GMAT Scores for Top Business Schools

The score you need depends on the school, and the first difficulty is that many schools publish two. Harvard reports a median of 685 on the current scale and of 730 on the tenth edition: the very same cohort of students, two numbers forty-five points apart. Reading the wrong column is the most common mistake people make when setting themselves a target, and it sends them chasing a score far higher than the school actually asks for.

What follows are the scores the schools publish, taken from their official class profiles, with the percentiles from the GMAC concordance table. You will also find the four schools that publish nothing at all — SDA Bocconi and INSEAD among them — because knowing that a number does not exist is worth as much as knowing the number.

The two scales, and how not to confuse them

The GMAT Focus Edition uses a 205 to 805 scale, and every total score ends in 5, moving in ten-point steps. It is the most useful rule there is for finding your bearings: if you read 730, 700 or 680, you are not looking at a score on the current scale but on the tenth edition, the previous exam. The sections — Quantitative, Verbal and Data Insights — run from 60 to 90 and carry equal weight.

The conversion between the two scales does not have to be estimated: GMAC publishes an official concordance table, and these are the values for the most commonly searched scores.

Source: official GMAC concordance table, percentiles for the period 1 July 2021 – 30 June 2026.

Two readings of that table change the way you set a target. The first: 565 is the median, which means half the candidates in the world sit below that number. The second: the scale compresses at the top. Between 685 and 715 there are only three score steps but three and a half percentile points, whilst between 615 and 645 there are the same three steps and ten percentile points. Gaining thirty points at the bottom of the scale is far easier than gaining thirty at the top — which is why the return on your preparation falls the higher you climb.

European business schools

Among the European schools Italian candidates look at most, only three publish a GMAT average: London Business School, HEC Paris and ESADE. The others — SDA Bocconi, INSEAD, IE — require the test but declare neither an average nor a minimum, and IESE publishes only the band within which it accepts candidates.

The figure that surprises almost everyone is the first one: 645 is London Business School's average, the 85th percentile. Anyone carrying "you need a 700 for LBS" around in their head is reading the old scale, where 700 corresponds to precisely 645.

Be careful not to make the opposite mistake with the three that publish nothing: the test is compulsory at all three. Not publishing an average does not mean not asking for the GMAT — it means not releasing class statistics. Anyone who attaches a precise number to those schools has taken it from a third-party site, often still on the old scale.

SDA Bocconi (Milan)

The official Full-Time MBA class profile does not contain a single occurrence of the word GMAT: it publishes class size, average age, years of experience and nationalities, and stops there. The test is compulsory for every candidate — GMAT, GRE or Executive Assessment — but the school states that there is no minimum score for admission, and in specific cases it accepts an internal SDA test as an alternative.

Which means that any figure you find online for Bocconi comes from a third party. In practice: the score counts as one element among others, alongside work experience, essays, references and the interview, and there is no threshold to hide behind, nor one that rules you out from the start.

For anyone targeting Bocconi from Italy the GMAT is still the most controllable piece of the application: it is the only part that depends solely on the hours you put into it. For an overview of how to prepare, read the Bocconi test preparation guide.

INSEAD (Fontainebleau / Singapore)

INSEAD publishes no average and no median either: the class profile reports demographic data only, and the FAQs say explicitly that there is no minimum score required. The test, however, is compulsory and cannot be waived.

What INSEAD does publish is more useful than an average, and is usually ignored: it recommends a target per section, not a total — the 60th percentile in Verbal and the 66th in Quantitative and Data Insights. It is a different way of reading your preparation: a respectable total built on one very weak section answers that recommendation worse than a similar total that is balanced.

INSEAD places a high value on international diversity and requires competence in at least two languages. An Italian candidate with fluent English and a third language has a structural advantage.

London Business School (London)

LBS publishes an average of 645 on the current scale, the 85.6th percentile, and declares a very wide class band. It is the number that contradicts the most expectations: anyone with "you need a 700 for LBS" in mind is remembering the old scale, where 700 corresponds exactly to 645.

LBS is known for valuing experience in the financial sector — if you come from investment banking or consulting in Milan, the profile aligns well.

HEC Paris

Published average: 635 on the current scale, the 80.9th percentile. HEC itself states the equivalence with the old scale, where the same result is worth 690. A 16-month MBA programme, with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship and leadership.

IE Business School (Madrid)

IE publishes no GMAT figure at all, and for a structural reason: it accepts the ieGAT, the school's own test, just as readily as the GMAT or the GRE. An admitted candidate may never have sat the GMAT, so a class average would mean very little. The programme remains highly selective on entrepreneurship, leadership and international profile.

ESADE (Barcelona)

Published average: 615 on the current scale, the 75.4th percentile — 660 on the previous one, an equivalence stated by the school. ESADE runs a programme with a strong design thinking and social innovation component.

IESE (Barcelona)

IESE publishes no average but rather the band within which it accepts: 545 to 715 on the current scale, running from the 42nd to the 98.6th percentile. It is the widest range declared by any school on this list, and it should be read for what it is — a range of accepted scores, not a target.

Target scores for American business schools

The American schools all publish both scales, side by side. These are the current-scale figures, taken from the official class profiles.

The most useful fact on this whole page, though, is a different one, and it concerns the ranges. Harvard and MIT Sloan both publish exactly the same middle 80%: 645–735. Which means that a 645 — the 85.6th percentile, not the 99th — already falls inside the middle eighty per cent of both classes. It is not a score that guarantees admission, but it is a very long way from the 730 almost everyone has in mind when they think of Harvard.

One clarification on the averages: some schools publish the mean, others the median. They are different measures of different distributions, so the rows should be read as levels rather than as a ranking — there is no sense in saying that Columbia "asks for more" than Harvard, because 690 and 685 are not the same statistic. Nor do we know which portion of the class they are calculated on: almost all of these schools accept the GRE as well, and only Stanford states how many submitted one or the other.

An international (non-American) candidate applying to an American MBA generally needs a GMAT slightly above the school's average to offset the fact that the international applicant pool is more competitive. Planning the timing carefully is essential: the article on when to take the GMAT explains how to synchronise preparation with the admission rounds.

Beyond the number: what really matters

The GMAT is important, but it is not everything. Business schools use a holistic admissions process where the test is one component. Here is what weighs alongside the score.

Work experience — quality, career progression and impact matter more than duration. 4 years with rapid growth and increasing responsibility are worth more than 8 years in the same position.

Essays — the questions change every year, but the principle is constant: the school wants to understand why an MBA, why this school, and what you will bring to the class. Generic essays ("I want a career in management") don't work. Specific essays with concrete goals do.

International profile — for European schools in particular, diversity is a value. Languages spoken, international experiences, ability to work in multicultural contexts.

References — two professional letters confirming the qualities claimed in the essays. The best come from direct managers who can speak to your concrete impact.

Interview — many European schools (Bocconi included) invite only pre-selected candidates to an interview. It is a conversation, but it assesses leadership, motivation and fit with the programme.

When the score compensates (and when it doesn't)

A high GMAT compensates for a less conventional professional profile, a low undergraduate GPA, or an academic background unrelated to business. If you come from a humanities degree and want to get into Bocconi, a 685 demonstrates that you have the necessary quantitative skills.

A high GMAT does not compensate for insufficient work experience (under 3 years for most programmes), generic or poorly written essays, or a profile without growth. A 715 won't save an application that lacks substance.

A below-average GMAT is acceptable if you have an exceptional professional profile (you work at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, or have founded a company), a strong academic background (honours degree from a recognised university), or a demographic profile that the school is seeking (gender diversity, nationality, sector).

The practical rule: if your GMAT is in the upper half of the school's range, the test won't be an issue. If it is in the lower half, everything else must be stronger than average.

Section scores matter

Business schools don't just look at the total — they also look at individual section scores. A 665 total with 82 in Quant, 75 in Verbal and 72 in DI tells a different story from a 665 with 70 in Quant, 80 in Verbal and 78 in DI.

For schools with a strong finance orientation (LBS, Bocconi), a high Quant score is particularly valued. For schools focused on leadership and communication, Verbal carries more weight.

Data Insights is the newest section and schools are still calibrating how to evaluate it. But since it tests data literacy — the most in-demand competency in current MBA programmes — a high DI score is a positive signal that few schools ignore.

If you want to understand how to improve in Data Insights: Strategies for the Newest Section

Scholarships and the GMAT

For many business schools the GMAT is an explicit criterion in awarding scholarships, even where no admission threshold exists. It is a distinction worth keeping in mind: a school can ask you for no minimum score to get in and still use your score to decide how much you pay. The precise thresholds change every year and need to be checked on each school's own site in the year you apply.

The logic: a high GMAT score signals analytical ability, discipline in preparation and serious motivation. For merit-based scholarships, it is often the most objective and comparable criterion.

If the cost of the MBA is a factor (and for most candidates it is), investing in GMAT preparation has a direct ROI: the 30 points separating a 615 from a 645 can be worth tens of thousands of euros in scholarships. For the cost of preparation with a tutor, visit our pricing page.

The strategy for Italian candidates

Italian candidates face three different scenarios: for SDA Bocconi there is no declared score to reach, so the work shifts to standing out within a crowded Italian pool; for non-Italian European schools being Italian is a diversity advantage, and the published averages — 645 at LBS, 635 at HEC, 615 at ESADE — are lower than almost anyone expects; for the American schools the average rises above 675 and preparation has to be planned over a longer horizon.

For SDA Bocconi: the pool of Italian candidates is large, and experience in consulting, finance or tech in Milan is the most common profile, so on its own it does not differentiate you. With no published average and no minimum, there is no number to reach: the score is there to remove doubt, not to clear a threshold. For anyone also considering the undergraduate route, the SAT is a valid option for entering Bocconi.

For non-Italian European schools (INSEAD, LBS, HEC): being Italian counts in your favour in terms of diversity. The GMAT can be slightly below average if the rest of the profile is strong. The most underestimated barrier is English: the GMAT Verbal is effectively the test of your reading speed in academic English.

For American schools: the international pool is highly competitive. Aim above the school's average, not merely at it. Preparation has to be longer and more structured — the top American schools have higher scoring standards.

A tutor who knows both the GMAT and the business school landscape helps you calibrate your target score to the specific programme you are considering. Simulations on the Up to Ten adaptive platform show exactly where to gain the points you are missing — so the work is targeted, not generic. There is no sense in sacrificing three extra months to go from 665 to 695 if your target school publishes an average of 645. That time is better invested in the essays.

To build the complete plan: GMAT Preparation: The Complete Guide

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The complete GMAT preparation pathway:

• GMAT Preparation: The Complete Guide
• GMAT Structure: Sections, Scoring and How It Works
• GMAT Data Insights: Strategies for the Newest Section
• When to Take the GMAT: Timing and Planning