So, you've decided to take an adaptive graduate admissions exam! Now, what does that mean??

For the GRE and GMAT there are major differences in their respective adaptivity functions and how they affect your ultimate score. Let's begin by just comparing the two exams overall in terms of their adaptivity and how they handle "experimental" questions.

GMAT Adaptivity
The GMAT, which is the primary graduate business admissions exam, is adaptive by question. This has numerous practical implications for the test, but the biggest is that you will not be able to skip a question and return to it later because, in overly simplistic terms, accuracy on one question will dictate the difficulty level of the next problem you encounter. Furthermore, the harder the questions become, the higher your score can go.

Now, one activity to consciously avoid is worrying about how you are doing on the GMAT while taking the GMAT, because at any time the exam may present an "experimental" question that may not affect your score. That "experimental" question could be of any difficulty, so trying to predict your score is a fruitless endeavor, since at no time can you even definitively determine whether the question you are attempting really counts. Furthermore, each test taker's personal proficiencies will never align with the exam's defined difficulties. Therefore, if you choose to head over to GMAT Club and begin working on that exam, never waste precious mental attention trying to handicap your own performance during the test!

GRE Adaptivity
The GRE, which is accepted for most graduate programs, including most business schools and many top law schools, is adaptive by section, meaning that your performance on the first scored section of either type will dictate the difficulty level of your second scored section of that same type. This functionality has many practical implications, also primarily impacting the score for the exam. However, a major benefit of choosing the GRE over the GMAT is that you will be able to skip and return to questions within the GRE. This is an important aspect of the exam for your overall strategy as well, since there is not an absolutely defined level of difficulty on the GRE. Question 1 needn't be the easiest nor question 20 the hardest of any given section. Therefore, when attempting any question on the GRE always be asking: Am I progressing to a solution? As soon as the answer is no - Estimate, Eliminate, Guess, Flag (in the interface), and Move On in fewer than 20 seconds to guarantee that you see every question with enough time to realistically complete the problem.

The GRE also has experimental questions to beware of, but on this exam it is an entire experimental section that you will not be able to identify, except to say which type of experimental section you had, since most test takers will have three quantitative or verbal sections and two of the other subject. It is possible to not encounter an experimental section on the GRE, but best practice is to prepare as you will, because the vast majority of online or in-person GRE administrations will have that fifth experimental section. Now, that experimental section once again dictates that test takers will not ever be able to accurately gauge their individual performances on the exam while taking it, since at any time the section you are completing could be unscored, and you won't even know which type was experimental until the fifth section tacitly answers that question by revealing the presence of a third quantitative or verbal section.

GMAT vs GRE Adaptive Scoring
The GMAT is generally considered the more difficult of the two exams, but that is primarily because it can get excessively difficult due to its individual question adaptive function, and when it does, the margin for error grows. If you were to get the first 20 questions correct on a GMAT quantitative or verbal section, the exam will produce increasingly time consuming and difficult problems that, honestly, are not terribly reasonable to complete in approximately two minutes each. For this reason, it is possible to miss several questions on the GMAT and still produce a solid quantitative result and subsequently strong overall score.

Meanwhile, the GRE is generally considered the easier of the two exams, but because it is adaptive by section the margin for error is smaller, especially on the first section which dictates the difficulty level of the subsequently scored section of that same type. Furthermore, a 170 on the GRE math in particular will likely require no missed questions, simply because it is a more reasonable task than to have no mistakes on the GMAT quantitative section, especially when considering the lack of an interface calculator on the GMAT. Also, remember that there is no combined score for the GRE, so the section adaptivity does not cross impact the other section.

GRE Section Scoring Targets
This is once again an oversimplification, but broadly, test takers should expect that 15 or more questions correct on the first scored section of either type will punch a ticket to the harder second section of that same type and that fewer than 8 questions correct will likely consign that same test taker to the easier second section. The implications of such outcomes are as follow:

• 15+ Correct | Harder Second Section | Assumed Necessary for 160+ Overall Section Score
• 8-14 Correct | Average Second Section | Assumed Necessary for 150+ Overall Section Score
• < 8 Correct | Easier Second Section | Assumed Unlikely to Surpass 150 for Overall Section Score

These targets can help to determine how many questions a test taker can throw away by guessing to ensure that you reach the end of each section with enough time to at least address each of the problem and guarantee that you do not miss any easy problems at the end. Of course, always do input a selection or even a numerical guess for every GRE problem, since even though an answer is not required, there is no penalty for guessing!