MBA Interview Probability for top schools by GMAT and GPA

With round 2 application deadlines rapidly approaching, many applicants may wonder what their chance of getting an MBA interview with their favorite schools is. I analyzed the MBA interview probability for the top 25 schools over the past 5 years by GMAT and GPA. Unsurprisingly, for most schools the MBA interview chance increased for high GMAT and high GPA candidates.

Some interesting insights I found:

  • At Booth, GPA has little to no impact on likelihood of getting and interview unless your GMAT is under 700
  • At Columbia, GMAT and GPA are very important for your interview chances
  • At Cornell, GMAT is far more important than GPA for getting an interview
  • At Duke, neither GPA nor GMAT seem to have much of an impact on interview odds
  • At Emory, strangely, if you have a GMAT of 700 or higher then low GPA applicants actually have a higher chance of getting an interview
  • At Georgetown, chance of getting an interview for 740+ applicants is no more than for those in the 700 to 730 range
  • At Stanford and Harvard, chance of interviewing is depressingly low, both GMAT and GPA are very important
  • At Ross, GPA doesn’t seem to matter if an applicant has a GMAT of 740 or higher
  • At NYU, having a very high GMAT dramatically increases your chance of getting an interview
  • At Wharton, having a high GMAT only appears to matter if the applicants GPA is over 3.40
  • At Yale, both GMAT and GPA have a huge impact on chance of getting an interview

University of Chicago (Booth) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
33%
52%
68%
3.40 – 3.59
28%
53%
67%
3.60+
58%
59%
73%

Arizona State University (Carey) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
56%
53%
75%
3.40 – 3.59
58%
33%
100%
3.60+
52%
62%
75%

Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
67%
61%
74%
3.40 – 3.59
48%
62%
80%
3.60+
53%
49%
77%

Columbia University MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
19%
25%
43%
3.40 – 3.59
17%
34%
54%
3.60+
28%
43%
55%

Cornell University (Johnson) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
46%
62%
69%
3.40 – 3.59
48%
61%
68%
3.60+
54%
58%
72%

Duke University (Fuqua) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
58%
64%
65%
3.40 – 3.59
57%
58%
62%
3.60+
76%
63%
66%

Emory University (Goizueta) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
47%
55%
78%
3.40 – 3.59
44%
52%
57%
3.60+
52%
43%
62%

Georgetown University (McDonough) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
65%
74%
72%
3.40 – 3.59
65%
88%
85%
3.60+
71%
85%
89%

Stanford University (GSB) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
3%
3%
12%
3.40 – 3.59
6%
12%
18%
3.60+
13%
14%
22%

University of California—​Berkeley (Haas) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
12%
27%
22%
3.40 – 3.59
28%
27%
44%
3.60+
27%
39%
50%

Harvard University (HBS) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
5%
10%
13%
3.40 – 3.59
12%
15%
18%
3.60+
12%
24%
27%

Indiana University (Kelley) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
44%
57%
75%
3.40 – 3.59
39%
70%
70%
3.60+
34%
76%
84%

Northwestern University (Kellogg) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
67%
82%
80%
3.40 – 3.59
56%
77%
86%
3.60+
60%
76%
83%

University of Texas—​Austin (McCombs) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
44%
68%
76%
3.40 – 3.59
51%
74%
81%
3.60+
60%
75%
82%

Washington University in St. Louis (Olin) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
58%
76%
88%
3.40 – 3.59
62%
77%
91%
3.60+
74%
86%
80%

Vanderbilt University (Owen) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
74%
80%
56%
3.40 – 3.59
66%
74%
83%
3.60+
94%
83%
92%

University of Michigan—​Ann Arbor (Ross) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
50%
57%
72%
3.40 – 3.59
54%
65%
70%
3.60+
50%
68%
70%

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
14%
26%
24%
3.40 – 3.59
0%
24%
33%
3.60+
26%
39%
39%

New York University (Stern) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
24%
28%
44%
3.40 – 3.59
35%
41%
58%
3.60+
13%
37%
56%

Dartmouth College (Tuck) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
58%
66%
71%
3.40 – 3.59
38%
64%
82%
3.60+
65%
73%
74%

University of California—​Los Angeles (Anderson) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
26%
40%
57%
3.40 – 3.59
23%
60%
70%
3.60+
24%
60%
69%

University of North Carolina—​Chapel Hill (Kenan-​Flagler) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
72%
68%
89%
3.40 – 3.59
59%
71%
83%
3.60+
63%
73%
90%

University of Southern California (Marshall) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
38%
74%
67%
3.40 – 3.59
52%
74%
75%
3.60+
28%
71%
85%

University of Virginia (Darden) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
40%
41%
58%
3.40 – 3.59
36%
39%
73%
3.60+
50%
54%
60%

University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
29%
35%
33%
3.40 – 3.59
26%
27%
46%
3.60+
29%
36%
55%

Yale University (YSOM) MBA Interview Probability

< 700
700 – 730
740+
< 3.40
15%
31%
42%
3.40 – 3.59
24%
41%
63%
3.60+
34%
53%
67%

4 thoughts on “MBA Interview Probability for top schools by GMAT and GPA

  1. Xyli

    You might want to put asterisks next to schools with open interview policies — e.g., Kellogg, Tuck, Fuqua — as, of course, GMAT and GPA will not matter. It’s up to the applicant’s initiative if they want to interview.

    Reply
    1. Data Guru Post author

      Good point. I didn’t bother because if you are applying and don’t know it has an open interview policy then you have a bigger problem than whether or not there is an asterisk explaining it.

      Reply
  2. Deckard

    Looks like there’s some strange results in the cross tabs for the <3.4 v 3.4-3.59 GPA row for some schools. For instance, Haas and Wharton show a higher probability for interview under the 700-730 GMAT result versus a 740+ GMAT. That seems suspect.

    If these were smoothed out, how do you think it might shift? I just can't imagine a higher GMAT would realistically produce a lower chance.

    Reply
    1. Data Guru Post author

      Hi Deckard, these are strange results. I don’t think that the schools actually prefer people with lower GPA or GMAT in certain ranges. Instead, I believe there are additional factors that are not captured in the data. It could be that some of the people have particularly impressive accomplishments other than GMAT or GPA. The data is not perfect and doesn’t capture all applicants or all data about applicants.

      Reply

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