.

In this article, we delve into the data surrounding the average GRE scores of some of the most prestigious business schools in the United States.

We explore the trends over a four-year period, from 2019 to 2022, shedding light on how these institutions have embraced the GRE as part of their admissions process. We not only analyze the average total GRE scores but also dissect the data to understand the nuances of GRE Quantitative and GRE Verbal scores for the years 2021 and 2022.

Additionally, we investigate the percentage of students who applied to these esteemed business schools using GRE scores during the same period.

Outline of this article

Average GRE scores of top US MBA Programs

#	Business School	2022 Total GRE Score	2021 Total GRE Score	2020 Total GRE Score	2019 Total GRE Score	2-Year Trend (‘21 vs ‘22)	4-Year Trend
1	Yale SOM	329	330	328	329	-1	0
2	Chicago Booth	327	325	324	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	Stanford GSB	327	330	329	330	-3	-3
4	Harvard Business School	326	326	326	326	even	0
5	UCLA Anderson	326	326	316	326	even	0
6	Northwestern Kellogg	325	327	326	N/A	N/A	N/A
7	MIT Sloan	325	325	324	324	even	1
8	NYU Stern	325	324	324	322	1	3
9	Wharton	324	324	322	324	even	0
10	Dartmouth Tuck	324	324	320	324	N/A	0
11	UC-Berkeley Haas	324	323	322	323	1	1
12	Cornell Johnson	324	323	321	320	1	4
13	CMU Tepper	324	323	321	323	1	1
14	Ohio State Fisher	323	311	311	309	12	14
15	Columbia Business School	322	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
16	USC Marshall	321	321	321	320	even	1
17	Michigan State Broad	321	316	308	306	5	15
18	Michigan Ross	320	320	317	319	even	1
19	Georgia Tech Scheller	320	319	318	317	1	3
20	Virginia Darden	319	321	319	321	-2	-2
21	UT Austin McCombs	319	319	318	318	even	1
22	Washington Foster	319	321	318	319	-2	0
23	Duke Fuqua	318	317	314	319	1	-1
24	UNC Kenan-Flagler	318	316	317	316	2	2
25	Indiana Kelley	318	315	312	310	3	8
26	Georgetown McDonough	317	317	317	315	even	2
27	Rochester Simon	317	317	314	312	even	5
28	Arizona State Carey	317	312	314	310	5	7
29	Texas-Dallas Jindal	317	314	310	309	3	8
30	Rice Jones	316	317	313	317	-1	-1
31	Wisconsin	316	313	312	315	3	1
32	Rutgers Business School	316	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
33	Minnesota Carlson	315	319	321	317	-4	-2
34	Maryland Smith	315	309	310	307	6	8
35	Washington Olin	314	310	311	310	4	4
36	Vanderbilt Owen	314	315	310	315	-1	-1
37	Notre Dame Mendoza	314	317	313	315	-3	-1
38	Boston University Questrom	314	315	312	313	-1	1
39	Texas A&M Mays	314	308	307	308	6	6
40	SMU Cox	314	307	310	308	7	6
41	Utah Eccles	313	317	306	N/A	-4	N/A
42	Georgia Terry	312	310	312	314	2	-2
43	Florida Hough	311	313	310	316	-2	-5
44	UC-Irvine Merage	311	310	322	311	1	0
45	Pittsburgh Katz	310	310	307	308	even	2
46	Penn State Smeal	309	313	311	310	-4	-1
47	George Washington	309	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
48	William & Mary Mason	304	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
49	BYU Marriott	N/A	N/A	N/A	321	N/A	N/A
50	Emory Goizueta	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

The data on GRE scores for US business schools over the past few years reveals several interesting trends and observations.

Firstly, it’s evident that GRE scores play a significant role in the admissions process for these schools, as most top-ranked programs maintain consistently high average scores.

Yale SOM, for example, consistently ranks at the top with an average GRE score of 329 in 2022, showing remarkable consistency over the past four years.

Here are a few more observations:

Stability at the Top: Yale SOM, Stanford GSB, and Harvard Business School consistently maintain high GRE scores, with only slight fluctuations over the years. This indicates the consistency in the caliber of students they admit.
Mixed Trends at Other Elite Schools: Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, and Wharton show relatively stable GRE scores over the years. However, schools like UCLA Anderson have seen an increase in scores from 2020 to 2022, potentially reflecting a more competitive applicant pool.
Rising Competitiveness: Schools like NYU Stern and UC Berkeley Haas have witnessed an increase in GRE scores over the years, suggesting a rise in the competitiveness of their admissions.
Improvement at Some Schools: Cornell Johnson and CMU Tepper have consistently improved their GRE scores over the four-year period, indicating a strategic effort to attract high-scoring applicants.
Significant Variations: Some schools, such as Ohio State Fisher and Arizona State Carey, have seen substantial increases in GRE scores, possibly due to changes in their admissions policies or marketing efforts.
Missing Data: Columbia Business School, Rutgers Business School, George Washington, and William & Mary Mason have missing data, making it difficult to assess their trends accurately.
Diverse Trends in Lower-Ranked Schools: Schools like Minnesota Carlson, Maryland Smith, and Texas A&M Mays have seen fluctuations in their GRE scores, possibly reflecting changes in their applicant pools or admissions strategies.

Average GRE Quant and GRE Verbal Scores

Let’s take a look at the Quant and Verbal distribution of the average GRE scores at the top US business schools.

#	Business School	2022 Average GRE Quant Score	2022 Average GRE Verbal Score	2022 Total GRE Score	2021 Average GRE Quant Score	2021 Average GRE Verbal Score	2021 Total GRE Score
1	Yale SOM	165	164	329	165	165	330
2	Chicago Booth	164	163	327	163	162	325
3	Stanford GSB	163	164	327	165	165	330
4	Harvard Business School	163	163	326	163	163	326
5	UCLA Anderson	164	162	326	163	163	326
6	Northwestern Kellogg	163	162	325	165	162	327
7	MIT Sloan	163	162	325	163	162	325
8	NYU Stern	163	162	325	162	162	324
9	Wharton	162	162	324	162	162	324
10	Dartmouth Tuck	162	162	324	162	162	324
11	UC-Berkeley Haas	161	163	324	162	161	323
12	Cornell Johnson	163	161	324	162	161	323
13	CMU Tepper	165	159	324	164	159	323
14	Ohio State Fisher	164	159	323	155	156	311
15	Columbia Business School	161	161	322	N/A	N/A	N/A
16	USC Marshall	161	160	321	161	160	321
17	Michigan State Broad	160	161	321	158	158	316
18	Michigan Ross	160	160	320	160	160	320
19	Georgia Scheller	162	158	320	160	159	319
20	Virginia Darden	159	160	319	160	161	321
21	UT Austin McCombs	159	160	319	160	159	319
22	Washington Foster	160	159	319	161	160	321
23	Duke Fuqua	159	159	318	158	159	317
24	UNC Kenan-Flagler	159	159	318	158	158	316
25	Indiana Kelley	159	159	318	157	158	315
26	Georgetown McDonough	159	158	317	159	158	317
27	Rochester Simon	161	156	317	159	158	317
28	Arizona State Carey	160	157	317	156	156	312
29	Texas-Dallas Jindal	160	157	317	158	156	314
30	Rice Jones	160	156	316	160	157	317
31	Wisconsin	157	159	316	156	157	313
32	Rutgers Business School	159	157	316	N/A	N/A	N/A
33	Minnesota Carlson	159	156	315	159	160	319
34	Maryland Smith	157	158	315	155	154	309
35	Washington Olin	158	156	314	155	155	310
36	Vanderbilt Owen	157	157	314	157	158	315
37	Notre Dame Mendoza	156	158	314	158	159	317
38	Boston University Questrom	159	155	314	159	156	315
39	Texas A&M Mays	158	156	314	155	153	308
40	SMU Cox	159	155	314	154	153	307
41	Utah Eccles	157	156	313	157	160	317
42	Georgia Terry	156	156	312	155	155	310
43	Florida Hough	158	153	311	157	156	313
44	UC-Irvine Merage	157	154	311	153	157	310
45	Pittsburgh Katz	157	153	310	158	152	310
46	Penn State Smeal	154	155	309	158	155	313
47	George Washington	155	154	309	N/A	N/A	N/A
48	William & Mary Mason	152	152	304	N/A	N/A	N/A
49	Emory (Goizueta)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
50	BYU (Marriott)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Let’s analyze the data on average GRE scores of MBA programs and draw some observations and inferences:

Overall Trends

The average GRE total scores for MBA programs in 2022 range from 304 to 330.
The most competitive schools, such as Yale SOM, Chicago Booth, and Stanford GSB, have total scores in the high 320s.
There are some schools with lower average scores, such as Pittsburgh Katz and George Washington, in the 310s and 309s, respectively.
Two schools, William & Mary Mason and Emory (Goizueta), have no data available for 2022.

Quantitative and Verbal Scores:

Quantitative scores generally have a slightly wider range compared to verbal scores.
The highest average quant score is 165 at Yale SOM and CMU Tepper, while the lowest is 152 at William & Mary Mason.
Verbal scores range from 153 to 164, with most schools falling within the 158 to 162 range.
Some schools, like Stanford GSB, have higher verbal scores (164), indicating strong verbal aptitude among their applicants.

Comparing 2022 to 2021

Most schools have maintained their total scores between 2021 and 2022. This suggests stability in applicant quality and the admission process.
Notable exceptions include Ohio State Fisher, which saw a significant increase in its total score from 311 to 323, and Columbia Business School, where data for 2021 is not available.
In general, quant and verbal scores have remained stable from 2021 to 2022 for most schools, with minor fluctuations.

School-Specific Observations:

Yale SOM consistently has one of the highest total scores (329) and quant scores (165), making it one of the most competitive programs.
Harvard Business School and UCLA Anderson have identical total scores of 326, indicating different priorities in their admissions criteria (perhaps favoring different combinations of quant and verbal scores).
Chicago Booth, despite having a slightly lower total score (327), has strong quant (164) and verbal (163) scores, making it highly competitive.
Schools like Pittsburgh Katz and George Washington have lower scores, which may suggest a less competitive applicant pool or different admissions criteria.

N/A Schools

Some schools, such as Rutgers Business School and Emory’s Goizueta Business School, do not have data available for 2022. This could be due to various reasons, including changes in reporting or a lack of applicants submitting GRE scores.

Let’s take a look at the percentage of the total admitted class which submitted a GRE score as part of their MBA application.

Percent Class Submitting GRE Scores for MBA Admissions

This dataset provides insights into the percentage of MBA program applicants who submitted GRE scores across several prominent business schools for the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

It offers valuable information about the trends in GRE submissions, shedding light on how the admission landscape may have evolved in recent years.

The data reveals not only the current state of GRE submission rates but also the changes over a two-year and four-year period, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of applicant preferences and program competitiveness.

Let’s delve into the data to draw observations and inferences about the trends and variations in GRE submission percentages among these MBA programs.

#	Business School	% GRE 2022	% GRE 2021	% GRE 2020	% GRE 2019	2-Year Trend	4-Year Trend
1	Wharton	30%	24%	N/A	15%	6%	15%
2	Chicago Booth	26%	18%	17%	13%	8%	13%
3	Stanford GSB	33%	24%	25%	19%	9%	14%
4	Harvard Business School	30%	29%	22%	20%	1%	10%
5	MIT Sloan	32%	24%	N/A	24%	8%	8%
6	Columbia Business School	26%	23%	24%	16%	3%	10%
7	Yale SOM	39%	36%	35%	26%	3%	13%
8	Dartmouth Tuck	38%	37%	39%	21%	1%	17%
9	UC-Berkeley Haas	45%	36%	35%	21%	9%	24%
10	Michigan Ross	30%	33%	37%	34%	-3%	-4%
11	Duke Fuqua	36%	33%	38%	23%	3%	13%
12	Cornell Johnson	22%	19%	18%	18%	3%	4%
13	Virginia Darden	36%	38%	28%	23%	-2%	13%
14	NYU Stern	21%	18%	23%	18%	3%	3%
15	UCLA Anderson	22%	19%	14%	10%	3%	12%
16	USC Marshall	33%	31%	25%	29%	2%	4%
17	UT Austin McCombs	40%	42%	38%	33%	-2%	7%
18	UNC Kenan-Flagler	19%	26%	22%	48%	-7%	-29%
19	Washington Foster	9%	36%	27%	21%	-27%	-12%
20	Indiana Kelley	20%	15%	26%	23%	5%	-3%
21	Washington Olin	47%	70%	71%	49%	-23%	-2%
22	CMU Tepper	17%	17%	11%	19%	0%	-2%
23	Georgetown McDonough	49%	48%	54%	43%	1%	6%
24	Georgia Tech Scheller	26%	20%	26%	29%	6%	-3%
25	Vanderbilt Owen	22%	23%	19%	16%	-1%	6%
26	Notre Dame Mendoza	16%	17%	37%	24%	-1%	-8%
27	Rice Jones	7%	35%	29%	31%	-28%	-24%
28	Rochester Simon	16%	19%	23%	27%	-3%	-11%
29	Arizona State Carey	37%	46%	48%	43%	-9%	-6%
30	Minnesota Carlson	15%	20%	36%	30%	-5%	-15%
31	Penn State Smeal	22%	33%	19%	35%	-11%	-13%
32	BYU Marriott	N/A	N/A	N/A	19%	N/A	N/A
33	Ohio State Fisher	23%	44%	53%	35%	-21%	-12%
34	Georgia Terry	38%	32%	42%	34%	6%	4%
35	Boston University Questrom	18%	29%	49%	52%	-11%	-34%
36	Texas A&M Mays	39%	38%	29%	39%	1%	0%
37	Wisconsin	21%	30%	15%	16%	-9%	5%
38	Texas-Dallas Jindal	44%	33%	36%	62%	11%	-18%
39	Maryland Smith	18%	22%	28%	33%	-4%	-15%
40	Florida Hough	46%	62%	45%	50%	-16%	-4%
41	Pittsburgh Katz	23%	24%	58%	34%	-1%	-11%
42	UC-Irvine Merage	29%	12%	7%	20%	17%	9%
43	Michigan State Broad	5%	14%	23%	14%	-9%	-9%
44	SMU Cox	23%	20%	31%	40%	3%	-17%
45	Northwestern Kellogg	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
46	Emory Goizueta	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
47	William & Mary Mason	15%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
48	Rutgers Business School	6%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
49	Utah Eccles	38%	40%	12%	N/A	-2%	N/A
50	George Washington	23%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

The data provided represents the percentage of students who submitted GRE scores for admission to various U.S. business schools over the years 2019 to 2022. Let’s analyze the trends and observations from this data:

Increasing Acceptance of GRE Scores

Generally, there is a trend of increasing acceptance of GRE scores across business schools. Many schools have witnessed a rise in the percentage of students submitting GRE scores over the years, indicating a broader acceptance of this alternative to the GMAT.

Stable or Decreasing Trends

Some schools have stable or decreasing trends in the percentage of students submitting GRE scores. For instance, schools like Washington Foster, Wisconsin, Ohio State Fisher, and Texas-Dallas Jindal have experienced significant drops in the percentage of GRE submissions, indicating a potential shift in their admissions policies.

School-Specific Observations

Wharton, Stanford GSB, and Yale SOM: These schools have consistently seen a significant percentage of students submitting GRE scores, indicating the acceptance and popularity of GRE in these highly competitive institutions.
MIT Sloan and Chicago Booth: These schools have also shown a steady increase in the acceptance of GRE scores, reflecting a broader trend among top-tier business schools.
UC-Berkeley Haas: While already accepting a relatively high percentage of GRE submissions, Haas has shown a significant increase in recent years, possibly reflecting a strategic move to diversify their applicant pool.
Columbia Business School: Although the percentage of GRE submissions has increased, it remains relatively stable, indicating consistent policies over the years.
Vanderbilt Owen, Duke Fuqua, and Notre Dame Mendoza: These schools have a moderate but consistent percentage of GRE submissions, suggesting a balanced approach in accepting both GRE and GMAT scores.

Notable Absences

Some schools like Northwestern Kellogg, Emory Goizueta, William & Mary Mason, and Rutgers Business School do not have available data, making it challenging to assess their GRE acceptance trends.

Variable Trends

Schools like Indiana Kelley and Penn State Smeal have witnessed fluctuations in GRE submissions, indicating potential shifts in their admissions strategies or applicant preferences.

Final Thoughts

The data on average GRE scores at top U.S. business schools from 2019 to 2022 presents a compelling narrative of change and adaptation within the realm of higher education. As we conclude our exploration, several key takeaways emerge:

Key Takeaways

GRE’s Growing Acceptance: The rising acceptance of GRE scores by prestigious business schools signifies an evolving admissions landscape. Schools are increasingly recognizing the value of assessing candidates based on broader skill sets, allowing individuals from diverse academic backgrounds to pursue their MBA aspirations.
Diverse Applicant Pool: The percentage of students applying to business schools using GRE scores demonstrates a shift toward inclusivity. This trend indicates that candidates from various educational backgrounds are being welcomed into MBA programs, enriching the classroom experience with diverse perspectives.
Strategic Shifts: Schools with significant increases might be strategically trying to attract a broader range of applicants, considering GRE’s popularity among non-business undergraduate majors.
Admissions Policy Changes: Schools with decreasing percentages might be refining their admissions policies, potentially focusing on GMAT scores or other application criteria.
Adaptation to Changing Times: The trends reflect how business schools are adapting to changing educational landscapes and applicant preferences, making their admissions processes more inclusive and accommodating diverse talents.

In the coming years, we can expect further evolution in admissions policies as schools continue to refine their selection criteria to identify the most promising candidates. The data presented here serves as a testament to the dynamic nature of graduate business education and the commitment of these institutions to fostering a diverse and innovative community of business leaders.

Ultimately, the top business schools in the U.S. are not just educating future leaders; they are leading the way in shaping the future of business education itself.