In 2016, GMAC collaborated with six prominent global business schools to create the Executive Assessment, a tailored assessment specifically developed to suit the admissions objectives of executive MBA programs globally. From a tool for evaluating Executive MBA candidate, the assessment has now been started accepting as an alternative to GMAT test for full-time MBA candidates as well.
Don’t blindly follow the 720+ rule. A better strategy would be to aim for the 99th percentile. To convert GMAT Score to percentiles, visit GMAT Percentile page. Although GMAT Score is not the only factor that would decide you chance to get into top Business School, here are the average GMAT Scores of top Business Schools.
The GMAT is a computer-adaptive test where your score is calculated by an algorithm that provides you with harder questions (and higher score returns) when you answer previous questions correctly, and with easier questions (and lower returns) when you’ve answered previous questions incorrectly.
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GMAT score is a common, objective benchmark that leaves no room for ambiguity when comparing two candidates from different schools, regions, or majors. The same cannot be said for GPA.
Some schools might follow a bell-curve whereas other schools might have a grading system that is top-heavy. Some schools might use a 4.0 scale whereas others might have a 100-point scale
Find out how GMAT and GPA are evaluated by Business Schools
GMAT is an integral part of MBA Admissions. An excellent score in itself will not guarantee a place in Harvard, Wharton, Stanford or other top schools but a 700-720+ score will ensure that your applications will be read with the same seriousness as that of other competitive applicants. Here are some useful tips on improving your GMAT score.
GMAT Scores are valid for Five Years, and are an integral part of MBA Application Process. Although you might have heard of stories of applicants making into top schools with below average scores: 550-600. It is an exception and not a rule. When you consider Essays, Recommendation Letter, GMAT score and Admission Interviews, GMAT Score is the only part of the MBA Application that is set into a comparable scale like percentile ranking and overall score. Find out which is a good GMAT Score.
Most Business Schools will have three data points when it comes to GMAT Score – Average GMAT Score, Median GMAT Score and Middle 80% GMAT Score.
Learn how to compare your GMAT Score against median, mean and middle 80%.
The CNNMoney Post about how AdCom (Rotman School of Mangement) makes decisions gives us insight on the factors that the admission team value before making a ding or accepted decision.
If you have wondered whether Age influences your ability to score high on GMAT, the 2012 Profile of GMAT Candidates report by GMAC gives some clear clues. We looked at the Mean Total GMAT Score for the past 5 years and here is what we found: The worst performing group as expected were the 50+ age group that had a mean GMAT score of 462.6. And the best performing age group is..
GMAC has released the total mean GMAT score for the past five years (2008-12). Except for the year 2008-09, mean GMAT scores have shown consistent improvement. On an average, the total mean GMAT score has increased by 1.5 to 2 points every year, reaching 548.21 during the year 2011-12. Test takers from Physics, Mathematics and Engineering, topped the 5 Year Mean GMAT score with 607.4, 603.4 and 592.8 respectively. Learn more about Top Mean GMAT Score - By Undergraduate Degree.
GMAT provides two ways to measure your score: Scaled Total and Section wise Scores. However, for Business Schools, these scores have very little value unless they can look through a comparative scale. That is where GMAT Score Percentiles help.
You might be aware that there are three GMAT Sections: Analytical Writing/Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative and Verbal. The result of the Analytical Writing/Integrated Reasoning section will have no impact on your total scaled score. The Quantitative and Verbal sections contribute to the overall score. The total score is measured in a scale from 200 to 800. Each section is measured in a scale from 0 to 60.
Total Score: 200 – 800
Quantitative: 0 - 60
Verbal: 0 - 60
How is GMAT Percentile tracked?
GMAC looks into GMAT test data for the last three years to evaluate your percentile. You should clearly understand the difference between the validity of GMAT test, which is 5 years and the percentile change that can happen if a more competitive group of students take the GMAT in one year.
Essential GMAT Reading Comprehension Guide (2023 Edition)
Collecting and Interpreting Facts: GMAT Reading Comprehension
Effective Note-taking for GMAT Reading Comprehension
5 Questions to Speed up Summary Creation
Mastering GMAT Reading Comprehension: 3 Best Practices
How to Remember Information
How to improve comprehension by Questioning the Author
How to Read Faster
How to Answer GMAT Reading Comprehension Title question
How to Answer GMAT Reading Comprehension Main Idea Question
How to Answer GMAT Reading comprehension inference question
How to Answer GMAT Reading Comprehension Purpose Question
How to Answer GMAT Reading Comprehension Detail Question
How to Answer the GMAT organization of passage Question
How to Improve GMAT Reading Comprehension Score?
Passage #1: Protein-Rich Diet Passage #2: Pregnant Women and Stress Management
Passage #3: F Losing Momentum
Passage #4: Conservatives and Automation
Passage #5: Collaboration, Team size and Performance
Passage #6: Effective Altruism
Passage #7: Loneliness Epidemic
Passage #8: Space Exploration
Passage #9: Lab-Grown Meat
Passage #10: Minimum Wage in the US
Passage #11: AI and Creativity
Passage #12: Bias Against Healthcare in Developing Economies
Passage #13: Legacy Admissions
Passage #14: Plastic Ban and alternatives
Passage #15: Underestimating Homo Sapiens
Passage #16: Conspiracy Theories
Passage #17: Relative Poverty
Passage #18: Why Paintings are expensive
Passage #19: US Obesity Epidemics
Passage #20: The Future of Advertising
Passage #21: Breaking Large Companies
Passage #22: Helicopter Parenting
Passage #23: Future of Democracy
Passage #24: Technology and Global Citizenship
Passage #25: Morality and Investment
Answers: 157 to 294
Pages: 295
Questions: 100+
Download F1GMAT's Essential GMAT Reading Comprehension Guide (2023 Edition)
Mastering GMAT Critical Reasoning (2023 Edition)
1) Introduction
2) 6 Step Strategy to solve GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions
3) How to overcome flawed thinking in GMAT Critical Reasoning?
4) 4 GMAT Critical Reasoning Fallacies
5) Generalization in GMAT Critical Reasoning
6) Inconsistencies in Arguments
7) Eliminate Out of Scope answer choices using Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
8) Ad Hominem in GMAT Critical Reasoning
9) Slippery Slope in GMAT Critical Reasoning
10) Affirming the Consequent – GMAT Critical Reasoning
11) How to Paraphrase GMAT Critical Reasoning Question
12) How to Answer Assumption Question Type
13) How to Answer Conclusion Question Type
14) How to Answer Inference Question Type
15) How to Answer Strengthen Question Type
16) How to Answer Weaken Question Type
17) How to Answer bold-faced and Summary Question Types
18) How to Answer Parallel Reasoning Questions
19) How to Answer the Fill in the Blanks Question
Question Bank
Question 1: 5G Technology (Inference)
Question 2: Water Purifier vs. Minerals (Fill in the Blanks)
Question 3: Opioid Abuse (Strengthens)
Question 4: Abe and Japan’s Economy (Inference)
Question 5: Indians and Pulse Import (Weakens)
Question 6: Retail Chains in Latin America (Assumption)
Question 7: American Tax Rates – Republican vs. Democrats (Inference)
Question 8: AI – China vs the US (Weakens)
Question 9: Phone Snooping (Strengthens)
Question 10: Traditional Lawns (Assumption)
Question 11: Appraisal-Tendency Framework (Inference)
Question 12: Meta-Analysis of Diet Trials (Weakens)
Question 13: Biases in AI (Strengthens)
Question 14: Stock Price and Effectiveness of Leadership (Inference)
Question 15: US Border Wall (Weakens)
Question 16: Driverless Car and Pollution (Assumption)
Question 17: Climate Change (Inference)
Question 18: Rent a Furniture (Weakens)
Question 19: Marathon Performance and Customized Shoes (Weakens)
Question 20: Guaranteed Basic Income (Assumption)
Question 21: Brexit (Infer)
Question 22: AB vs Traditional Hotels (Assumption)
Question 23: Tax Incentive and Job Creation (Weakens)
Question 24: Obesity and Sleeve Gastrectomy (Inference)
Question 25: Recruiting Executives (Weaken)
F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay guide will teach you how to transform your essay into a life journey with trials and tribulations that will move the admission team.
+ Over 245 Sample Essays (Read Previews of F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay Guide Sample Essays here)
F1GMAT's Essay Guides
Harvard MBA Essay Guide (20 Sample Essays)
Example #1: Persistence Narrative
Background Information: The applicant – a design and music talent, shares her journey through several setbacks. She attributes curiosity to her growth.
Curiosity: Philosophy
Curiosity (Explained): Curiosity as a philosophy is tough to translate into a narrative unless you are from the creative industry or your contributions had an influence on a solution or an initiative.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to capture the humanity of the applicant and her influence in music instead of just highlighting how she overcame multiple roadblocks to gain attention as a designer.
Theme: Persistence
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Life Starts at NO (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #2: International Community Building
Background Information: The applicant, a Machine Learning (ML) entrepreneur specializing in healthcare diagnostics, shares how his curiosity to learn other ML algorithms’ evolution in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease transformed his platform into a global community.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to show the applicant’s contributions in diagnostic from 2020 to 2024 by citing two events. Such examples build credibility instead of engagements that were recent. The evolution of the platform from an AI development community to a community for discussing the application of AI in diagnostics is captured through a ‘curiosity’ angle.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Growth through Collaboration (AI in Healthcare) (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #3: Culture
Background Information: The applicant, an Entrepreneur from India narrates his first entrepreneurial experience – facilitating exchange of stamps in the late 1990s.
Theme: Culture
MBA Essay Strategy: Instead of addressing the biases in the investor community that could turn preachy, I wanted to focus on the applicant and his entrepreneurial journey by citing two entrepreneurial experiences – a platform(club) for stamp collection and his Grocery delivery App.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – The American Dream (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #4: Addiction
Background Information: The applicant – a beneficiary of the foster home system, captures the sacrifice his adopted grandparents made to save him from a path of addiction. Paying it back through early intervention among teenagers and community engagement is the curiosity narrative.
Theme: Addiction
MBA Essay Strategy: My strategy is to capture a gratitude narrative in the first one-third of the essay to demonstrate motivation for starting the venture and dedicate the latter part of the essay to the unique solution
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Drug Addiction and Gaming (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #5: Scarcity
Background Information: The applicant, an education major, recognizes that 70% of all students in Kenya don’t have a computer. The curiosity that drives him to pivot from one solution to another is the growth narrative.
Theme: Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: Often, innovation is captured with a ‘hero’ narrative where the applicant is the sole originator of an idea. I wanted to break that cliché and include a person from whom the applicant learned to use a concept called ‘scaffolding.’
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Scarcity (Growth-Oriented HBS Essay Example)
Example #6: FinTech
Background Information: The applicant captures a vulnerable moment of a beneficiary to compare his journey of side hustle before a technology giant noticed his talent. Although cryptocurrency is not a flavor for the year, capture niches where innovation is still happening.
Theme: Education, Child Welfare
MBA Essay Strategy: Empathizing with a techno solution is tough without a strong backstory around the beneficiary. For the essay, I wanted to clearly establish the beneficiary – Rami, before the applicant narrates the similarities to his journey and finally shares the solution that emerged from his curiosity.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – FinTech as a Tool for Good (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #7: Learning from the best
Background Information: The applicant – a Remote Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry, reflects on a value that has helped her learn from the best regardless of her geographical limitations.
Theme: Learning
MBA Essay Strategy: The effectiveness of the case-study method depends on the assumption that peers in a Harvard MBA class will help elevate your learning experience. For the essay, I have highlighted the applicant’s recognition of this value proposition with three examples.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Learning from the Best (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #8: Military & Search for IMPACT
Background Information: The most common narrative for US military applicants is to quote 9/11 and the reaction your immediate family had while watching the events unfold. The horrifying moment is captured as a motivation to join the Military. On digging deeper, most applicants would share that their motivations were diverse.
Theme: Career Choice
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to quickly highlight that the applicant had the choice of entering any industry. One achievement to demonstrate his curiosity that I shared in the first half is the invention of a game. Since the game is mentioned in the resume and verifiable through search, I didn’t quote the name. By clearly highlighting the person’s curiosity and career options, the family legacy is used as a factor in joining the military.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Career Choice after a Military Career (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)
Example #9: Small Business Values
Background Information: The applicant - a second-generation Asian American, is familiar with the values of fiscal conservatism, building relationships, and understanding the daily struggles of the community through his family’s department store.
Theme: Customer-Centric
MBA Essay Strategy: The applicant’s role in developing an App for the store is highlighted in the essay at a crucial part of the narrative so that the essay is not all about his father. I have also humanized the journey – by sharing how upset the father was when the revenues fell by 40%. The essay is about the transformation in the applicant’s value from a person chasing productivity and optimization technique to someone who is truly thinking about the customers.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Small Business Values (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #10: Breaking Away from Family Business
Background Information: A unique challenge that applicants whose parents are public figures or CXOs of businesses or entrepreneurs are the pressure to live up to the parent’s standards or milestones. For the leadership narrative, the burden of legacy is established before the narrative addresses his leadership principles.
Theme: Authenticity
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, I want to capture an entrepreneur’s journey to rise above his entrepreneur father’s image. But I didn’t want to make the entire essay about this complex dynamics. The narrative is around the applicant’s focus on customers and surrounding with teams who keeps him grounded.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Breaking Away from Family Business(Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #11: Creativity and Communication
Background Information: When the overall percentage of users with internet access is 62% in South Africa and the inequality accentuated by the rural and urban divide, the applicant endured the lack of digital infrastructure, and spending close to 22% of the family income on gaining relevant information on schools, global exams, and financial assistance.
Theme: Creativity, Communication
MBA Essay Strategy: The strategy is to share why the applicant values no distraction in a child’s home for optimum education experience. Then I highlight the many roadblocks the applicant’s non-profit faced in receiving fee waiver for their cooperative run ISP.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Non-Profit (Telecom) (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #12: Mental Health
Background Information: The applicant like most didn’t pay much attention to the mental health epidemic until tragedy hit home.
Theme: Communication, Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: A question we frequently get from applicants is whether they should cite tragedy in the family as a motivation for a venture or a non-profit initiative. As long as you don’t linger too much on the tragedy and offer a balanced narrative, there are no restrictions on leveraging unique stories from your life.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Mental Health (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #13: Trauma, Healing & Finding Authentic Self
Background Information: The applicant narrates the absurdity of war in the narrative about the duties in Kabul, and the trauma. Instead of wallowing in on the horror, the applicant takes what makes military applicants strong and guides unprivileged children build life and leadership skills.
Theme: Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing PTSD in an essay, the healing process, and the cues that helped the applicant are too sacred to be shared in a Harvard MBA application essay. However, with the right motivation and narrative arcs, you can capture the essence of your journey without sharing the darkest secrets. That is what I did by merging two stories – the horrors of the war with a non-profit engagement.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Military & PTSD (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #14: Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra
Background Information: In this narrative, the applicant captures Peru’s Silver mining boom of 2006. The growth experienced in her father’s business shifted the family’s economic status to a new stratosphere. Through the changing economic and family dynamics, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to record her unheard voice but later as one of the youngest subject matter experts in mining and commodities.
Theme: Failure
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, the strategy is to show how life’s unpredictability is a blessing. By narrating two setback events, the essay demonstrates the applicant’s resilience and her acknowledgment of people who made a comeback possible.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Example #15: War, Immigration and Starting Over Again
Background Information: Despite a raging war in Syria, the family of the applicant was unblemished by the chaos. The strategic government assets near the applicant’s house would have made the region an easy target, but it was not. The calmness of her journey is shattered in one event. From the privileges of a cocooned life, the applicant is forced to think about survival, her sister’s future, and her future in the US. The second half of the narrative captures the change that was forced on her.
Theme: Gratitude, Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: I consciously chose not to start the essay with a dialogue or trauma. Two lines are allocated to set up the narrative before the trauma event.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – War, Immigration and Starting Over Again (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)
Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
Example #16: Creative or Finance
Background Information: The applicant starts the narrative with the origin of her talents. The unbridled enthusiasm receives a reality check when in high school, the applicant’s father has a conversation with her about academics. While the applicant picked up her quant skills, she was reaching over 50,000 loyal fans, and her videos captured 1 million views.
Theme: Passion, Talent
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing vulnerability is the toughest part for Harvard MBA applicants. For this essay example, I have captured the applicant’s uncertainty about career choice throughout the essay. Here the goal is to show vulnerability in the career choice essay while for leadership and growth essay, I could capture one example each from creative and PE industry respectively to balance the narrative. So don’t follow this example without a strategy.
Read: Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay – Creative or Finance (Business-Minded HBS MBA Essay Example)
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