Swarthmore Tops List of Schools that Produce Best GMAT Takers
Bloomberg Businessweek: Liberal Arts College Boasts Best GMAT Scores
The school that produces the highest-scoring GMAT [Graduate Management Admission Test] test-takers in the world is Swarthmore College, according to new research conducted by Bloomberg Businessweek.
As part of the 2012 Best Business Schools ranking, recent MBA graduates from 114 top business schools were asked both where they earned their undergraduate degrees and what they scored on the GMAT, the standardized test primarily used for admission to graduate business programs. The numbers were averaged to produce a score for each undergraduate institution. Schools with fewer than eight responses were eliminated from consideration. Data are for graduates only; unsuccessful applicants who took the GMAT were not included.
At the top is Swarthmore, where grads reported an average GMAT score of 742.5, out of a possible 800 (97th percentile), besting the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology and Harvard University by two points. Diane Anderson, associate dean for academic affairs at Swarthmore, isn't surprised at the results. "Swarthmore is a very rigorous school and we have amazing students," she says. "They can be challenging to teach sometimes because they ask wonderful questions and they don't duck when you challenge them." ...
Schools That Produce the Best GMAT Test-Takers
| 1. | Swarthmore College | 742.50 |
| 2. | Indian Institutes of Technology (India) | 740.74 |
| 3. | Harvard University | 740.06 |
| 4. | University of Toronto | 737.50 |
| 5. | University of Delhi (India) | 736.25 |
| 6. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 735.68 |
| 7. | Stanford University | 734.33 |
| 8. | National Institutes of Technology (India) | 734.00 |
| 9. | Fudan University (China) | 733.91 |
| 10. | University of Cambridge (U.K.) | 733.75 |
