We Explain When and Where to List GMAT on Your Resume
If you are currently pursuing your MBA, you may be wondering whether you should put your GMAT score on your resume.
We recommend listing your GMAT score if it is above 700 for three reasons:
1) It will build your credibility
2) It doesn’t take up much space on your resume
3) It’ll prevent hiring managers from wondering whether you did poorly
After reading this article, you should have more clarity on whether it makes sense for you to include your GMAT score on your resume.
1) It will build your credibility
No matter where you attended business school, the GMAT serves as an objective measure of your capabilities.
According to US News, scores of 700 and above place you in the following percentiles:
- 760 – 800: 99%
- 750: 98%
- 740: 97%
- 730: 96%
- 720: 94%
- 710: 91%
- 700: 88%
To put it in perspective, average GMAT scores for top business schools including Stanford, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), University of Chicago (Booth), Northwestern (Kellogg), Harvard, and Yale hover around the 730 mark.
Listing a GMAT in the 700-800 range will work in your favor.
However, if your score is below 700, you may want to leave it off.
2) It doesn’t take up much space on your resume
If you have an impressive GMAT score, you can list it in the Education section of your resume.
An example entry might look as follows:
Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management | Evanston, Illinois
Master of Business Administration | Expected 2022
- Major in Management Science
- GMAT: 740
Recruiters who don’t place much importance on it will glance over it, but depending on who ends up reviewing your application, it may work in your favor.
At the very least, it will prevent questions from arising, as we describe below.
3) It will prevent hiring managers from wondering you did poorly
Some hiring managers may assume that if an MBA student does not list a GMAT score on their resume, it must have gone poorly.
While this may be an unfair assumption to make, there’s little you can do to control what goes through an individual hiring manager’s mind once you hit send!
Based on this reasoning, listing an average score may be better than not listing a score at all.
In Summary
You ultimately need to decide whether you feel comfortable disclosing your GMAT score and whether it makes sense to do so.
However, if you scored at 700 or above, we believe there is little risk – and potential benefit – in doing so.
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About the AuthorMatt Glodz
Matt Glodz is the Founder and Managing Partner of Resume Pilots and a Certified Professional Resume Writer.
After studying business communication at Cornell University, Matt worked within Fortune 500 companies, where he noted that qualified candidates were frequently denied interview opportunities due to poorly written documents.
At Resume Pilots, Matt combines his business and writing background - which includes prior work for a Chicago Tribune publication - to craft resumes that give his clients the best chance of landing interviews. He works with clients ranging from CEOs to recent graduates and has been writing resumes for over 10 years.
He has been quoted on numerous business and career-related topics in outlets including Business Insider, CNBC, Fortune, Glassdoor, The Ladders, and Thrive Global.