What’s a Good GMAT Score? Percentiles and Targets by School Tier (2026)

If someone told you a 700 is a good GMAT score, that advice comes from the legacy exam’s 200–800 scale. On today’s GMAT Focus Edition, a 700 isn’t even possible: total scores run from 205 to 805, and every one ends in 5.

So what counts as a good GMAT score now? It depends on the schools you’re applying to, not on a universal cutoff.

This guide covers GMAC’s current percentiles, how Focus and legacy figures differ, what top programs report for the Class of 2027 and 2028, and how to set your own target.

How GMAT Focus scoring works

The current exam is the GMAT Focus Edition, with three sections: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights. Here’s how the numbers work, per GMAC’s official GMAT score guide:

• Total score: 205 to 805, in 10-point steps. Every total ends in 5.
• Section scores: each section is scored 60 to 90, and the three sections are weighted equally in the total.
• Validity: scores are valid for five years from your test date.
• Measurement error: GMAC puts the standard error of measurement at 30–40 points on the total and about 3 points per section.

A 10- or 20-point gap between two scores sits inside that error, so it tells a school very little.

The legacy GMAT (scored 200–800) was retired on January 31, 2024. Legacy scores stay valid for five years, so some applicants still submit them, which is why many class profiles show two sets of GMAT numbers.

GMAC says it isn’t appropriate to compare a Focus score directly with a legacy score. Compare them by percentile instead. For how section scores add up, try a GMAT score calculator.

GMAT Focus percentiles: what your score means

A percentile is the share of test-takers who scored below you. The table below uses GMAC’s current data (tests taken 2021–2026).

*Legacy equivalents come from GMAC’s score concordance table (published July 2025), which links the two scales by percentile.

A few things to take from the table:

• The average is lower than you might think. In GMAC’s 2021–2026 data (509,182 test-takers), the mean Focus score is about 555, with a standard deviation of about 94.
• A 655 is roughly the 90th percentile. That’s where the legacy “700” used to sit.
• Percentiles shift. GMAC recalculates them annually, so a given score’s percentile can move; the live table sits on GMAC’s understanding your score page.

Percentiles also understate what top programs expect. The pool includes everyone who sits for the exam, and many will never apply to a selective MBA program. Being in the top 10% of all test-takers doesn’t put you in the middle of an elite class. That’s why percentiles can mislead when you use them alone.

GMAT scores by school tier (Class of 2027 and 2028 profiles)

Before comparing your score with a school’s numbers, check what it’s reporting. Class profiles aren’t standardized:

• Median vs. mean. A median is the middle admit’s score. A mean is the average, which outliers can pull up or down. Some schools report one, some both.
• Middle 80% vs. full range. A middle-80% range drops the top and bottom 10% of scores. A full range shows the class low and high.
• Which class. Most current profiles cover the Class of 2027, which entered in fall 2025. Class of 2028 profiles are being posted through fall 2026.

The table below uses Focus-scale figures only. The tiers are loose groupings, not a ranking, and schools move between them. The first group is the M7 business schools, a label for seven elite programs.

Every figure comes from the school’s own profile, such as Chicago Booth’s class profile, which reports a median and a mean, and UCLA Anderson’s profile, a Class of 2028 example.

Tier by tier:

• Elite (M7): Focus medians and means cluster around 675–690, roughly the 94th to 96th percentile. Middle-80% ranges typically start around 615–645.
• Top 15: mostly 665–682.
• Top 25: mostly 650–660, around the 90th percentile.
• Top 50: often in the 610s to 630s; Indiana Kelley’s Class of 2028 mean is 618.

Middle-80% ranges also show that 1 in 10 admits scored below the bottom of the range. A below-median score isn’t disqualifying. The further below you are, though, the more the rest of your application has to carry. For programs not listed here, look up GMAT averages at more MBA programs.

Schools watch these figures partly because rankings do: U.S. News uses median GMAT and GRE scores in its student selectivity measure, one piece of how U.S. News ranks MBA programs.

Reading legacy numbers in a class profile

The same class can look very different on the two scales. Harvard Business School’s Class of 2027 reports a 685 median on the GMAT Focus and a 730 median on the legacy GMAT (HBS class profile). Schools still publish legacy figures because some admits tested before 2024. Never compare your Focus score with a legacy median.

How to set your own GMAT target score

Once you know what your schools report, you can turn those numbers into a personal target. For more background, read up on how schools weigh your GMAT score.

1. List 5–8 target schools and pull each one’s Focus median or mean from its own class profile. Your baseline target is at or slightly above the median for the most selective school on your list.
2. Adjust for your applicant pool. If you come from an applicant pool that’s heavily represented at business schools (common industry backgrounds such as finance, consulting, or tech, or large applicant groups by nationality and industry), aim 10–20 points above the median. If your experience is genuinely distinctive, or your GPA and quantitative record are strong, landing near the median is reasonable.
3. Check your section floors. Schools want evidence you can handle finance, statistics, and economics coursework. As a rule of thumb, Quant and Data Insights scores in the high 70s or above keep your quantitative ability from becoming a question, especially if your transcript or job doesn’t show quant work. Once you clear that bar, the total matters more than the split. For reference, HBS’s Class of 2027 Focus section medians were 84 in Quant and 86 in Verbal.
4. Consider scholarships. A score above a school’s median can strengthen your case for MBA merit scholarships at programs that award merit aid.
5. Account for GPA and work experience. A lower GPA or a non-quantitative major raises the value of a strong score. If that’s you, read more about applying with a lower GPA.
6. Decide whether more points are worth the effort. If you’re within about 10–20 points of your target, which is inside the test’s measurement error, it’s usually time to move on to the rest of your application.

A hypothetical case: your list tops out at a school with a 675 Focus median, you work in consulting, and you scored 665 with a 76 in Quant. Baseline target 675, adjusted up toward 685 for a crowded applicant pool, and a Quant score just under the floor. Raising Quant is the useful next step.

What about GRE scores?

Many top programs accept the GRE and publish GRE figures alongside GMAT numbers. Harvard Business School’s Class of 2027, for example, reports GRE medians of 164 Verbal and 164 Quant. The same logic applies: compare your GRE scores with each school’s own GRE numbers, and learn what a good GRE score is for your list.

Don’t convert GRE scores to GMAT scores with unofficial charts; they add error you can’t measure.

Some programs also accept the Executive Assessment or offer test waivers in limited cases.

Checklist: is your GMAT score good enough?

•  Your score is on the Focus scale (it ends in 5), and you’re comparing it with Focus figures, not legacy ones
•  You’ve looked up each target school’s latest class profile and noted whether it reports a median or a mean
•  Your score is at or above the median for most schools on your list, or your profile gives you a clear reason to be below it
•  Your Quant and Data Insights scores are in the high 70s or better
•  Your score is within about 20 points of your target, or you have a plan (and enough time before deadlines) to improve it
•  You’ve considered whether a higher score would change your scholarship prospects

A good GMAT score is the one that stops being the weakest part of your application.