GMAT Strategy

Hi Sh_QR,

Many Business Schools accept both the GRE and the GMAT as part of the application process, but not all of them do. Before you decide to shift your studies to a new Test, you should make sure that the Schools that you are interested in will actually accept a GRE score.

Assuming that the Schools in questions actually do accept either score, you then should do a bit of research into which Test you think you would score higher on. The 2 Exams have a lot of 'content' in common, but there are some noted differences (for example, the GRE puts a greater emphasis on vocabulary). You can download 2 free GRE Exams from www.gre.org; if you're interested in how you would score, then you should plan to take a FULL GRE and find out. Regardless of which Exam you study for, you will need a mix of content knowledge and tactics to score at a high level (and while neither Exam is an 'IQ Test', you DO need to have strong critical thinking skills to hit your goals).

1) How long have you been studying for the GMAT?
2) What is your goal score?
3) When are you planning to apply to Business School?
4) Do you know which Schools/Programs you plan to apply to?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Agreed.

Don't switch until you have DATA to indicate that you would do better on the GRE.

> Take a diagnostic.
> See how you feel and how you score
> Check the schools accept it
> Think about whether you need a GMAT score AFTER you graduate
> Then get a plan in action, either way, for whatever test you decide to take.

Good Luck!

Sh_QR wrote:I don't want to waste time on GMAT since its a tricker test and require certain IQ.
Tell me what do you think

I teach both the GRE and the GMAT, and I've been hearing this over and over again in the last year or so: "I've heard that the GRE is easier, so I'm going to switch to GRE." Before I get into the specific differences, I want to point out a major misconception - yes, many of the problems on the GRE are easier, but that doesn't actually mean that you will do any better on the GRE! It's still a percentile-based test, so if it's easier for you, it's also easier for everyone else. You probably won't get a much higher score relative to everyone else who's taking it!

Here are the major advantages to taking the GRE, with caveats:

- the GRE is not adaptive within a given section, so you can go back and review questions you've already done. For a lot of students, knowing that they can go back reduces anxiety. But... it's still a very time-constrained test, so chances are that you won't have time to go back anyway.

- you get an onscreen calculator for quant.... but GRE questions often involve more complicated computations, so you'll actually need the calculator. This makes it harder to estimate or guess well.

- the quant is generally more straightforward.... so you need to get a much higher percentage of questions right to get a top score. There are also a few very hard questions on there if you get the hard 2nd section.

As for vocab, it's not really as big a deal as you might think. The vocab-in-context questions are really testing your ability to logically parse a sentence more than they're testing your knowledge of big fancy words. Only about 30% of the words tested are what I'd call "fancy vocab," and probably only 10% are the crazy hard words you've never heard before.

Business schools certainly do take the GRE seriously, but there is the preconception that the population taking the GRE is less quant strong than the GMAT population, so they'll hold you to a higher standard. If you were aiming for 85%ile GMAT, aim for 90%ile GRE.

For more about GRE Misconceptions, see: https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/ ... t-the-gre/

Hi Sh_QR,

Both of your practice scores (for the GMAT and for the GRE) imply that you would have some serious work to do to raise your score to higher, more-competitive level.

I think that one of your broader 'issues' is that you haven't defined your goals in a specific way. Stating that you want to score 'as much as I can get' and that 'the score will determine which school I could get in' are not measurable, data-driven goals. Without naming specific Schools, you also will not know whether a GRE score would even be accepted at those Schools. Considering that you want to apply for admission in 2016, the specifics matter a great deal. I suggest that you take a couple of days, think about the specific type of Program that you're interested in, then put together a list of Schools that 'match up' with what you're looking for. Once you have those names, you can research each Program (Does it take the GRE or not? What GMAT score would be 'in the range' of what the Program was looking for? What are the application deadlines, etc.) and build your plans around that data.

Considering everything that you've described, I think that you should probably stick with the GMAT.

1) What practice materials have you used so far?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich