Average GRE Scores At Leading B-Schools

The Graduate Record Exam popularity continues to grow. In 2018, according to data collected by U.S. News & World Report for its newly released annual ranking of U.S. business schools, the GRE was more popular than ever.

Analysis of U.S. News data from last fall’s intakes at the top 50 schools finds

1. 30 of 48 schools saw a year-over-year gain between 2017 and 2018 in the percentage of entrants who submitted GRE scores.
2. The top overall score in 2018 is Stanford Graduate School of Business, which reported an average 165 Quant and 165 Verbal for a 330 overall.
3. UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, was #2 at 329 total.
4. Three schools scored 328 total: Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, and the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. 
5. 8 of 43 schools saw their overall GRE scores rise since 2016
6. 8 schools stayed even
7. 14 schools saw drop-offs.

• Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, which rose 7 points to 314 between 2016 and 2018
• UC-Davis School of Business, climbed 7 points, to 323, in that span. 
• UCLA’s Anderson School of Management climbed 6 points in two years, to 326, good for sixth place overall
• Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management also climbed 6 points, to 318. 
• Illinois Gies and Penn State Smeal, saw 7-point drops in their overall scores, both landing at 308. (See all data on the following pages.)

Eight schools — including five of the top 10, Wharton, Northwestern Kellogg, Chicago Booth, MIT Sloan, and Columbia Business School — have never reported GRE data to U.S. News. 

• The number of schools with over 20% of entrants who submitted GRE scores is now 25, up from 22 last year. 
• The number over 30% is 14, double what it was only a year ago. 
• Last year there were no schools over 50% and two schools at 45% (Ohio State Fisher and Texas-Dallas Jindal); both saw declines.

Overall in the last four years, six schools have seen a 250% or greater gain in entrants who submitted GRE scores, led by the University of Washington Foster School of Business, which grew from 2% to 16% from 2015 to 2018. That’s a 700% increase.