Median GMAT
Also called GMAT median · class GMAT · median GMAT score
Sort the official, one-sitting GMAT totals for the testers in the entering class. The middle value is the median (Excel MEDIAN). GMAC also wants the mean and the middle 80% (10th and 90th percentiles) on the same cohort. Scores must come from a sitting for which the school holds the official testing-agency record. If a candidate sent both GMAT and GRE, include the one used in the decision, not both.
Median GMAT is the middle Total Score among MBA matriculants who submitted an official GMAT the school used in the decision. GMAC’s GME Admissions Reporting Standards require schools to publish the percentage of the class included. Read it as testers only unless footnoted. The current scale is 205–805.
How is the median built?
Sort the official, one-sitting GMAT totals for the testers in the entering class. The middle value is the median (Excel MEDIAN). GMAC also wants the mean and the middle 80% (10th and 90th percentiles) on the same cohort. Scores must come from a sitting for which the school holds the official testing-agency record. If a candidate sent both GMAT and GRE, include the one used in the decision, not both.
Reportability has a floor: at least 10 testers or 10% of the class, whichever is larger. Below that, GMAC does not want a published GMAT median. The 2026 standards split current-edition GMAT from GMAT 10th Edition because the scales are not interchangeable. Current totals run 205–805 in 10-point steps and end in 5. The 10th Edition ran 200–800 and ended in 0. A 705 is not “a 700 plus five.”
Example: 200 matriculants. 140 have an official current-edition GMAT on file, 40 have GRE, 20 were waived and have no test in the decision. The GMAT median is the middle of those 140 scores, and the class profile should say GMAT = 70%. If the 140 scores sort to a middle of 675, publish 675, not a blend with GRE. Waived students stay out of the GMAT column unless a footnote says otherwise.
What the number is not
It is not a cut score. Half of testers sit below the median by construction. It is not the median of all applicants, and it is not the median of admits who walked away. Class-profile GMAT is a matriculant statistic. It is also not a GRE equivalent; concordance is a school choice, not a GMAC class-profile step. GMAC’s class-profile rule is still one sitting, the one used in the decision, with the official record in hand.
| Edition | Total scale | Visual cue |
|---|---|---|
| Current GMAT | 205–805 | Totals end in 5 |
| GMAT 10th Edition | 200–800 | Totals end in 0 |
Common errors
Reading a 10th Edition 720 next to a current 685 as a 35-point drop in the class. Treating the median as a minimum. Assuming waived students are in the number when the percentage of testers is 70%. Averaging GMAT and GRE into one “test median.”
FAQ
Does the median include students who did not take the GMAT?
Not under GMAC’s default. The median is computed on testers with an official score used in the decision, and the school reports what share of matriculants that is. If a page gives a GMAT median with no percentage, ask. A footnote that includes waivers as zeros would pull the median down; that is not the standard method.
What GMAT scale should I compare against?
The current Total Score is 205–805. mba.com states that comparing a current total with a 10th Edition total is not a meaningful comparison of performance. Use the school’s labeled edition, or a concordance table, not mental arithmetic. Section scores on the current exam are 60–90 each.
Is median better than mean for GMAT?
Median resists a few 805s pulling the average up. GMAC asks for both, plus the middle 80%. Use the three together. A median of 675 with a middle 80% of 615–735 describes a class; 675 alone does not. Below 10 testers or 10% of the class, whichever is larger, do not publish a median.
Related terms
Sources
- GME Admissions Reporting Standards (2026 edition) Median among matriculants with an official one-sitting score; report the percentage included; 10 or 10% minimum
- GMAT Exam scores Current Total Score scale 205–805 in 10-point steps, values end in 5
- GME Admissions Reporting Standards overview 2026 standards add GMAT edition reporting during the scale transition
