In 2023, someone — possibly multiple someones — with a 2.4 undergraduate grade point average achieved admission to the full-time MBA program at Chicago Booth School of Business. Booth, at the time, was Poets&Quants‘ No. 2 business school in the United States.
The same year, another applicant got into Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, ranked No. 9 (and soon to be ranked No. 3), with a 2.7 GPA. In the same cycle, another applicant was admitted to Northwestern Kellogg School of Management — which P&Q ranked No. 4 — with a 2.8.
We know this because those schools are among the few that publish full GPA ranges as part of their MBA class profiles. (See Poets&Quants‘ stories about the MBA Class of 2025 at Booth, Tuck, and Kellogg.) And as P&Q has reported in previous years, those ranges — as well as the 80% ranges that many schools prefer, and the 90% ranges that U.S. News & World Report began publishing this year as part of its annual MBA ranking — are among the most important data released publicly by B-schools, in the U.S. or anywhere.
GPA RANGES AT LEADING U.S. MBA PROGRAMS
| 2024 P&Q Rank | School | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
| 3 | Dartmouth (Tuck) | 2.7-4.0 | 2.7-4.0 | 2.6-4.0 | 2.60-4.0 |
| 4 | Columbia | 3.2-3.9 (80%) | 3.1-3.9 (80%) | 3.1-3.9 (80%) | 3.2-3.9 (80%) |
| 5 | Yale SOM | 3.30-3.91 (80%) | 3.34-3.90 (80%) | 3.30-3.92 (80%) | NA |
| 6 | Duke (Fuqua) | 3.10-3.89 (80%) | 3.1-3.9 (80%) | 3.1-3.9 (80%) | 3.07-3.86 (80%) |
| 8 | Virginia (Darden) | 3.08-3.88 (80%) | NA | NA | NA |
| 10 | NYU (Stern) | 2.96-4.00 | 3.03-4.00 | 3.00-4.00 | 3.01-4.0 |
| 11 | Chicago (Booth) | 2.4-4.0 | 2.4-4.0 | 2.7-4.0 | 2.8-4.0 |
| 12 | Northwestern (Kellogg) | 2.8-4.0 | 2.6-4.0 | 2.4-4.0 | 2.5-4.0 |
| 13 | UCLA (Anderson) | 3.1-3.8 (80%) | 3.1-3.8 (80%) | 3.1-3.8 (80%) | 3.1-3.8 (80%) |
| 15 | UC-Berkeley (Haas) | 3.3-3.91 (80%) | 3.4-3.92 (80%) | 3.34-3.93 (80%) | 3.4-3.9 (80%) |
| 16 | Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | 2.85-3.84 *80%) | 2.84-3.82 (80%) | 2.93-3.78 (80%) | 2.83-3.8 (80%) |
| 18 | Rice (Jones)* | 3.20-3.74 (50%) | NA | NA | NA |
| 22 | Southern California (Marshall) | 3.09-3.87 (80%) | NA | NA | NA |
| 24 | Georgetown (McDonough) | 2.72-3.84 (80%) | 2.82-3.77 (80%) | 2.85-3.79 (80%) | 2.83-3.73 (80%) |
| 26 | Rochester (Simon) | 2.7-3.9 | NA | NA | NA |
| 37 | Indiana (Kelley) | 2.5-? | 2.5-? | NA | NA |
Source: MBA class profiles
*Rice Jones publishes a 3-year average for all data in its MBA class profile
GPA WON’T BREAK AN MBA APPLICATION — ‘BUT THE REVERSE IS NOT TRUE’
Why are GPA ranges so important? Because they show that a low undergraduate GPA does not have to be the end of an applicant’s MBA dreams. Anyone with a low GPA can get into Booth, Tuck or Kellogg — or Stanford, Harvard or Wharton — if they work hard enough, and play to their strengths in other areas.
Perhaps that’s why in 2023, for the first time in years, some leading B-schools joined the ranks of those publishing GPA ranges: Virginia Darden School of Business and USC Marshall School of Business, both top-25 B-schools, published 80% ranges as part of their class profiles for the first time last fall.
“Ask most admissions committee members and they will tell you that it’s the sum of many pieces — there is no one ‘most important’ part of the MBA application,” says Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting. “It’s the essays, interviews, and recommendations that ultimately reveal the person beyond the paper. Compelling essays, recommendations, and interviews can provide context for a low GMAT score or GPA.”
Low GPA won’t break an MBA application — but it won’t make it, either. As Blackman notes, “the reverse is not true. Strong numbers will never make up for weak essays or a disorganized, negative recommendation.”
BIGGEST INCREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2022-2023
| 2024 P&Q Rank | School | 2023 Average Undergraduate GPA | 2022 Average Undergraduate GPA | Change |
| 28 | Washington (Olin) | 3.60 | 3.40 | +0.20 |
| 27 | Georgia Tech (Scheller) | 3.39 | 3.20 | +0.19 |
| 35 | Arizona State (Carey) | 3.57 | 3.39 | +0.18 |
| 21 | Vanderbilt (Owen)* | 3.50 | 3.34 | +0.16 |
| 47 | Northeastern (D-Amore-McKim) | 3.56 | 3.41 | +0.15 |
| 41 | Boston (Questrom) | 3.41 | 3.30 | +0.11 |
| 50 | Ohio State (Fisher) | 3.48 | 3.38 | +0.10 |
| 33 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | 3.60 | 3.50 | +0.10 |
| 23 | Emory (Goizueta) | 3.47 | 3.38 | +0.09 |
Source: MBA class profiles
*Median
WASHINGTON OLIN SEES BIGGEST GPA AVERAGE GROWTH: UP 0.20 TO 3.60
The GPAs themselves? Not so interesting, alas. What they are is consistent — consistently part of every MBA class profile, and at the top schools, fairly consistent in range and average. Looking at year-over-year changes in GPA average from 2022 to 2023 across 57 of the leading U.S. B-schools, including all of the P&Q top 50, we find:
- 18 schools with positive GPA growth, including seven in the top 25. From 2021 to 2022, just 13 of 57 schools saw positive GPA growth, including seven in the top 25; but from 2020 to 2021 it was 26 schools, including 16 in the top 25. This suggests a rough on-year, off-year cycle.
- 20 schools had negative GPA growth between 2022 and 2023, including 13 in the top 25. From 2021 to 2022, 18 schools saw their GPA average decline, including nine in the top 25; from 2020 to 2021, 15 schools had declines, including six in the top 25.
- Nine schools were even, meaning they published the same GPA average in both 2022 and 2023. In 2022, 14 schools were even; in 2021, it was nine schools. Sufficient data for comparison was not available for 10 schools, up from five.
- Altogether in the P&Q top 25, four schools were even (down from eight last year), seven were positive (same as last year), and 13 were negative (up from nine).
The school with the biggest year-to-year GPA increase among the 57 analyzed by P&Q was Washington University’s Olin Business School in St. Louis, which saw its undergrad GPA average balloon 0.20 to 3.60 in 2023 — higher than 15 peer schools ranked above Olin in the P&Q top 25. In the latter group, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management saw the biggest GPA leap, growing its average by 0.16 to 3.50.
The school with the biggest GPA decline: Maryland Smith School of Business, which dropped 0.12 to 3.23. In the top 25, UCLA Anderson School of Management saw its GPA drop 0.11 to 3.40.
BIGGEST DECREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2022-2023
| 2023 P&Q Rank | School | 2023 Average Undergraduate GPA | 2022 Average Undergraduate GPA | Change |
| 39 | Maryland (Smith) | 3.23 | 3.35 | -0.12 |
| 13 | UCLA (Anderson) | 3.40 | 3.51 | -0.11 |
| 4 | Columbia | 3.50 | 3.60 | -0.10 |
| 25 | Florida (Warrington) | 3.40 | 3.48 | -0.08 |
| 22 | USC (Marshall) | 3.50 | 3.58 | -0.08 |
Source: MBA class profiles
*Median
VANDERBILT & UC-DAVIS SEE BIGGEST GPA JUMP FROM 2018 TO 2023
What does the GPA picture look like with the perspective of time? Across six years from 2018 to 2023, 25 of 57 schools have seen their class GPA average rise overall, and 19 have seen it decline. Five schools are even, and we don’t have enough data to know for another eight.
Two schools are the biggest winners in that span, both up 0.20: Vanderbilt Owen to 3.50, and UC-Davis Graduate School of Management to 3.40. Owen is the biggest winner in the top 25, but Emory Goizueta Business School is close behind with a gain of 0.17 to 3.47.
The school with the biggest decline over six years is Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business, which dropped 0.14 to 3.26. MIT Sloan School of Management, which reports a median GPA each year, is down 0.13 since 2018, to 3.61; and UCLA Anderson is down 0.12 to 3.40.
Overall in the top 25, nine schools are positive from 2018 to 2023, four are even, and 10 are negative.
BIGGEST INCREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2018-2023
| 2024 P&Q Rank | School | 2023 Average Undergraduate GPA | 2018 Average Undergraduate GPA | Change |
| 21 | Vanderbilt (Owen)* | 3.50 | 3.30 | +0.20 |
| 45 | UC-Davis | 3.40 | 3.20 | +0.20 |
| 23 | Emory (Goizueta) | 3.47 | 3.30 | +0.17 |
| 10 | NYU (Stern) | 3.61 | 3.45 | +0.16 |
| 38 | Michigan State (Broad) | 3.45 | 3.30 | +0.15 |
| 28 | Washington (Olin) | 3.60 | 3.47 | +0.13 |
| 41 | Boston (Questrom) | 3.41 | 3.30 | +0.11 |
| 12 | Northwestern (Kellogg) | 3.70 | 3.60 | +0.10 |
| 33 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | 3.60 | 3.50 | +0.10 |
| 52 | Pittsburgh (Katz) | 3.40 | 3.30 | +0.10 |
BIGGEST DECREASES IN UNDERGRAD GPA 2018-2023
| 2024 P&Q Rank | School | 2023 Average Undergraduate GPA | 2018 Average Undergraduate GPA | Change |
| 16 | CMU (Tepper) | 3.26 | 3.40 | -0.14 |
| 14 | MIT (Sloan)* | 3.61 | 3.48 | -0.13 |
| 13 | UCLA (Anderson) | 3.40 | 3.52 | -0.12 |
| 40 | UC-Irvine (Merage) | 3.44 | 3.55 | -0.11 |
| 4 | Columbia | 3.50 | 3.60 | -0.10 |
| 73 | Miami (Herbert) | 3.25 | 3.35 | -0.10 |
Source: MBA class profiles
*Median
TRENDS & WRINKLES
School to school, there are some noteworthy trends in GPA average/median. Among them:
- The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania hasn’t had a change in GPA average in at least eight years, reporting 3.60 every year since 2017.
- There are several estimates in the tables in this story (the main ones are on pages 2 and 3), since many lower-ranked schools have not posted Class of 2025 data despite us being more than five months into 2024. A few schools are even more behind than that (looking at you, Rutgers — and you too Utah Eccles!).
- Duke Fuqua School of Business stopped reporting average undergrad GPA after 2021; Washington Foster School of Business switched to median in 2022; beginning this year, Rice Jones Graduate School of Business only publishes a three-year average for GPA and other data in its class profile.
Finally, Indiana Kelley School of Business gets more granular than most schools, publishing not only average GPA (in 2023, 3.40) but also the percentage of the MBA class with an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 or higher (46%), the percent with undergraduate GPA between 3.0-3.49 (39%), and the percent with undergraduate GPA between 2.5-2.99 (12%).
Note that last range: A 2.5 didn’t sink one member of the Kelley MBA Class of 2025. But it did mean that person had something to overcome — as he or she would have had to do at any major program. “While a 550 GMAT or a 2.5 GPA will raise a red flag at an MBA program like the Stanford Graduate School of Business,” writes Stacy Blackman, “a 700 GMAT and a 3.6 GPA make you a strong candidate. But even someone with an 800 GMAT score and a perfect GPA can get rejected at an elite MBA program.”
10TH-90TH PERCENTILE GPA RANGES FOR THE P&Q TOP 25
| 2024 P&Q Rank | School | US News 10th-90th Percentile |
| 1 | Stanford GSB | NA |
| 2 | Harvard Business School | NA |
| 3 | Dartmouth (Tuck) | 2.97-3.53 |
| 4 | Columbia | 3.2-3.9 |
| 5 | Yale SOM | 3.29-3.92 |
| 6 | Duke (Fuqua) | 3.1-3.89 |
| 7 | Cornell (Johnson) | NA |
| 8 | Virginia (Darden) | 3.1-3.89 |
| 9 | Michigan (Ross) | 3.13-3.76 |
| 10 | NYU (Stern) | 3.34-3.87 |
| 11 | Chicago (Booth) | 3.1-3.9 |
| 12 | Northwestern (Kellogg) | NA |
| 13 | UCLA (Anderson) | 3.02-3.8 |
| 14 | MIT (Sloan) | 3.2-3.9 |
| 15 | UC-Berkeley (Haas) | 3.3-3.91 |
| 16 | CMU (Tepper) | 2.86-3.73 |
| 17 | Washington (Foster) | 2.8-3.8 |
| 18 | Rice (Jones) | 2.89-3.94 |
| 19 | Texas-Austin (McCombs) | 3.0-3.9 |
| 20 | UNC (Kenan-Flagler) | 2.8-3.9 |
| 21 | Vanderbilt (Owen) | 2.8-3.9 |
| 22 | USC (Marshall) | 3.09-3.87 |
| 23 | Emory (Goizueta) | 3.01-3.91 |
| 24 | Georgetown (McDonough) | 2.7-3.8 |
| 25 | Florida (Warrington) | 3.15-3.75 |
Source: U.S. News & World Report
U.S. NEWS’ 90% RANGE: MORE WAYS TO LOOK AT GPA AVERAGE
As part of the massive data dump accompanying its annual ranking of U.S. B-schools, U.S. News lists median and average undergraduate GPAs — except it doesn’t. The magazine is missing the data point for every single school out of 57 examined by Poets&Quants — including our entire 2024 top 50. Why does U.S. News continue to list these metrics at all if they are “N/A” every time?
What the magazine does have is each school’s GPA range between the 10th to 90th percentiles (see tables above and below). All but a handful of schools provided this data, which is not offered by the schools themselves. Though it is not a full range, it is closer than the 80% ranges preferred by many schools. The highlights:
- Two schools, Georgetown McDonough School of Business and William and Mary Mason School of Business, report the lowest 10th percentile: 2.7. (Georgetown’s range extends to 3.8 and William and Mary’s to 3.9.)
- The highest 10th percentile is the Manderson MBA Program at the University of Alabama: 3.36. Highest in the top 25: NYU Stern School of Business: 3.34.
- The lowest 90th percentile is at UC-Davis: 3.1; lowest in the top 25 is at CMU Tepper: 3.53.
- And the highest 90th percentile is shared by five schools, all with 4.0: Washington-St. Louis Olin, Arizona State Carey School of Business, Maryland Smith, Tennessee Haslam College of Business, and Alabama Manderson. The highest in the top 25 is Rice Jones’ 3.94.
10TH-90TH PERCENTILE GPA RANGES FOR TOP-RANKED P&Q MBA PROGRAMS
| 2024 P&Q Rank | School | US News 10th-90th Percentile |
| 26 | Rochester (Simon) | 2.89-3.89 |
| 27 | Georgia Tech (Scheller) | 2.96-3.86 |
| 28 | Washington (Olin) | 3.3-4.0 |
| 29 | Georgia (Terry) | 3.2-3.8 |
| 30 | Notre Dame (Mendoza) | 2.76-3.86 |
| 31 | Penn (Wharton) | NA |
| 32 | BYU (Marriott) | 3.05-3.93 |
| 33 | Texas-Dallas (Jindal) | 3.17-3.9 |
| 34 | William & Mary (Mason) | 2.7-3.9 |
| 35 | Arizona State (Carey) | 3.0-4.0 |
| 36 | Boston (Carroll) | 2.74-3.77 |
| 37 | Indiana (Kelley) | 2.85-3.87 |
| 38 | Michigan State (Broad) | 3.0-3.9 |
| 39 | Maryland (Smith) | 2.9-4.0 |
| 40 | UC-Irvine (Merage) | 2.97-3.75 |
| 41 | Boston (Questrom) | 2.96-3.82 |
| 42 | George Washington | 2.9-3.8 |
| 43 | Texas A&M (Mays) | 2.82-3.98 |
| 44 | Minnesota (Carlson) | 2.85-3.82 |
| 45 | UC-Davis | 3.1-3.4 |
| 46 | SMU (Cox) | 3.1-3.88 |
| 47 | Northeastern (D-Amore-McKim) | 3.2-3.92 |
| 48 | Babson (Olin) | 2.73-3.75 |
| 49 | Rutgers Business School | 2.77-3.7 |
| 50 | Ohio State (Fisher) | 3.03-3.92 |
| 52 | Pittsburgh (Katz) | 3.04-3.75 |
| 53 | Wisconsin | 2.76-3.82 |
| 55 | Utah (Eccles) | 3.05-3.89 |
| 59 | Penn State (Smeal) | NA |
| 62 | Tennessee (Haslam) | 3.23-4.0 |
| 72 | Alabama (Manderson) | 3.36-4.0 |
| 73 | Miami (Herbert) | 2.8-3.7 |
Source: U.S. News & World Report
See the next pages for six years of GPA data for those schools, including the 2024 P&Q top 50 schools.
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