GRE Vs GMAT for Msc Finance/Financial Economics

[amsdwivedi]

Hi,

I really some urgent advice.

I am planning to apply for September 2013 intake for MSc. Finance/Financial Economics for Colleges like Said Business School (Oxford), Judge Business School (Cambridge), HEC Paris and London School Of Economics. The websites of the colleges say that they consider either GMAT or GRE and that they take into consideration the latest scores on both the exams.
Now in 2010 in my college final year i gave GMAT twice and scored a low score of 560 in both. So i am a little apprehensive about giving my GMAT the third time. I feel that even if i score say a 700 above, the universities will get to see my prior score as they will be present along with the latest score and i am scared that i might be rejected on that grounds. Hence, i am inclined towards GRE. But with GRE too I have an apprehension i.e. MSc Finance/ Financial Economics are quite technical courses . So a candidate submitting a 700 above score and a person submitting an equivelant score in GRE, the former maybe given more preference as the GMAT is considered to be a tougher exam and GRE little less tougher.

Hence keeping my situation in mind, kindly suggest me which exam should I take? I will really grateful if u could reply asap as i need to start my prep soon as I cant take any any chance this time.

Thanks
Ams

[Michael@VeritasPrep]

I always recommend people take the gmat over the gre for a few reasons. First, some schools won't accept a gre at all. Taking the gmat will then give you far more flexibility on where you apply. Second, the gmat is considered harder and given more credit by the school. Third, many employers will ask for your gmat score as part of the recruiting process.

[ceilidh.erickson]

It is no longer true at all that schools give the GMAT more "credit."

From Jeremy Shinewald, president of mbaMission:

The GRE and GMAT are treated as equals at virtually every MBA program, with the exception of London Business School (which only accepts the GMAT) and UCLA which "prefers" the GMAT, but does accept the GRE.

We have interviewed many admissions directors and they all riff on the same line over and over again. "Why would we offer a test if we were not going to take the results seriously?" or "The GRE isn't a trap that we bait".

Here are three quotes - I can get you more!

"Well, here you go: 'we view these tests equally and have no preference'. Can't think of a snappier way to say this."
- Dee Leopold, Admissions Director, Harvard Business School

"We wouldn't accept the test if it were going to disadvantage people to take it. We give it the same weight as the GMAT."
- Bruce DelMonico, Admissions Director, Yale SO

"The GRE is definitely not inferior."
- Rod Garcia, Senior Director of Admissions, MIT Sloan

In short, if you feel that the GRE will allow you to perform... proceed. We see more and more applicants submitting GRE scores. It is not better or worse, but it is what it is - a test! They will use it to evaluate your raw analytical/intellectual abilities. Your GMAT will be assessed against class averages; your GRE will not. If you think you won't score above average on the GMAT, an argument could be made that the GRE is actually "better" for you, because you mitigate the effect of being under the average as it is not factored in averages (but you still need to prove that you can handle the work via your collective stats).