What is a good GMAT Focus score? Percentiles and school ranges

Updated 24 September 2026 · 7 min read

"What is a good GMAT score?" has no single answer, because a score is only good relative to something: other test-takers, or the programmes you are applying to. This guide gives you both reference points for the current GMAT (the edition scored 205–805, usually called the GMAT Focus Edition). First, where scores sit among all test-takers, using GMAC's percentile tables. Second, what admitted students at top MBA programmes actually scored, using only figures published in official class profiles or compiled from them by reputable admissions media.

At the end you will have a method for setting your own target, not just a number to copy.

The short answer

Using GMAC's percentile tables published in August 2026 (tests from July 2021 to June 2026):

A reasonable rule of thumb: anything above about 605 is above average among people who take the GMAT, 655 is close to the 90th percentile, and 685 or more is in the top 5%. Whether that is good enough for you depends entirely on where you are applying, which is the rest of this guide.

How GMAT Focus scores and percentiles work

The exam has three sections, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights, each scored from 60 to 90. The Total Score runs from 205 to 805 in steps of 10, so every Total Score ends in 5. The three sections are equally weighted.

A percentile is the share of test-takers who scored below you. GMAC updates percentiles every year using a rolling window of recent tests, so the percentile next to a score can shift slightly from one year to the next even though the score itself does not. For every score on the scale, see the full GMAT Focus score chart, or look one up in the score calculator.

Two features of the scale matter when you judge a score:

• The middle is steep. Going from 555 to 605 moves you from about the 47th to the 69th percentile. Relatively small improvements near the median change your position a lot.
• The top is compressed. Every score from 705 up is above the 97th percentile. Going from 685 to 705 is only about two percentile points, but it can take a lot of extra work.

What top MBA programmes report

Schools publish GMAT figures in their class profiles. Since the new exam launched, many report the current GMAT and the old 10th Edition (200–800) separately. Always make sure you are reading the right one: a "730" on a class profile is almost certainly a 10th Edition score, not a Focus score.

Figures we verified on the schools' own class-profile pages (checked in September 2026):

For comparison, HBS reports a 10th Edition median of 730 for the same class, and Booth a 10th Edition median of 730. HBS also reports that 44% of its Class of 2027 submitted the GRE, 34% the current GMAT and 28% the 10th Edition GMAT (some students submitted more than one test).

Poets&Quants compiled current-GMAT figures from class profiles across top US programmes in September 2026. For the Class of 2027 it reports, among others:

We could not open every one of these schools' pages directly (several render their figures in a format our tools cannot read), so treat these as reported by Poets&Quants and check the school's own profile before you rely on them.

What the numbers say. At the most selective US programmes, the middle of the class sits roughly between 655 and 690 on the current scale: around the 90th to 95th percentile of all test-takers. The HBS range is a useful reminder that a median is not a cut-off: its middle 80% runs from 645 to 735, so one in ten admitted students scored below 645.

So what is a good score for you?

A score is good if it puts you at or above the median of the programmes you are targeting, with a balanced section profile. To set a target:

1. List your schools. For each, find the latest class profile and write down the current-GMAT median or average. If a school only reports a 10th Edition figure, convert it by percentile using the concordance in our score chart guide; for example, an old 700 lines up with 645–655 on the current scale.
2. Aim slightly above the median of your most ambitious school. That margin protects you against an off day and makes the score a strength rather than a question mark.
3. Consider your profile. If other parts of your application are strong for a programme, a score near its median may be enough. If your undergraduate grades are weak or your background is less quantitative, a score above the median helps show you can handle the coursework.
4. Check the test policy. Some schools also accept the GRE or the Executive Assessment, and schools differ on how they treat the new GMAT Superscore. See our GMAT Superscore guide and GMAT vs GRE comparison.

For programmes outside the very top tier, or for Master's in Management and other pre-experience programmes, typical scores are often lower. We have not verified a representative set of those figures, so rely on each programme's own class profile rather than general claims.

Section balance matters too

Your Total Score is not the only number a school sees. Each section score comes with its own percentile, and those percentiles differ by section. Using GMAC's August 2026 tables for Quant and Verbal and the mba.com table for Data Insights:

The same section score of 80 is roughly the 64th percentile in Quant, the 54th in Verbal and the 83rd in Data Insights. So when you judge whether your profile is balanced, compare percentiles, not raw section scores.

A very uneven profile (for example, a strong Verbal paired with a weak Quant) can raise questions at quantitative programmes even if the Total Score is at the school's median. Because the sections are equally weighted, raising your weakest section is usually the cheapest way to raise the Total Score as well.

How to close the gap to your target

Once you know the gap between your current level and your target, turn it into a plan:

• Estimate where you are. Take a full official practice test, or enter section estimates into the score calculator, which converts them to an estimated total and builds a week-by-week plan.
• Find the weakest section by percentile, then the weakest question types inside it. In Data Insights, the five question types behave very differently; the Data Insights guide explains each one. In Verbal, separate Critical Reasoning from Reading Comprehension; the Verbal strategy guide covers both.
• Drill narrowly. Pick one question type and topic at a time, for example Data Sufficiency with inequalities, or Problem Solving with rates, until your accuracy there is stable.
• Keep an error log. The error log guide shows how to record why each miss happened so you stop repeating it.
• Plan realistic weeks. How long to study helps you size the timeline from your score gap, and the study plan guide lays out how to schedule preparation around work.