GMAT Scores For Harvard Business School

If you're thinking of applying to Harvard Business School, the best place to start is at HBS's home page (and specifically, their admissions page), which is packed with great information about their focus, their student body, and their standards.

HBS requires that you take the GMAT, and their applicant pool is nearly as competitive as you'll find anywhere else.

Harvard GMAT Stats

Over the last several years, I've seen mean and median GMAT scores for HBS between about 690 and 720. At the moment, HBS acknowledges that the middle 50% of admitted students score between 700 and 740. The Harvard profile at BusinessWeek.com notes that the middle 80% scores between 680 and 750.

As is the case with most schools, these are just guidelines. If nothing else, they tell you that a large number (if not a large fraction!) of students are getting in with sub-700 GMAT scores...though, presumably, those students have other qualities that move them to the top of the pile!

Anecdotally, I've heard of applicants gaining admission to HBS with GMAT scores as low as 580, but I certainly wouldn't advise you to expect the same outcome. The 700+ isn't necessary, but it's extremely helpful.

About the author: Jeff Sackmann has written many GMAT preparation books, including the popular Total GMAT Math, Total GMAT Verbal, and GMAT 111. He has also created explanations for problems in The Official Guide, as well as 1,800 practice GMAT math questions.

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