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Stanford GSB’s MBA Class of 2021

What does it take to get into Stanford Graduate School of Business? Well, it won’t hurt if you have a 734 on the GMAT – the average score, according to Stanford GSB’s newly released Class of 2021 profile.

The class profile paints a picture of how the typical student in this year’s Stanford MBA class stacks up in terms of scores, demographics and work experience.

As is usually the case, that student’s academic credentials are fairly impressive. The 734 average GMAT is up two points from last year, although last year’s average score was itself down five points from the year before.

This year’s average undergraduate GPA is 3.7, and the average GRE is 165 on both verbal and quantitative. That said, the GMAT remains the more popular test choice, with only 19 percent of enrolled students opting for the GRE.

A typical Class of 2021 member brings 4.6 years of work experience with them, although the range is anywhere from zero to 14. Most commonly, that experience is in consulting (20 percent), investment management and venture capital (19) percent, or tech (14 percent).

A full 50 percent of this year’s cohort have college degrees in the humanities and social sciences. Thirty-three percent have STEM degrees, and a modest 17 percent did their undergraduate studies in business.

Altogether, there are 80 US schools and 80 non-US schools represented, with 43 percent of students coming from outside the US.

The Class of 2021 has a higher proportion of women than last year’s, although at 47 percent that number still hasn’t hit the halfway mark. Twenty-seven percent identify as US minorities.

As the class profile suggests, admission to Stanford’s MBA program remains competitive. There were 7,342 applicants to the Class of 2021, with 417 arriving on campus as matriculating students.

The number of applicants is actually down from last year, (7,797), but evidently that drop isn’t enough to make a dent in the average incoming student profile. Admission is still highly selective.

Which brings us back to the question I posed earlier: what does it take to get into Stanford GSB?

These stats give an idea of the average numbers a typical incoming MBA student brings, but they don’t say anything about all the other factors that top B-schools like Stanford consider in order to put together a class with a diverse set of life experiences and leadership skills. At EXPARTUS, we can assess these other factors and give you feedback on how your overall profile stacks up at MBA programs like Stanford, including which aspects of your personal brand are most compelling. If that sounds helpful, feel free to contact us and ask for a free MBA application assessment