As average GMAT scores at top business schools have skyrocketed, that trend has added stress to the MBA admissions process. Some applicants worry that if they don't achieve a stratospheric score on the test, which has a maximum score of 800, they won't get into top schools.

However, MBA admissions experts say that while GMAT scores are important, they are not necessarily the deciding factor, since other application components like the resume and essay also matter.

It's also essential, experts say, to bear in mind that the average GMAT score at a business school is not a cutoff score, since there are admitted applicants who score above and below that number.

Among the 127 ranked business schools that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average GMAT score of their incoming full-time MBA students in fall 2017 was 631. In contrast, among the 10 schools with the highest scores, incoming students had an average GMAT score that was nearly 100 points higher: 728.

Stanford University's Graduate School of Business boasted the highest average GMAT score, 737, the same number as last year.

On the other end of the spectrum, among the 10 schools with the lowest GMAT scores, incoming full-time MBA students had an average score of 504.

Below is a list of the 10 business schools where the average GMAT scores of incoming full-time MBA students were highest in fall 2017. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.