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Dear Experts,
I am planning to apply to Business School this year ( Round 1) but I am quite apprehensive about my GMAT score, I will try to score as high as possible but I need to have a Plan B too in case this doesn't work ( in R2)
My question is How does admission committee view GREs score instead of GMAT.
1. Does Adcoms put more weight age on GMAT compared to GRE
2. If I score a good GRE Score , will I be eligible for scholarships ( I have heard they only provide scholarship for students with GMAT only )
3. What is a good GRE Score for top 15-40 Colleges.
4. How do I tackle their question, if they ask why did I take GRE instead of GMAT ?
5. B school says they do not differentiate between GRE/GMAT, is it really true or are they cutting corners ?
I would like your expert opinion and advice on this.
I am planning to apply to Business School this year ( Round 1) but I am quite apprehensive about my GMAT score, I will try to score as high as possible but I need to have a Plan B too in case this doesn't work ( in R2)
My question is How does admission committee view GREs score instead of GMAT.
1. Does Adcoms put more weight age on GMAT compared to GRE
2. If I score a good GRE Score , will I be eligible for scholarships ( I have heard they only provide scholarship for students with GMAT only )
3. What is a good GRE Score for top 15-40 Colleges.
4. How do I tackle their question, if they ask why did I take GRE instead of GMAT ?
5. B school says they do not differentiate between GRE/GMAT, is it really true or are they cutting corners ?
I would like your expert opinion and advice on this.
Posts: 983
mzaid, GRE vs GMAT is very subjective. The article should help you get some sense on it.
Per se, no adcom would say they prefer one over the other; the GMAT has however been around for a lot longer so there might be some unsaid bias. Part of it also depends on your post-MBA plans for instance, for consulting, GMAT still tends to have an upper edge.
This should give you a sense of average GRE scores for top MBA programs.
_________________
Per se, no adcom would say they prefer one over the other; the GMAT has however been around for a lot longer so there might be some unsaid bias. Part of it also depends on your post-MBA plans for instance, for consulting, GMAT still tends to have an upper edge.
This should give you a sense of average GRE scores for top MBA programs.
_________________
Manish Gupta
Chief Consulting Officer, MBA Crystal Ball
mcb (at) mbacrystalball (dot) com
Chief Consulting Officer, MBA Crystal Ball
mcb (at) mbacrystalball (dot) com
MG4MBACrystalBall
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 ?
Posts: 32
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.
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.
Posts: 983
mzaid
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,
_________________
Manish Gupta
Chief Consulting Officer, MBA Crystal Ball
mcb (at) mbacrystalball (dot) com
Chief Consulting Officer, MBA Crystal Ball
mcb (at) mbacrystalball (dot) com
AugustAcademy
Joined: 26 Jan 2013
Last visit: 17 Aug 2026
Posts: 472
Schools: Stanford '19
GMAT 1: 770 Q51 V44
GPA: 3.99
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
_________________
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
mzaid
_________________
Karthik P.
Founder and CEO,
August Academy.
Schedule a free consultation with us: bit (dot) ly (backslash) GM_AugAcd_Profile_Evaluation
Email: info (at) augustacademy (dot) in
About: We are an India-based MBA admissions consulting firm. We've been helping Indian MBA applicants (students belonging to the most competitive MBA admissions pool) since 2013. Several of our students study at the top 20 schools in the US including Harvard, Booth, Kellogg, MIT, Yale, Ross, and Darden, top European schools including INSEAD, IMD, London Business School, Cambridge, and Oxford, top Canadian schools like Rotman and top Asian schools like ISB and NUS. Our students have won over USD 2.1 Million in scholarships over the last 3 admissions years.
Founder and CEO,
August Academy.
Schedule a free consultation with us: bit (dot) ly (backslash) GM_AugAcd_Profile_Evaluation
Email: info (at) augustacademy (dot) in
About: We are an India-based MBA admissions consulting firm. We've been helping Indian MBA applicants (students belonging to the most competitive MBA admissions pool) since 2013. Several of our students study at the top 20 schools in the US including Harvard, Booth, Kellogg, MIT, Yale, Ross, and Darden, top European schools including INSEAD, IMD, London Business School, Cambridge, and Oxford, top Canadian schools like Rotman and top Asian schools like ISB and NUS. Our students have won over USD 2.1 Million in scholarships over the last 3 admissions years.
MBAPrepCoach
Expert
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Last visit: 03 Dec 2025
Posts: 3,932
Status:MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: MBA Prep Coach
Location: United States
Farrell Nelson: MBA
Expert reply
Posts: 3,932
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.
_________________
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.
_________________
I know my clients inside and out, allowing admissions to know, like, trust - and admit them. For 11+ years now. Even overrepresented & low-stats clients crack M7. Complete my contact form to receive CV and profile feedback.
GeneralEducation
Joined: 12 May 2010
Last visit: 07 Sep 2026
Posts: 1,403
Status:Assisting candidates to get admit in to top global business schools
Affiliations: MBA
Location: Bangalore
Schools:HEC, Paris
WE 1: 9 Years
Posts: 1,403
Hi mzaid
Maybe this blog will help you to understand which is better GMAT Vs GRE.
_________________
Maybe this blog will help you to understand which is better GMAT Vs GRE.
_________________
Best Wishes,
General Education Team
General Education Team
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