GRE vs GMAT

anrforanr

Those of you who have taken one, or both, or know a lot about these tests - which one would you recommend taking? I want to start grad school shortly after my wedding, so I need to get going with the tests (school I want to go to has rolling admission, but registration deadlines).

Any advice would be appreciated!

JennyColada

I heard about my friends studying for the GRE more than the GMAT. I think the only person I know who's going for GMAT is studying a science, but I'm not 100%.

buttercup1958

Depends on what you want to do! I just recently took the GRE so its fresh in my brain. The GRE is about 5-6 hours long. There are two essays you have to write, two vocab sections, and two math sections. Each section is 30 mins. I took about a month and a half to study for the GRE. I used the Princeton Review Cracking the GRE. It helped a lot, it was a good layout and had practice tests. I will have to say all the grad schools I talked too, don't put too emphasis on the GRE.

 They seem to care about you as a package overall. Also depending on what you want to do, sometimes one section is more important than the other. I'm going for a masters of arts soon so they would care more about my essay section/vocab than my math. I will say give yourself time to take it twice so that way you aren't stuck with a score you don't like because of registration deadlines. What do you want to do? Good Luck!

allispain

buttercup1958 said:

Depends on what you want to do! I just recently took the GRE so its fresh in my brain. The GRE is about 5-6 hours long. There are two essays you have to write, two vocab sections, and two math sections. Each section is 30 mins. I took about a month and a half to study for the GRE. I used the Princeton Review Cracking the GRE. It helped a lot, it was a good layout and had practice tests. I will have to say all the grad schools I talked too, don't put too emphasis on the GRE.

 They seem to care about you as a package overall. Also depending on what you want to do, sometimes one section is more important than the other. I'm going for a masters of arts soon so they would care more about my essay section/vocab than my math. I will say give yourself time to take it twice so that way you aren't stuck with a score you don't like because of registration deadlines. What do you want to do? Good Luck!

I second pretty much all of this. I took the GRE - I only studied for two weeks for it (I decided rather last minute to go to grad school). I did foreign languages, so the math section didn't really matter for me - but most schools have a minimum GRE score to accept students, so your combined score needs to be high enough to meet that requirement.

I don't know anyone who took the GMAT, so no experience with that one.

snarkymaid

So, I just took the GMAT twice in the last 6 months. When deciding which to take, it really depends on what you're going back to school for. GMAT is primarily used by business schools (MBA, Master of Finance/Accountancy), and most top schools strongly prefer that you take the GMAT versus the GRE, but some schools will accept the GRE. Research your target programs ahead of time, because each school will tell you what they require. 

As for the GMAT itself, it's a 3.5 hour test. Starts with a 30 minute essay that asks you to evaluate an argument based on its assumptions, use of evidence and logical reasoning. The essay is scored on a scale from 1 to 6, with 6 being outstanding, and is reported separately from your total 200-800 score. The next section is Integrated Reasoning, 30 minutes for 12 questions, scored from 1 to 8, and is separate from your main score. This is a new section (less than 2 years old), combines verbal and quant, and uses a lot of tables and charts and you answer questions based on the data given. Most schools don't yet know how to interpret this section so it's not *AS* important as the others. There's an 8 minute break after the IR section, then a 75 minute, 38 question Quantitative section. Another 8 minute break, and then a 75 minute, 41 question verbal section, and then you're done. Your score will appear on the screen at the end of the test, and you have the option to cancel your score if you really bombed (were sick, something happened during the test, etc).

Whichever you take, give yourself plenty of time for a retake. The last thing you want to do is have to study for and take a test while trying to finalize applications.

levioosa

No experience with the GMAT.  I took the GRE.  The math wasn't quite what the study guide had me prepare for, so that was unnerving for me when I took the test, but everything else went okay and I scored reasonably well.  I studied for about a week before (would not recommend--I definitely procrastinated). 

JoanE2012

I took the GMAT for business school.  It was many, many years ago and I don't remember anything about it though!

anrforanr

Thanks for sharing everyone! I guess I should have mentioned - I'm going for my MBA. The school I want to go to accepts either. Based on what I like for tests, I think the GRE sounds more my style.

buttercup1958

Just letting you know, the GRE's math section is mainly based on high school math. No caculus, barely if any algebra. It's mainly probability, geometry, and reading graphs and trying to interpret them.

onefootinthebayou

My advice would be to think hard about your career path first, then take the test that gets you to the right grad program. This may be harder than it sounds - I took the GRE, got into a really good PhD. program in the hard sciences, which was purely research driven. It took me nearly 7 years after graduating to find the perfect job (the one I have now). I'm now on the commercial side of life sciences/biotech and LOVE it. The job has everything I wanted: technical challenge, travel, flexibility, client relationships, closing big contracts, lots of money. I often wonder if an MBA would have gotten me here sooner than the somewhat circuitous route I took after doing several years of research that I honestly didn't enjoy that much. Granted, the grad degree in sciences gets me anywhere from a $15k-$25k starting salary bump from those in the same position with a BS. I would assume an MBA gets a similar starting salary bump but am unsure.

In any case, if I could have given advice to my younger self, I would have said to actually talk to professionals about their jobs & think hard about what you want to do to find the most direct path to get there. If I had known about this job when I graduated, I would have been celebrating 13 years rather than 6! Tools like Linked In can help you browse careers and gain access to other professionals in your desired fields. It's also not a bad idea to talk to recruiters if you want to get information on what backgrounds are suitable for what jobs, typical salaries, etc. Good luck!

anrforanr

onefootinthebayou said:

My advice would be to think hard about your career path first, then take the test that gets you to the right grad program. This may be harder than it sounds - I took the GRE, got into a really good PhD. program in the hard sciences, which was purely research driven. It took me nearly 7 years after graduating to find the perfect job (the one I have now). I'm now on the commercial side of life sciences/biotech and LOVE it. The job has everything I wanted: technical challenge, travel, flexibility, client relationships, closing big contracts, lots of money. I often wonder if an MBA would have gotten me here sooner than the somewhat circuitous route I took after doing several years of research that I honestly didn't enjoy that much. Granted, the grad degree in sciences gets me anywhere from a $15k-$25k starting salary bump from those in the same position with a BS. I would assume an MBA gets a similar starting salary bump but am unsure.

In any case, if I could have given advice to my younger self, I would have said to actually talk to professionals about their jobs & think hard about what you want to do to find the most direct path to get there. If I had known about this job when I graduated, I would have been celebrating 13 years rather than 6! Tools like Linked In can help you browse careers and gain access to other professionals in your desired fields. It's also not a bad idea to talk to recruiters if you want to get information on what backgrounds are suitable for what jobs, typical salaries, etc. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I actually graduated with my Bachelor's last June, and have been working full time in a job a love since then. I'll be going for my MBA part time while working (company has tuition assistance). I know once FI and I have kids, I want to take time off work until they start school, but I also want to get my MBA before having kids. I'd eventually like to start my own company (doing what, no idea yet).

emmaaa

If you're going for your MBA, most likely your grad school will want GMAT scores. My BFF took h r GMAT twice to get the score she wAntes and did an online study class that was six weeks long.

JoanE2012

anrforanr said:

Thanks for sharing everyone! I guess I should have mentioned - I'm going for my MBA. The school I want to go to accepts either. Based on what I like for tests, I think the GRE sounds more my style.

Just check to see what the schools you are applying to require.  For my MBA, they took either GMAT or GRE, however if you were going into accounting, they only took GMAT.

snarkymaid

anrforanr said:

Thanks for sharing everyone! I guess I should have mentioned - I'm going for my MBA. The school I want to go to accepts either. Based on what I like for tests, I think the GRE sounds more my style.

Double check which the school prefers. Part time admissions are definitely less competitive than full time, but your work history (another key component to your overall application) could be a bit of a weak point if you've been out of school for only a year. GMAT could increase your chances since, according to many admissions reps and GMAC itself, it is supposed to be the standard against which everyone is compared, regardless of background. 

Having just gone through the B-School admissions process myself, I would strongly recommend the GMAT if you're going for an MBA, or even waiting a few years to get more work experience. Most students have at least 4 years before applying. Also be aware that most employers want a certain number of years from you after obtaining the degree (which can take 3+ years part time) if they're covering tuition - though I'm sure you know your company's policy. Just something to think about when thinking of a timeline.

snarkymaid

Also - start studying NOW (I'm assuming you're planning to start Fall 2016). Get your test done and out of the way this summer so you have time to retake, and then also have plenty of time to visit the school, talk to current students and alumni, and prepare your strongest application (essays, interviews, recommendations). B-school admissions are no joke - it's a stressful process so get the test done well in advance. 

Give yourself plenty of time to figure out exactly what you want to do too, because you will need to be able to convince the admissions committee that you want to do X and that they are the best place for you to achieve those goals.

anrforanr

The school I'm applying to accepts either test - they don't state a preference one over the other. It's also 100% online, no campus visits, so I'm not planning on visiting the school at all. I also had been at my company as a co-op for over 3 years before I graduated, so I have quite a bit of work experience under my belt. Also from what I can tell there are no admissions interviews, they just want X GRE/GMAT score and X Undergrad GPA.

And it is an AACSB accredited school, cause I know something unaccredited is pretty much a waste of time and money.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

vikinganna87

I took the GMAT for business school.  On a side note, I believe math sections of the GRE and GMAT are essentially the same. 

Good luck!

bethsmiles

snarkymaid said:

Also - start studying NOW (I'm assuming you're planning to start Fall 2016). Get your test done and out of the way this summer so you have time to retake, and then also have plenty of time to visit the school, talk to current students and alumni, and prepare your strongest application (essays, interviews, recommendations). B-school admissions are no joke - it's a stressful process so get the test done well in advance. 

Give yourself plenty of time to figure out exactly what you want to do too, because you will need to be able to convince the admissions committee that you want to do X and that they are the best place for you to achieve those goals.

Ditto this advice. You should absolutely start studying for whichever test you plan to take ASAP. And give yourself enough to time retake the test if you need to. With the GRE you must wait at least 21 days to re-take the test.

I also suggest contacting the school and asking which they prefer as well as any other questions you have about applying or the program in general. The website may say either but if you ask they might tell you that most of those who get in took the GMAT instead of the GRE.