Updated October 21, 2026
None of the M7 business schools sets a minimum GMAT score, but their latest class profiles put the typical GMAT Focus Edition score between 670 and 690, roughly the 91st to 96th percentile. The real requirement is a score that doesn't become the weak part of your file. This guide gives each school's latest Focus figure for Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Columbia and MIT Sloan, labeled by class year, then shows how to set a target for your own profile.
The M7 is the informal name for seven of the most selective full-time MBA programs in the United States. It is not a ranking or an official association, but these schools consistently report some of the highest test scores among MBA programs, so they set the bar most applicants have in mind.
Every M7 school publishes a class profile with either a GMAT average or a median, and most now report the Focus Edition and the retired 10th Edition separately. The table uses each school's own page. For the top-15 schools beyond the M7, and programs abroad, see average GMAT scores for top MBA programs.
| School | Class | GMAT Focus (205–805) | Focus range | 10th Edition (200–800) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard Business School | 2027 | 685 median | 645–735 (middle 80%) | 730 median |
| Stanford GSB | 2027 | 689 average | 615–785 (low to high) | 738 average |
| Wharton | 2027 | 676 average | — | 735 average |
| Kellogg | 2027 | 687 average | — | 733 average |
| Columbia Business School | 2027 | 690 average | 615–805 (full range) | 734 average |
| MIT Sloan | 2028 | 675 median | 645–715 (middle 80%) | — |
| Chicago Booth | 2027 | 670 average, 675 median | 615–725 (middle 80%) | 736 average |
Sources: HBS, Stanford GSB, Wharton, Kellogg, Columbia (July 2026 archived copy), MIT Sloan, Booth.
On the Focus Edition, Columbia's Class of 2027 average of 690 is the highest, followed closely by Stanford (689) and Kellogg (687). Harvard's 685 median sits in the same band. Wharton (676) and Booth (670 average, 675 median) are a little lower, and MIT Sloan's Class of 2028 median is 675. On the old exam, Stanford's 738 average led the group.
Harvard and MIT Sloan publish a median, the score of the student in the middle of the class. Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg and Columbia publish a mean. Booth publishes both, and its median (675) is five points above its mean (670), which tells you a few lower scores pull the average down. When a school publishes both, the median is the better guide to the "typical" admit.
The averages hide a wide spread. The middle 80% of Harvard's Class of 2027 Focus scores ran from 645 to 735, MIT Sloan's Class of 2028 from 645 to 715, and Booth's Class of 2027 from 615 to 725. Stanford's and Columbia's Class of 2027 Focus scores both started at 615. Ranges are the best evidence that scores below the average clear the bar every year, as long as the rest of the application makes up for it.
Keep in mind that only part of each class submitted a GMAT. At Harvard, 34% of the Class of 2027 sent a Focus score, 28% a 10th Edition score and 44% the GRE; at Booth, the shares were 39%, 14% and 42%.
The GMAT Focus Edition launched in November 2023 and became the only version of the exam when the 10th Edition was retired on January 31, 2024. Class profiles still list both, and if you don't know which scale a number is on, you will aim at the wrong target.
The old exam scored 200 to 800 in 10-point steps. The Focus Edition scores 205 to 805, with every total ending in 5, and its three sections (Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights) are weighted equally. The same percentile sits at a lower number on the Focus scale: GMAC's concordance links an old-exam 740, long the "dream score" for M7 applicants, to a Focus 685–695. When you see "689," it is Focus; "738" is the old exam.
| 10th Edition (200–800) | GMAT Focus Edition (205–805) | Focus percentile |
|---|---|---|
| 760 | 715–735 | 98.6–99.4 |
| 750 | 695–715 | 96.9–98.6 |
| 740 | 685–695 | 95.1–96.9 |
| 730 | 675–685 | 94.0–95.1 |
| 720 | 665–675 | 91.2–94.0 |
| 700 | 645–655 | 85.6–89.6 |
| 680 | 615–635 | 75.4–80.9 |
| 650 | 595–615 | 66.3–75.4 |
The concordance gives a range, not a single number, and GMAC cautions that the two exams measure different skills, so treat it as approximate. For M7 applicants the key rows are 740 → 685–695 and 720 → 665–675: those bracket the competitive band. Better still, compare a Focus score directly with the Focus figures schools now publish. The GMAT score calculator estimates a total from section scores and shows its percentile.
Percentiles are the cleanest common language. In GMAC's August 2026 tables, 675 is the 94.0th percentile and 685 the 95.1st, so the M7 band of 670 to 690 is roughly the 91st to 96th percentile. Our guide to GMAT score percentiles has the full table, including section percentiles.
Worked Example
Setup: You scored 675 on the GMAT Focus Edition and want to know if it clears the bar at Wharton, whose Class of 2027 Focus average is 676.
Choose an old-exam (10th Edition) total to see the Focus Edition scores GMAC's August 2026 concordance links to it, with their percentiles.
None of the M7 publishes a cutoff. In practice the test is twofold: your score should sit within the school's published range, and it shouldn't be the weakest part of your application. How high you need to go depends on the school and on your profile.
A common mistake is anchoring on the top of the range. Half of each class's GMAT submitters scored at or below the median. If you reach the median, the score has done its job, and a few points above it gives you a cushion. Beyond that the returns shrink: a 735 doesn't make up for a weak recommendation or a generic essay.
The bottom of a middle-80% range shows where roughly one in ten Focus-score admits fell: 645 at Harvard and MIT Sloan, 615 at Booth. A score near or below that point can still win admission, but the rest of the file has to actively make the case. In the 670 to 690 band, the score fades into the background and the committee focuses on everything else.
M7 applicant pools aren't uniform. If you come from a large, crowded pool (a common industry, role or region), adding a margin above the class figure is a safer plan, because you are compared with many similar profiles. Applicants with less common backgrounds can be competitive at or a little below the median. Section balance matters too: Harvard's Class of 2027 Focus medians were Quant 84 and Verbal 86, the 84.6th and 95.7th percentiles in GMAC's section tables, so a low Quant score can stand out even when the total looks fine.
| Applicant Profile | GMAT Focus Target | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Crowded applicant pool (common industry, role or region) | Class figure + 10 to 20 (about 695–705) | A margin above the median helps when you are compared with many similar profiles. |
| Typical M7 applicant | At the class figure (670–690) | Matching the median keeps the score from hurting your file. |
| Less common background (industry, military, first-generation) | Inside the middle 80% (645 or higher at HBS and MIT Sloan) | The score clears the bar; profile strength carries the rest. |
| Reapplicant whose score was the weak point | Median + 10 | Show measurable improvement since the last cycle. |
Enter the GMAT Focus average or median of your most competitive target school and pick your profile to see a suggested Focus target and its percentile.
Worked Example
Setup: A management consultant targeting Harvard, Stanford and Wharton scored 655 on the GMAT Focus Edition (89.6th percentile).
Yes. It is the most common question about M7 GMAT score requirements, and the published data answer it: every M7 school that publishes a range admits students well below its average every year. What matters is whether the rest of your application justifies it.
| School | GMAT Focus average or median | Range low | Range high | Range type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard (2027) | 685 median | 645 | 735 | Middle 80% |
| Stanford GSB (2027) | 689 average | 615 | 785 | Low to high |
| Columbia (2027) | 690 average | 615 | 805 | Full range |
| Chicago Booth (2027) | 675 median | 615 | 725 | Middle 80% |
| MIT Sloan (2028) | 675 median | 645 | 715 | Middle 80% |
Stanford's and Columbia's Class of 2027 Focus scores both started at 615, about 75 points below their averages. Even a middle-80% range like Harvard's (645 to 735) means one admit in ten scored below 645. These are not typos or errors. They are admitted students whose applications cleared the bar despite a lower score.
Candidates admitted with below-average GMATs tend to have one or more of these: unusually strong work experience (rapid promotion, real P&L responsibility, founding a company), clear leadership outside work, a high GPA from a rigorous program, a career path that adds something different to the class, or a personal story that puts the number in context. A low GMAT with no offsetting strength is the version that usually fails.
A retake is usually worth it when you are well below the class median and have at least four to six weeks before the deadline. You must wait 16 days between attempts and can test up to 5 times in a rolling 12 months (see the GMAT retake policy). You choose which attempt each school receives, but since August 2026 every report also includes your GMAT Superscore (your highest section scores across valid attempts, each with its exam date), and you can't opt out. Submit as is when you are near the median, the rest of your application is ready, and a retake would push you past the deadline.
At the M7 level the GMAT is a gate, not a lever. Once your score is in range, the decision turns on essays, recommendations, the interview and the coherence of your career story.
Committees read GPA and GMAT together. Harvard's Class of 2027 averaged a 3.76 GPA, Wharton's 3.7 and Kellogg's 3.68 (on 4.0 scales). A high GPA partly cushions a GMAT below the median, and a strong GMAT partly cushions a lower GPA, especially when the GPA comes with an explanation or later graduate-level coursework.
M7 students typically arrive with around five years of work experience (Booth's Class of 2027 averages five). Committees read for impact and trajectory: promotions, scope of responsibility and visible leadership. Essays are where you frame that story. Strong essays can help offset a below-median score; they can't rescue an application that has nothing else going for it.
All seven M7 schools accept the GRE, and at Harvard, Stanford and Booth more than 40% of the Class of 2027 submitted it. Harvard and Wharton say they have no preference between the tests. MIT Sloan requires a GMAT, GRE or Executive Assessment score, and Booth waives testing only for current UChicago students and alumni; see GMAT waivers for MBA programs for other schools. If you are stuck well below the GMAT median despite real effort, trying the GRE is a legitimate option.
On the GMAT Focus Edition (205–805), M7 averages and medians run from 670 to 690. For the Class of 2027, Columbia averages 690, Stanford 689, Kellogg 687, Wharton 676 and Booth 670 (median 675), and Harvard reports a 685 median. MIT Sloan's Class of 2028 has a 675 median. Students who submitted the retired 10th Edition averaged 730 to 738 on its 200–800 scale.
None of the M7 sets a minimum, but aiming at your target school's own Focus figure (670 to 690) keeps the score from being a weak point. A 685 matches Harvard's median and is the 95.1st percentile in GMAC's August 2026 tables. The low ends of the published middle-80% ranges are 645 at Harvard and MIT Sloan and 615 at Booth.
Yes, though it is less common. About one in ten of the Focus-score submitters in Harvard's and MIT Sloan's latest classes scored below 645, and Booth's middle 80% starts at 615. Stanford's and Columbia's Class of 2027 Focus scores went as low as 615. Admits below the middle typically offset the score with strong academics, work experience, leadership or a distinctive background.
On the Focus Edition, Columbia's Class of 2027 average of 690 is the highest, just ahead of Stanford's 689 and Kellogg's 687. Harvard reports a median rather than an average (685), so it isn't directly comparable. On the old exam, Stanford's 738 average was the highest.
Often, yes, if you have time before your deadline and can name what you will fix. You must wait 16 days between attempts and can test up to 5 times in a rolling 12 months. Since August 2026, every report you send includes your GMAT Superscore (your best section scores across attempts), so a retake that improves one section still shows. If you are close to the median and a deadline is near, put the time into essays and recommendations.
Yes. All seven accept the GRE, and at Harvard, Stanford and Booth more than 40% of the Class of 2027 submitted it. Harvard and Wharton state that they have no preference between the tests. MIT Sloan also accepts the Executive Assessment, and Booth waives the test requirement only for current UChicago students and alumni.