achievableprep wrote:
Hey Shivkrish123, I would disagree with the others here and say that the GRE is a perfectly fine test to use for your MBA application.
First, the GRE is no longer a second-tier test in the eyes of business schools. Every one of the top 15 business schools now accepts the GRE as a component of their applications. And if a business school accepts either test, it must treat them as functionally equivalent because anything that a university shares publicly about itself in its own literature is legally binding.
Second are the tactical advantages of taking the GRE. I have worked in the test prep industry for sixteen years and taught every standardized test under the sun. Simply put, I think the GRE is easier than the GMAT. This is true for all GRE sections.
How hard is the GRE? OK, to be clear, this is not to say that the GRE is a walk in the park (it isn’t). How long is the GRE, for instance? Just as long as the GMAT. However, the GMAT more frequently requires the use of logical reasoning – on both sections of the test – in addition to knowledge of the relevant quantitative and qualitative material. Therefore, preparation for the GMAT requires both extensive studying of the testable content and practicing how to manipulate that content using the rules of formal logic.
The GMAT’s verbal section contains many more critical reasoning problems than does the GRE’s verbal section. In fact, only approximately 6% of all GRE verbal problems have a logic component. There is no GRE to GMAT conversion chart to compare the whole test, but that’s pretty telling.
Third, at every top-ranked business school, the GRE score percentiles associated with the median scores of their matriculated cohorts are lower for the GRE than for the GMAT. Across the 15 schools listed, median GRE scores were on average 9 percentile points lower than median GMAT scores.
This means that you don’t have to perform as highly on the GRE as you have to perform on the GMAT to be competitive for these programs. Nine percentile points is an enormous advantage.
I hope this helps you make a decision. In either case, best of luck to you!
Thanks
achievableprep, may I ask where did you get the 9 percentile data point