GRE versus GMAT

Often people are confused whether to take the GRE or the GMAT exam. This manual will help you take that decision.

GMAT exam is exclusively for MBA aspirants or people who want to enrol themselves into other programmes at business schools. GRE scores help you seek admission into any grad school for any stream of your choice. Some business schools do accept a GRE score for admission into their business programmes, but you should always check with the school before applying as all business programs do not accept a GRE score. Sometimes, students have a change of mind and alter their career plans. In such a case, a GRE scorecard will fetch more options.

GMAT is a computer-adaptive test. The computer assumes you to be an average scorer and presents the first question of medium difficulty level. If your answer is correct, your next question is of higher difficulty level than the previous one. Hence, this format does not allow you to go back to the previous question and change the answer as opposed to the GRE exam.

Which is more difficult?

A close look at the question bank offered by a reputed online GRE Preparation programme will give you an idea about the difficulty level of the GRE exam. Attempting some diagnostic tests offered by the online GRE Preparation programme, you will know where exactly you stand.

If your skills in Quant are strong, the GRE math section would be a cakewalk for you with some additional practise from the online GRE Preparation material. The GMAT math is much more difficult, so if you are not very good in math, scoring well in GMAT would be a herculean task for you.

GRE verbal section places high emphasis on vocabulary. The GMAT verbal section gives greater importance to grammar and reasoning. It is not necessary that someone who has a good vocabulary will be strong in grammar too. Though the online GRE Preparation courses aid you in increasing your vocabulary, you need to additionally read newspaper articles to improve your reading speed. The timed tests offered by the online GRE Preparation courses can also be beneficial towards increasing your speed.

The GRE exam has 2 timed Analytical Writing Assessment essays whereas GMAT has only one. The online GRE Preparation material will brief you on how to approach these essays and how these are graded. The sample essay responses published by the online GRE Preparation programmes will provide you insights into developing the approach to do well on this section.

The Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT is the hardest and if you have chosen to attempt the GRE, you are saved from this arduous section.

Hence, if the school offers you a choice between the two exams, choose to take the exam in which there is greater emphasis on your strengths. Online GRE Preparation courses as well as online GMAT Preparation courses will help you polish your skills and elevate your strengths further, helping you achieve your highest score.