GMAT vs GRE Exam: Which one is easier for you to accomplish?
Tips and tricks for cracking GMAT and its difference with GRE exam
The primary truth that you need to know is GMAT is specifically catering for business school admission. GRE exam can be taken for appearing in admission for any graduate programs. Although both GMAT and GRE provide the opportunity for the students to pursue MBA degrees. But most of the B-schools are now preferring GMAT scores during the application.
Business schools around the world have their own preference while selecting candidates from GMAT and GRE tests. It is reported that 13% of students admitted that GMAT score gets a leg up in MBA admission than the GRE. Nevertheless, one of the best B-school Stanford Graduate School of Business treats GMAT and GRE at an equal position as per their official policy.
Both GMAT and GRE exam is competitive and hard to accomplish. Here is all you need to know on GMAT vs GRE to pave your future academic path.
Eligibility Criteria: What age and qualification do you need to hold?
For GMAT, the candidates require to be over 18 years of age and they must have graduated from any recognized institute.
On the other hand, there is no age or qualification restriction for GRE. But one is expected to complete their graduation as it is a graduate course.
Exam Structure: What are you going to face in the exam?
GMAT test has four sections:
Analytical Writing Assessment: A 30 min test on writing an argumentative essay on one topic. It is for measuring your critical assessment and common knowledge
Integrated Reasoning: Another 30 min test with 12 questions. Questions are based on two-part analysis, multi-score reasoning, table analysis and graphics interpretation.
Quantitative Reasoning: A 62 min long test with 31 questions. Questions are based on data sufficiency and problem-solving analysis.
Verbal Reasoning: Another 65 min long exam with 36 questions. Questions are based on sentence correction, reading unseen passages and critical reasoning.
GRE exam is for 3 hrs and 45 mins for the following sections:
Analytical Writing: Comprises of two tasks in one section for 30 min on each. Tasks are related to analysing one issue and an argument.
Verbal Reasoning: Comprises of two sections with 20 questions on each. Per section gets 30 min to answer.
Quantitative Reasoning: Comprises of two sections for 35 min per section. It contains 20 questions in each section.
Scoring: How well do you need to get the score?
The scores you need to get from GMAT is between 200 to 800. The composite score you are going to get from the Quantitative and Verbal sections. The other score is coming from Analytical writing which is 0–6 with half-point increment and Integrated reasoning that is 1–8 with one-point increment.
Being an adaptive computational test, GMAT will trick your ability during both Verbal and Quantitative sections with medium difficulty questions first, and slightly harder one on second if you answered the previous. If you failed to answer the hard one, they will generate you with an easier one.
The only challenge is you cannot return to any previous question after attempting them. If you want to get admission to a top rank B-school, no lower than 710–737 score will be accepted. A good score for GMAT is ranging between 650 to 740 and is depending on the percentile.
In GRE, a score above 318 is good. Top institutions are hoping for you to get at least 80 to 90 percentile which is a score above 330. Institutes like Stanford GSB or Harvard B-School will consider a GRE score above 326 to 330. Any score below 300 is considered subpar.
Preparation: How long do you need to study for?
The competition is getting harder for getting into the top B-schools. GMAT will take a big chunk of your time to grow your cognitive knowledge and reasoning. If you are determined to crack GMAT in the first place start a plan for at least three months. You need to dedicate at least 120 hours to practising and reviewing materials and test questions. GMAC released a report in 2016 claiming that candidates who scored more than 500, went through a rigorous study of more than 60 hours. So, in short, you need more time to score more.
Candidates who are preparing for the GRE practice test to get into MBA courses must devote at least two to three months for the preparation. More than the materials, you should get familiar with the GRE exam pattern to hike your score.
