how's GRE looked upon?

Question

I have a question regarding taking the GRE instead of the GMAT. I know that many schools now accept it but I don't know if it is seen as an equal test.

I just did a practice (the official one) test for GRE, and my GMAT equivalence is 740 (I mean, using the ETS' online calculator) with full score on quant section and 174 on verbal

How is this compared to a GMAT of 740?

I've got another question regarding my non-traditional educational background. I graduated high school late, started several of my own businesses and will finish UC Berkeley political economy major in two years (around 3.6-3.7 GPA) I haven't got much big company work experience but mostly building my own companies prior to college (I took 14 APs which fulfilled most of the 1-2 year requirements)

How is a GRE equivalence of 740 and a 3.6-3.7 GPA, plus entrepreneurial experience, looked upon at top B-Schools? Let's start with Berkeley's own school, Haas.....?

Or, do I have a shot at Harvard or Stanford? (I dislike Wharton's curriculum...and actually prefer H's general management plan)

PaulBodine · Answer

heintzst,
For a nontraditional applicant (e.g., someone coming from a non-business background) a strong GRE score like yours would be viewed very positively, if not the precise equivalent of a 740 in the GMAT. Your GPA at a rigorous school like UC Berkeley is strong -- so in terms of your 'numbers' you are competitive at HBS, Stanford and Haas. Whether you have a chance to get into these schools directly out of Berkeley, however, would depend on how impressive your entrepreneurial (and extracurricular, if any) experiences are.

--Paul Bodine, Great Applications for Business School, www.paulsbodine.com/testimonials

heintzst · Answer

Would you, then, advise me to apply to the B-schools right out of college or wait for a year or two? It looks like I won't need to go for the trouble of taking the GMAT. Even INSEAD now seems to accept GRE. It seems that there's no preference for either the GRE or the GMAT now.

By the time I'm out of college, I'll be around 27. If I go work for two years, I'll be 29. Will that be too old for me?

But that said, I also worked before college and while in high school (I ran a business selling designer scarves made out of our design and made in Italy, to Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, to name a few). I also ran a tutoring company at its peak hiring around 7 tutors and staff, teaching AP, SAT, and ESL

Admissionado · Answer

Well the big question is: What exactly did you do between high school and college? And what success did you have? How many years did you work? Getting what results? This will be all-important to evaluate your profile.

PaulBodine · Answer

heintzst,
Given your age and assuming that you have about 3 years of full-time work experience, I would probably advise you to apply when you graduate rather than at 29. But it really depends on how strong that pre-college work experience is. Other factors would include: do you have any leadership record in extracurriculars/community, is your personal/family story interesting/value-adding (this might be where you address why you initially chose entrepreneurship over college). I would need to see a resume to give you more concrete advice: [email protected].

--Paul Bodine, Great Applications for Business School, www.paulsbodine.com/testimonials

heintzst · Answer

I have a partial CV made for admissions to college (with which I got into Pomona and Middlebury....)
I'll also retrieve my information about highschool/ college extracurriculars and send you if I can. 
I've shown these to an admissions consultant before, for college of course. The person said I had too many things going on and I was merely "showing off" on the application which would turn off the adcoms - but it turned out that I got into some schools (though not HYP, because my SAT wasn't 2350+ and I feel this is quite important)

how's GRE looked upon?

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