GMAT Exam Scores: How to choose the right B School; Key tips

Admission trends over the years to the flagship MBA programmes in top B-schools abroad show that GMAT scores apart from other mandatory academic excellence and desired work experience qualities play a very important role.

In any application for MBA abroad in a top rated B school, GMAT score matters the most- a low GMAT can kill your application although it is just one of the selection criteria. Although there is no scientific method on how to choose a very good B school according to ones GMAT score, one can definitely use some wiser means while targeting the B-school.

Make due assessment

Before targeting a B-school, it is imperative to know the minimum GMAT score requirement and the average GMAT scores of the incoming applicants to understand where you stand. For example, Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business in USA reports to have the highest average GMAT scores from incoming applicants. The class entering Stanford in 2014 had GMATs of 732 on average.

Good GMAT score: How to assess

What in fact is a good GMAT score, is a subjective thought. You have to check the scores of the middle 80% of the class to know your admission chances before applying.

3 Types of GMAT scores; check well

GMAT scores are of three types- sectional scores, total score and percentile. Any sectional score above 45 in quantitative and 40 in the verbal section is considered good enough. Average Analytical Writing Assessment scores should be around 5-6 and good Integrated Reasoning scores are supposed to be around 7-8.

To know what a good total score is, check the GMAT scores of the middle 80% of the class of the particular B-Schools. This is the score you should try to achieve. Generally any score above 700 will give you a chance of getting into a top B-school.

The lowest score or minimum score to get into any top B-school is around 650. There are exceptional cases of applicants getting admitted to Ivy Leagues with a score as low as 500 but they are exceptional cases. The percentile score shows percentage of tests taken with scores lower than you of the last three years. Hence a 75% will mean you have scored 75% more than the rest of the GMAT test takers over the past three years. A percentile of 95-99 ranking is considered competitive for top B-schools.

Recent GMAT scores in top B schools Abroad

Recent average GMAT scores on the basis of which MBA applicants were offered admission in some of the popular B-schools abroad are shared below

University of Chicago Booth, USA GMAT score: 724

Duke University Fuqua, USA GMAT score: 690

Babson College-Olin, USA GMAT score: 630

London Business School, UK GMAT score: 730

National University of Singapore (NUS) GMAT score: 672

CEIBS China GMAT score: 692

Richard Ivey, Canada GMAT score: 662

Target B schools with possible scores

You can target following B schools to pursue MBA abroad in accordance with their possible acceptable score ranges

MBA abroad with GMAT scores 700+

Great options to pursue MBA abroad from top B schools exist in the range of GMAT score from 700 to 780. In fact you can go for the best MBA abroad programme with this score range subject to the fulfilment of other requirements of the B school. Harvard Business School, USA

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Stanford University, USA

University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), USA

University of Chicago-Booth, USA

Ohio State University-Fisher

Boston University

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Ross), USA

National University of Singapore (NUS)

University of Western Ontario-Richard Ivey

IESE, Spain

Mannheim Business School, Germany

MBA abroad with GMAT scores 650-690

Aspirants planning to pursue MBA abroad with the above GMAT score may also have good admission opportunities in the following B schools

University of Arizona-Eller, USA

University of Georgia-Terry, USA

York University-Schulich, Canada

HKUST, Hong Kong

Monash University, Australia

IE Business School, Spain

Singapore Management University

MBA abroad with GMAT scores 580-650

If you have valid GMAT score in the range of 580 to 650, very good MBA abroad options may be available across the world

Syracuse University-Whitman, USA

University of Pittsburgh-Katz, USA

University of Buffalo-SUNY, USA

EBS, Germany

Cardiff Business School, UK

Henley Business School, UK

Simon Fraser University- Beedie School of Business, Canada

The captioned varying range of GMAT scores and the list of B schools accepting them gives a general view and is not limited to the above B-schools. Please remember that the admission criteria in MBA programmes in India and MBA abroad would be different. The Admission committee in different B schools abroad looks into every aspect of the applicants profile holistically.

Keep posting your queries on the forum at MBAUniverse.com for ideas on shortlisting the right B-schools according to your GMAT scores.