GMAT vs GRE for MBA application

Hi there,

Any school that accepts the GRE will consider the GMAT and the GRE equally - both for admission and for scholarships. If anything, there is more of an advantage to the GRE because the average GRE score at most top MBA programs is far below the "equivalent" GMAT score. See below for the conversion.

https://www.ets.org/gre/institutions/ad ... t06_180820

If there is any exception to the scholarships (e.g. one particular scholarship at one particular school is based on a GMAT score) it will be listed on that school's website but I have yet to see one; as a general rule, most top 25 schools automatically consider all applicants for scholarships. A school will not ask why you have taken the GRE if they offered the GRE as an option.

I would recommend you focus on the test itself - and take the one for which you are more suited / on which you can score better. These are different types of tests and some people do better at one versus the other. A GMAT / GRE tutor can likely provide more context but in general the GMAT quant section is considered more difficult than GRE quant, requires a logic based thinking, and doesn't allow a calculator. The GRE is generally considered to have more straighforward math and allows test takers to use a calculator - but has a much more difficult vocabulary section.

The test is also administered differently. The GMAT is an adaptive test so you can only see one question at a time - and are required to answer it before moving to the next question. Your next question will be easier or harder based on whether your answer was correct or not. Your total score isn't based on the number of right answers but on the difficulty level of the questions. Thus - the GMAT is suited to test takers who are good at deciding how much time it is worth spending on a question - and then moving along. In contrast, the GRE allows the test taker to go back and forth between sections.

Thus - in summary - focus less on which test the schools want and focus more on which test is better for you.

Any further questions, let me know.
Pamela

p.s. side note - as mentioned above if you are going into consulting the firms themselves may prefer the GMAT down the road.

mzaid

Hello Manish,

This was really informative but additionally could you please clarify the below quesries as well


1. If I have a good GRE Score , will I be eligible for scholarships ( I have heard they only provide scholarship for students with GMAT only )

2. How do I tackle their question, if they ask why did I take GRE instead of GMAT ?

mzaid, don't believe what you may have heard or read in external forums; always consider what schools say on this front as the final word. In this case, no, it's not really true.

To our knowledge, schools would never ask you that question if they accept both scores.

Cheers,

MZ,

To the best of my understanding, business schools view both equally. I've had one on one conversations with several admissions officers - so this is from the horse's mouth.

Having said that - I find that people very rarely score very differently on one Standardised test as compared to another (in terms of percentile scores). So, provided the same person puts in the same amount of effort on both tests, I would assume that their GRE and GMAT scores will benchmark as per the conversion table provided on the ETS GRE-GMAT converter tool.

So preferably do not spend too much time thinking about which test to take. If you feel a natural inclination for one over another - go with that.

Best,
Karthik

GRE scores look lower by comparison to GMAT scores because schools accept diverse applicants with GRE scores that are lower than the average GMAT.

They want to recruit diverse applicants but avoid repercussions with published GMAT scores dropping. the GRE offers a way to do that.

If you are overrepresented I strongly caution you to apply average GRE scores for various schools to your case. They are not going to be applicable to your case.

Also, INSEAD only accepts the GMAT, unless it is unavailable in your country. So keep that in mind.

Hi mzaid

Maybe this blog will help you to understand which is better GMAT Vs GRE.