Top 15 MBA Class Profile - Class of 2025 (Analysis)

GMAT/GRE score is a reflection of the school’s selectivity. Among the top 15, Harvard had the highest entry barrier – a median GMAT of 740, followed by Stanford (738) and Haas (733).

Booth, Kellogg, and NYU Stern were right behind Haas in the 730 range, while Wharton was the only M7 MBA with a 720s median GMAT score.

Tuck and Ross seem more open to applicants with relatively lower GMAT scores, standing at 726 and 719, respectively. Yale takes a more lenient approach with a GMAT score of 720, followed by UCLA Anderson with a 710 average GMAT, both presenting a more accessible option for candidates.  Finally, LBS accepts the lowest GMAT score of 701 from the Top 15 list.

Despite accepting lower GMAT scores, Yale showcases the highest GRE score of 166 for Quant and 164 for Verbal. Similarly, Stanford, Harvard, Kellogg, and NYU Stern reflect their selectivity through average total GRE scores ranging from 326 to 328. Ross, Tuck, and Wharton seem quite lenient in terms of the GRE scores.

Top 15 MBA Class Profile: International%/ Women%

International Diversity: Leading the charge in terms of international students is London Business School (LBS), boasting an impressive 91% international student percentage – a trend that is common among European and UK schools.  

Yale is 2nd, with 50% international students, reaffirming its commitment to promoting a global outlook among its MBA candidates.

NYU Stern, UCLA Anderson, and Ross also stand out with high international percentages, at 48%, 48%, and 43%, respectively.

Darden (41%), Harvard (39%), and Kellogg (39%) are among the other top schools with a fair percentage of International students.

Stanford, Booth, Tuck, Haas, and Wharton maintain international student percentages in the 30-40% range. None of the top 15 MBA programs shares an international percentage lower than 30%.

Gender Diversity: When it comes to gender diversity, Wharton takes the lead, achieving a notable 50% representation of women in its MBA class and being the only school from the Top 15 MBAs to achieve the 50-50 target. Kellogg closely follows with 48% women, while MIT Sloan and Stanford both record 46% female representation. The majority of other top schools - Booth, Tuck, Harvard, Yale, NYU, HAAS, and Ross maintain a healthy representation of women, with percentages falling in the 40-45% range.

With 37% women representation, both Darden and LBS have a huge potential to improve gender diversity.

Top 15 MBA Class Profile - Undergraduate Degree

STEM: MIT Sloan emerges as a leader in attracting students with STEM backgrounds, with an impressive 45% of its students holding degrees in these fields. This aligns with MIT's reputation for innovation and technological advancement, underlining its appeal to candidates with quantitative and technical expertise.
Ross and Harvard closely follow, with 44% and 42% of students, respectively. Other preferable MBAs for students from STEM backgrounds are Stanford (41%), Kellogg (38%), INSEAD (37%), Yale (35%), and UCLA Anderson (33%).

Business/Economics: Kellogg takes the lead in Business/Economics Pre-MBA undergraduate degrees, with 50% of its students holding undergraduate degrees in business or economics. INSEAD and Booth follow Kellogg, each with 46% students from Business/Economics backgrounds.

Top MBAs like Harvard and Stanford have 43% and 41% students, respectively, from Business and Economics. Wharton, with 27% of students, and Tuck, with 28% of students, are two other top MBAs, with close to a third of students from Business/Economics.

Wharton and Tuck, each with 40% of its students holding degrees in humanities or social sciences, demonstrate a commitment to fostering a well-rounded MBA cohort.

NYU Stern (29%), Kellogg (25%), and Yale (25%) also demonstrate a healthy percentage of students from Humanities and Social Science Backgrounds.

Top schools such as Stanford (18%), Harvard (16%), and Booth (15%) have slightly lower percentages of students from the Humanities. This was not the case 5 years back when Stanford had a high percentage from Humanities.

Top 15 MBA Class Profile - Pre-MBA Industry

Consulting emerges as a popular industry among MBA candidates, with percentages ranging from 14% to 30%.

Consulting: LBS leads in the Consulting Industry with 30% of students from the industry, followed by INSEAD at 29%, Wharton (27%), MIT Sloan at 26%, and Kellogg at 26%.

PE/VC: Stanford leads in Investment Management/PE/VC with 19%  of students, while Harvard and Wharton follow with 17% each.

Tech Industry: The technology industry is led by UCLA Anderson with 24% of students, whereas MIT Sloan, with 23%, is in second place, followed by HAAS with 20%. Most of the top MBA in the Top 15 have around 10% to 15% of students from the Tech Industry.  

Harvard has the highest number of students in Consumer Product Goods, i.e., 10%.

Fashion, Design and Luxury: LBS (9%) and INSEAD (6%) are the schools that hold a significant number of students from Fashion, Design, and Luxury, reflecting the strengths of London and Paris respectively.

Ross leads the Property and Construction industry (10%).

Healthcare: For students from the Healthcare industry, Ross is a good destination as almost 12% of students in its class of 2025 are from the Healthcare sector. UCLA Anderson, with 10%, follows Ross in the Medical and Healthcare industry.

Engineering/Manufacturing: Ross is the only school in the top 15 to prioritize Engineering /Manufacturing, with 10% of students from the industry.

Darden and Yale, each with 20% of students, are from the Not-for-Profit/Government/Military sector, followed by Tuck (16%), Booth (14%), NYU Stern (14%), and HAAS (14%).
 

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• Harvard
• Stanford
• Wharton
• Booth
• Columbia
• Kellogg
• MIT Sloan
• Duke Fuqua
• LBS
• INSEAD
• Tuck
• Darden
• Haas
• Ross
• NYU Stern