GMAT/ GRE : admission to business programme in Europe

With an increase in the number of Universities and Colleges accepting both GMAT and GRE score for admission into their business programme in  Europe, students often face with a certain degree of confusion as which exam to choose.

Before we get to deciding on which exam is better suited for you, let’s have a quick look at the two exams.  We see that both exams have a similar format, is standardized and adaptive, accepted widely across the world and offers the applicant flexibility.

GMAT

Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) conducted by GMAC is a standardized & computerized adaptive test which is generally accepted for entrance to B-schools across the world. It is accepted by All reputed business schools for admission to its post graduate programs in management.

Test Structure Include:

• Analytical Writing Section with one essay (30 minutes)
• Quantitative Section (75 minutes)
• Verbal Section (75 minutes)
• Integrated Reasoning (30 minutes)

Test Format :  Computerized adaptive test

Score Range : 200 – 800 in 10 point increment

Score Validity :   5 years

Cost :  $250

Repetitions :  After every 31 days to a maximum of 5 attempts in a calendar year

GRE

Graduates Record Examination (GRE) conducted by ETS is a standardized aptitude test for admissions to post graduate degree courses around the world. It is accepted by all reputed universities for a variety of postgraduate degree programs including management.

Test Structure :

• Analytical Writing Section with 2 essays (75 minutes)
• 2 Verbal Sections (30 minutes each)
• 2 Quantitative Sections (35 minutes each)
• Experimental Section (either Verbal or Quantitative) (30 minutes)

Test Format : Both paper and computerized adaptive formats are available

Score Range : 130 – 170 in 1 point increment

Score Validity : 5 years

Cost : $195

Repetitions : 

After every 21 days to a maximum of 5 attempts in a year (continuous rolling 12 month period from the beginning of the first test)

While most of the colleges do accept both the scores, the obvious question you must answer is the acceptability of the exam across all the programs you wish to apply to. For instance, you shortlist 20 colleges you wish to apply to. Out of these, if 5 colleges do not accept GRE, you must further analyse whether they are important colleges for you or should you stick with GMAT or vice versa. Simply put, it makes no sense to write both the exams…choose the exam which would give you the maximum choice.

Also, in case you wish to apply to a few MS programs that require only GRE and not accept GMAT, the choice would have to be then accordingly made.

Simply put, GMAT is bound to be tougher for you is highly sophisticated reasoning eludes you. Similarly, if remembering complex words troubles you, GRE would not be an apt choice.

 

Section	GMAT	GRE
Verbal	If grammar is your strong suit	If you are an ace in vocabulary
Quantitative	If reasoning and logical interpretation is your strong suit	If you are fair in quantitative analysis and data interpretation

 

Train yourself for  the exam and see into it. We recommend you to take a practice paper each, understand how you score in the different sections and also the overall score, ascertain the kind of cut off required and then make your choice.