- The GMAT and GRE are being proctored online because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- But students still have to decide which test is right for their business school application.
- Stacey Koprince, a GMAT and GRE instructor, offered advice for applicants facing this dilemma. Koprince told Business Insider that many schools no longer have a bias against one exam or another. Instead, she noted that applicants should take the exam that is best for them.
- Here are tips for knowing whether or not these tests are the right option for you.
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Business school admissions are extremely competitive, with schools looking for the right mix of experience, undergraduate grades, and, of course, GMAT or GRE test scores.
Test scores are important to any business school application, and recently, because of the coronavirus pandemic, the testing process has gone digital. These online versions of the tests mimic in-person testing, with a human proctor overseeing. But students still have a decide which test makes the most sense for their application.
The GRE test can cost between $150 to $255 per test. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the GMAT decreased exam fees from $275 to $200. The tests are more than three hours long — and the preparation is equally grueling. Applicants usually take up to three months or 120 hours to study.
To figure out whether business school applicants should take the GMAT or GRE, Business Insider spoke with Stacey Koprince, a GMAT and GRE instructor who got a perfect GRE score, a near perfect 780 on the GMAT, and is now content and curriculum lead at Manhattan Prep.
Most schools no longer prefer one exam over another, Koprince told Business Insider.
“All schools say that they take both exams equally,” she said.
An applicant’s decision on whether or not to take the GRE or GMAT depends on which test is best for them, Koprince said. She recommends that applicants first spend a week researching the exams, including the types of questions, time management, and how the test works. Then, she said applicants should take a practice test, and get their baseline score.
“From there, go take a look at the websites of the schools that you want to apply to,” she said. “And you will see what they’re reporting is the average score.”
Koprince said people can use this starting score as a measure of how close they are from other applicants at their dream school.
“If that in any way makes you think like, ‘Hmm, that seems pretty far,’ or ‘I didn’t really like this task,’ or ‘I’m not confident about my ability to study for this test to get to that level,’ take a second week and go take a look at another test,” Koprince said.
Where you want to work will also have an impact on the test you take. Many banking and consulting firms are flexible about the exam they accept. But some companies still have a preference, Koprince said. So she advises students to err on the side of taking the GMAT.
It’s important for applicants to understand their strengths and weaknesses. People will generally perform better on the GRE if they’re stronger on vocabulary, geometry, data interpretations, and multi-answer problems. Alternately, those who are stronger on grammar, story problems, and mathematical theory and logic do better on the GMAT.
Abby Jackson contributed to an earlier version of this piece
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