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Last Updated on September 30, 2024
Not too long ago, if you were applying to business school, your only option was to take the GMAT. Today, the vast majority of business school applicants have the option to take either the GRE or GMAT. In this article, we’ll provide some guidance on how to choose which test to take, including discussing the difference between GRE and GMAT content and answering one of the most frequently asked questions we hear: Is the GRE easier than the GMAT?
Today, the vast majority of business school applicants have the option to take either the GRE or GMAT.
- Do Your Desired Schools Accept the GRE?
- Do Your Desired Schools Prefer the GMAT?
- What Are Your Career Goals?
- Still Unsure of Which Test to Take?
- Have You Begun Studying?
- The Mechanics of the GMAT vs GRE
Let’s begin by considering the schools you’d like to attend.
Do Your Desired Schools Accept the GRE?
The obvious initial point of consideration is whether the schools to which you’re applying actually accept the GRE. Of the business schools that require applicants to submit a standardized test score, all accept the GMAT, and essentially all now accept the GRE. A list of all business schools that accept the GRE can be found on the ETS website. Lists and policies change, so be sure to do your due diligence by getting in touch with the programs that interest you, to confirm that they do in fact accept the GRE.
If all of the schools to which you’re applying accept both the GMAT and the GRE, your next point of consideration is whether any of the schools openly prefer the GMAT to the GRE.
Do Your Desired Schools Prefer the GMAT?
As recently as 2017, some of the elite schools in the U.S. stated a clear preference for the GMAT over the GRE. However, they have changed their (written) policies, and admissions websites of all of the top schools indicate no preference for one test over the other. Even the stodgy London School of Business now states:
“We accept the GRE, however, you should be aware that some employers may ask for a GMAT score.”
However, there does appear to be an unwritten preference for the GMAT at some schools, as evidenced by the lower acceptance rates for GRE applicants scoring in the same percentile rank as their GMAT counterparts.
Be sure to verify the facts with the schools to which you are applying. Start by reading their admissions policies on their websites. If you have questions, contact the schools. Don’t be afraid to reach out; admissions people are usually more than willing to help.
TTP PRO TIP:
Research the schools you’re interested in to find out if they have an unstated preference for the GMAT, and plan accordingly.
The next consideration is your career goals.
What Are Your Career Goals?
As if deciding between the GMAT and the GRE were not complex enough, students may also need to consider their career goals post-business school. For some time, certain employers have been asking applicants for copies of their GMAT scores. This practice is particularly common in management consulting and banking. Some companies are particularly interested in an applicant’s Integrated Reasoning score and Quant score; Integrated Reasoning is found only on the GMAT. So if banking or management consulting is in your future, you may want to take the GMAT. Of course, your best approach will be to get to know the companies to which you’d like to apply after you earn your MBA. Network with people who are in the know at these companies. See what they have to say. Do insiders recommend one test over the other? Are hiring managers interested in your performance on the Quant section of the GMAT? Do your research.
Still Unsure of Which Test to Take?
Let’s assume all of your schools accept either test, have no preference about which one you take, and your future career goals aren’t steering you toward one test or the other. In that case, there are some other factors to consider.
Firstly, have you begun studying?
Have You Begun Studying?
If you’re just beginning your preparation and you’re not sure whether to take the GRE or GMAT, it’s wise to get a baseline score for each by taking an official practice test for each. You can take an official GMAT practice test from mba.com. The GRE counterpart lives here.
Take each exam under test-like conditions and do your best. If one score percentile is significantly greater than the other, you may have an advantage on that test. For example, if you earn an 89th percentile score on the GMAT and a 57th percentile score on the GRE, you should probably consider preparing for and taking the GMAT.
It may be helpful for you to convert your GRE score to an expected GMAT score. Here is a tool from ETS to calculate predicted GMAT scores based on an applicant’s GRE Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning scores. Keep in mind that the conversion isn’t perfect, but it is a reasonable approximation.
If you earn similar scores on both your GMAT and GRE practice exams, you should then consider the mechanics of each exam.
TTP PRO TIP:
To help you decide which exam is best for you, take a practice GMAT and a practice GRE, and compare your performance on each.
The Mechanics of the GMAT vs GRE
Overview
On the GRE, you’ll face a 60-minute Analytical Writing section that requires you to write two essays, each with a time limit of 30 minutes. There are also two Verbal Reasoning sections, each 30 minutes long, and two 35-minute Quantitative sections. In addition, there will also be one 30- or 35-minute (Verbal or Quant, respectively) experimental section, which will not count toward your score.
On the GMAT, you’ll face one 30-minute essay, one 30-minute Integrated Reasoning section, one 62-minute Quantitative section, and one 65-minute Verbal section.
Time
Both tests take about the same time to complete. The total test time for the GRE is 3.75 hours (3.5 hours if you take the paper-based GRE). The total test time for the GMAT is 3.5 hours. So, you’ll need to build test-taking stamina regardless of which you take.
Adaptivity
The GMAT is adaptive on a question level. That is, after you answer each question, the computer determines whether to give you a harder question or an easier one. When you correctly answer questions, succeeding ones are more difficult, but when you incorrectly answer questions, the ones that follow are easier (and are worth fewer points). You can’t skip around on the GMAT; you must answer the question presented to you before moving to the next one.
The GRE is adaptive on a per-section basis, not on a per-question basis like the GMAT. On the GRE, you’ll have two graded Quant sections (20 questions each) and two graded Verbal sections (20 questions each). So, instead of individual questions changing based on your correct or incorrect responses, the sections will become more or less difficult due to your performance on previous sections. It’s the same concept as the adaptive strategy used on the GMAT, just applied in a broader way. Whereas you can’t skip around on the GMAT, the GRE allows you to skip around within each section.
KEY FACT:
The GMAT is adaptive at the question level, whereas the GRE is adaptive at the section level.
Ability to Skip Questions
Some students like that the GRE provides the flexibility of being able to skip around within a section. If you take a GRE practice test or two, you’ll be able to get an idea of whether this feature is helpful to you. Some students improve their scores by being able to skip around. Other students find that once the time pressure is factored in, they have little time available at the end of a section to return to questions they skipped.
Calculator for Math
The GRE provides a simple on-screen calculator on the Quant sections. Some students choose to take the GRE because of this calculator. Taking the GRE just because you can use a calculator is a big mistake. The calculator cannot do the thinking for you, and its availability will likely be of minimal help. The GRE is a thinking test, and although there will be calculations to perform, the majority of the work you’ll be doing on the Quant sections will be analytical reasoning. In other words, you’ll be thinking more than you’ll be crunching numbers. If you’re a person who truly has a hard time doing multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction, take a few GRE practice tests and determine whether the calculator is of significant help to you.
There is no calculator allowed for the Quant section of the GMAT. However, on the Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT, a calculator is provided. As with the Quantitative section of the GRE, don’t overly rely on this tool. The GMAT is a thinking test; don’t expect a calculator to help you think.
KEY FACT:
The GRE provides an online calculator for its Quant sections, but the GMAT provides one only for its Integrated Reasoning section.
Question Types
Another mechanical consideration is the question types on the two exams. The GMAT presents traditional multiple choice questions (except for Data Sufficiency questions). The GRE, in addition to its Quantitative Comparison questions, has a wide variety of question types: traditional multiple choice, numeric entry, multiple answer, and even “highlight the sentence in the passage that…” For some students, this vast array of question types is overwhelming. Add to this the stress caused by knowing that if you miss even one part of a multiple answer question then the entire question is considered incorrect. For many students, the standard five-option multiple choice question format of the GMAT is a safe and dependable haven. Of course, if you take the GMAT, mastering Data Sufficiency questions is a must.
KEY FACT:
Every GMAT question is multiple choice. On the other hand, there are at least 5 question types on the GRE.
The Fatigue Factor
The GRE Quant and Verbal are each presented in two sections: you will take two Quant sections (35 minutes each), two Verbal sections (30 minutes each), and an additional Verbal or Quant section that is unscored. These may appear in any order, so your Quant and Verbal could alternate. Remember that you won’t know which section is unscored, so you must treat each section as if it were scored. Some students like jumping from one type of thinking to another. Others find this “stop and go” thinking challenging, and thus prefer the immersion provided by the GMAT’s one 62-minute Quant section followed by one 65-minute Verbal section. Some find that the GMAT’s longer sections are tiring and become fatigued at the end of each. You have to know a bit about yourself and how you perform to use the fatigue factor as a decision point.
You also should consider the content tested on each exam.
GMAT vs GRE Content
If you’re choosing one test over the other on the basis of the content, the Verbal sections of each exam are typically what test-takers should consider most.
Verbal Content
The main similarity between the GMAT and GRE Verbal sections is Reading Comprehension. On both tests, you’ll be presented with passages of varying lengths and asked a series of questions about each passage. While GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are single-answer multiple choice, GRE question types vary. In addition to single-answer multiple choice, you will encounter multiple-answer multiple choice and questions that ask you to highlight a sentence from the passage.
In addition to Reading Comprehension questions, the GMAT will present you with Sentence Correction questions and Critical Reasoning questions. Sentence Correction questions test your knowledge of standard American English grammar and usage. Critical Reasoning questions test your ability to use logic to evaluate an argument.
On the GRE, in addition to Reading Comprehension questions, you’ll also see two other verbal question types. On Sentence Equivalence questions, you’ll be presented with a single sentence that has one word missing. Your job is to choose exactly two answer choices that logically complete the sentence, and at the same time, produce two sentences with equivalent meanings. Text Completion questions present you with either a sentence or a short passage with up to three words missing. For each missing word, you must choose the word that best fits the meaning of the sentence. In general, the GRE places a much greater emphasis on vocabulary than the GMAT does. If you plan to take the GRE, mastering a large number of vocabulary words is a must.
KEY FACT:
The GRE tests vocabulary, while the GMAT tests grammar and usage.
Of course, the significant differences between GRE and GMAT Verbal do not preclude consideration of the difference between GRE and GMAT Quant. Let’s take a look.
Quantitative Content
Both the GMAT and the GRE test similar content, especially in the Quant sections: linear and quadratic equations, roots and exponents, number properties, inequalities and absolute values, functions and sequences, probability and combinatorics, ratios and percents, rates and work, unit conversions, general number skills, estimation, statistics and overlapping sets, and geometry, for example.
Yes, the two tests have subtle variations in the weighting of topics tested and in the logic that the questions demand. Yes, GMAT Quant is a bit harder than GRE Quant (more on this in a minute). However, the topics tested on the GMAT and GRE are similar enough that the primary difference you may wish to consider between the Quant sections is the question types, not the content.
For instance, the GMAT presents Data Sufficiency (DS) questions and the GRE presents Quantitative Comparison (QC) questions. Each requires mastery of a quantitative concept, but the twist in each is the particular logic applied for determining the final answer.
The GMAT’s DS questions give you initial information in the question stem, and a question is posed to you about that information. Then you are given Statement 1 and Statement 2, each of which provides additional information. Your job is to determine whether the information in each or both statements is sufficient to answer the question posed in the question stem.
Give this sample DS question a try: GMAT Data Sufficiency example.
The GRE’s QC questions provide you with two mathematical quantities: Quantity A and Quantity B. Your task is to determine which of the quantities is greater, or if the quantities are equal, or if the answer cannot be determined based on the information given.
Now try this sample QC question: GRE Quantitative Comparison example.
Each of these Quant problem types has a particular logic that must be applied when you are working the problem. For some students, DS questions just “feel” easier to grasp and to answer. For other students, the QC question type suits their unique problem-solving style. If you’re concerned about Data Sufficiency or Quantitative Comparison questions, try questions of each type to determine which fits your way of thinking and applying logic to problem-solving.
Another major difference in the Quant sections is that GRE Quant includes two data interpretation scenarios (charts, graphs, tables) with several questions about each. The majority of data interpretation on the GMAT is included in the Integrated Reasoning section.
Here is a GRE Data Interpretation example. And here is a GMAT Integrated Reasoning example.
TTP PRO TIP:
Try several practice GMAT Data Sufficiency questions and several GRE Quantitative Comparison questions. Determine whether one question type feels more comfortable for you than the other.
Finally, let’s consider the difficulty of GMAT vs GRE math.
Is the GRE easier than the GMAT in Quant?
Students sometimes ask me whether they should consider the GRE over the GMAT because they heard that the math on the GRE is easier than the math on the GMAT. The short answer is that GRE Quant is probably easier than GMAT Quant. GMAT Quant is notorious for presenting challenging logic questions that test multiple concepts at once and use basic math as the backdrop. GRE Quant questions are a bit more straightforward, probably due to the fact that a much broader audience takes the GRE. After all, students take the GRE to do a master’s degree in English, a PhD in math, and everything in between. People taking the GMAT are all applying to business school.
Nonetheless, students who go into the GRE with the notion that the math won’t be that difficult tend to be surprised. Whether GRE math is actually easier than GMAT math is not that relevant a question. The Quantitative sections of both exams are challenging and favor the well-prepared. Do your best to prepare as diligently as possible and don’t expect one to be easier than the other. Furthermore, most MBA programs have quant-heavy coursework. If your math skills are weak, why not strengthen them before business school?
Students who go into the GRE with the notion that the math won’t be that difficult tend to be surprised.
The nervousness that many students feel about GMAT Quant is a little misplaced because this section can be mastered if you put in the time and hard work, and prepare with comprehensive study materials. Many students are nervous about this section because they are not fully prepared to deal with it. This nervousness dissipates as their skills increase to the level of proficiency.
One final point to consider: Let’s assume for argument’s sake that GRE math is actually easier than GMAT math. Let’s also assume that admissions people know this. Would an 80th percentile, for example, on GRE Quant carry the same weight as an 80th percentile on GMAT Quant? I can’t predict the answer to that, but it’s certainly something to think about. If you and the rest of the test-taking population think that GRE math is easier than GMAT math, then admissions officers probably think that same thing. There doesn’t appear to be a free ride in taking the GRE over the GMAT solely because of the relative difficulty of each exam’s Quant sections.
If you and the rest of the test-taking population think that GRE math is easier than GMAT math, then admissions officers probably think that same thing.
Switching Exams
If you’ve already invested time studying for one exam and are considering switching, I think it’s important to do some careful self-reflection during which you clarify your motivation to switch. Is there something irreconcilable about one exam that is pushing you to switch to the other, or could it be that you simply need a breather from studying? Perhaps you feel overworked, need better study materials, or should consider enlisting the help of a tutor.
One reason not to switch is the perception that the other test will be easier. Neither the GMAT nor the GRE is an easy test, and each requires considerable preparation.
One major downside to switching tests is that you will lose some of the material you worked hard to learn. Then, you’ll have to start fresh, learning new content and skills. You must carefully consider whether losing this study investment is worth it.
Also, it’s important to consider whether the weaknesses you’re turning away from will become bigger problems later on. For example, from time to time, I see students who are struggling with the grammar and writing tested on the GMAT. They choose to switch to the GRE, thinking that it will be the easier option. To me, the better approach would be to fix the weaknesses they have. I realize that working on one’s weaknesses usually is not easy; however, it may be critical to success. So, instead of continuing to not understand grammar, why not step up to the plate and commit to mastering the basics of formal English? After all, we are forced to write more than ever—emails, texts, presentations, etc.
The same can be said for math. I see students switching from the GMAT to the GRE because they feel that the math on the GRE will be easier. Listen, in most MBA programs, particularly the top ones, math is an essential component. Why skimp on math preparation for the GMAT? If you do end up getting into an MBA program, you may struggle with your quantitative coursework, resulting in a lot of unnecessary stress. Why not use the GMAT as an opportunity to improve your math skills and also earn a great GMAT score?
If you’ve already been studying for one test, a valid reason to switch is if something very specific about that test is seriously holding you back, and this issue would be alleviated by taking the other test. For example, is the vocabulary on the GRE such a significant (and unfixable) issue for you that switching to the GMAT is a smart choice? Are you having irreconcilable differences with the grammar tested on the GMAT, and thus considering a switch to the GRE? Again, take some practice tests before you decide.
TTP PRO TIP:
Simply thinking that the other test will be easier than the one you’re taking is not a great reason to switch between the GMAT and GRE.
GMAT vs GRE: Who Wins the Battle?
Finally, let’s discuss some finer points of difference between the two exams. Some students may find the following to be helpful decision points:
Is Business School Your Only Option?
What do you plan to do if you are not accepted to the business school of your dreams? Will you apply to a lower-tier school, study harder to earn a higher GRE or GMAT score, or perhaps apply for a master’s or PhD program instead? If there is any chance you’ll apply to graduate programs outside of business school, the GRE is probably the better test choice since it provides you the flexibility to apply to a wider range of graduate programs.
Are You Unsure of Your Graduate School Plans?
If you are in undergrad and plan on saving the exam for a later date, and have not yet decided between grad school and b-school, the GRE is the safer bet because it allows you the flexibility to apply to most business schools as well as a wide-range of other graduate programs.
Whichever test you choose, study hard, study smart, and good luck!
