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GMAT or GRE – The Preferred Test for Global MBA

Written by Posted On Monday, 11 March 2019 21:44
GMAT or GRE – The Preferred Test for Global MBA

The following article has been inspired by the thoughts of Mr. Mayank Srivastava. He is the Founder of Experts’ Global, one of the world’s leading EdTech firms in the field of GMAT prep and MBA admission consulting

The Concept

Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council, or GMAC, a non-profit organization of renowned business schools. Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, is conducted by the Education Testing Services, or ETS, which is the globally acknowledged private non-profit firm for educational testing and assessment.

Since the initiation of these two tests, GMAT has been distinctly mandatory for students opting for a masters degree in management, for instance, MBA, MiM, MSF, etc., while GRE was distinctly mandatory for students opting for the masters degree in core disciples, for instance, MS in science, humanities, arts etc. However, this sharp differentiation between the tests lasted until 2011 when GRE’s format was updated to make it a relevant test for applying to almost all global major business schools. Owing to the apparent similarity of the test format and the wide acceptance of both the test scores by the B-schools, the prominent confusion of whether to opt for GMAT or GRE has been evident among students, since 2011.

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Comparing the Features of the Two Exams

  • Format

GMAT and GRE, both exams have been designed to test the verbal, quantitative, and writing skills of the candidates. Although there is a similarity between the types of skills that are tested, there is a significant difference between the types of questions that the students are provided with. According to formalists, GRE is more of a memory test while GMAT is more of an application test. To further clarify, the verbal questions in GRE largely depend upon vocabulary skills. Similarly, the section on quant requires the candidate to solve questions by direct application of the formulas and concepts. In contrast, the verbal questions in GMAT calls for more precise reasoning skills, while the quant section needs mature application of concepts. Thus, it may be safe to say that although preparing for one test may supplement the preparation for the other test, general preparation for both will not suffice.

  • Scoring

GMAT tests a candidate’s skills on a scale of 200-800 whereas GRE tests on a scale of 260-340. If the 90th percentile on GMAT figures at 700, the 90th percentile in GRE figures at 327. GMAT, however, has maintained its scoring scale since inception, while GRE’s scoring pattern has undergone several changes – until 2002, GRE tested skills out of 2400, which later was revised to 1600, and the upper limit has been presently fixed at 340. Both GMAT and GRE comprises of an Analytical Writing Assessment section wherein the candidates are tested on their written essay answers, and are awarded a separate score on a scale of 6. This score does not add up to the total GMAT or GRE score. However, unlike GRE, GMAT tests the candidates on an additional section on Integrated Reasoning, on a scale of 8. This score, too, is separately awarded and does not add up to the total GMAT score.

Business School’s Interpretation of the Scores

The consistency in format and scoring pattern maintained by GMAT has made it convenient for B-schools to interpret the scores ranging between the vast range of 200 and 800, in contrast to the repeated changes in the scoring format of GRE that has only recently been fixed within the compact range of 260-340. Further, the difference in the range of scores for both the test-pattern significantly affects the final score consideration. For instance, a 90% on GRE would be around 310, which, seemingly is a good score. However, when the same figure is translated to percentile, the candidate’s result will average around 580, which is a significantly weak score! On the contrary, a 90% on GMAT will approximate at 720, a score that also connotes the 94th percentile! Moreover, while ETS provides for a GRE to GMAT conversion tool, the GMAC does not provide any such conversion tools for GMAT to GRE. Undoubtedly, GMAT is the widely preferred score.

Top-50 US Schools prefer GMAT[U1] 

GMAC official website estimates that 90% of the admissions to the top-ranked 50 US schools had asked for the GMAT score. Although most of the top-ranked global B-schools accept the GRE scores, only a few specify a GMAT score requirement. Going by statistics, the MBA aspirants largely opt for a GMAT that further enables the B-schools to continue to comfortably interpret the scores, a tool widely accepted while short-listing candidate profiles.

The Decision

ETS, eager to encompass the domain of both core and management admissions, have resulted in complication in the format. GMAT, nonetheless, have remained to its domain of catering to management applicants. However, neither of these tests can be categorized as being right or wrong. The important factor to consider is that all top-ranked global B-schools accept both scores and it rests on the individual candidate to score the highest percentile, irrespective of the test. Yet, to take the numbers into account, as 90% of the admissions happen through GMAT, it is the most favored by both management aspirants and the B-schools.

Advice:

If you are just starting on your career and are yet undecided about whether to pursue an education in a core discipline or management, you may safely opt for GRE, its dynamism will serve both options. If, on the contrary, you have settled your mind on pursuing management education, consider GMAT as the ‘safer’ option!

 [U1]In the original document, the sub-heading mentions GRE. I believe GMAT is the intended term here.

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