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GMAT Vs GRE

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GMAT Vs GRE

by Amphius » Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:04 pm
Hi,

I already have a GMAT score of 710. ( Verb 39-87% and Quant 48-84%). I am planning to apply for PhD in finance or Economics. However, a competitive score for top Phd programs is more than 95 percentile i.e. 750 with more than 90% on both sections. Phd Finance programs accept both GRE and GMAT whereas PhD economics accept only GRE. So I am planning to sit for GRE rather than GMAT. However, I face following questions before I make that important decision.

1. Will it be easier to improve my GMAT score by 40 points to say 750 considering I have already studied a lot for GMAT or score 800 on GRE quant? I have never taken GRE and thus will be studying from the scratch. I believe I am good at memorizing new words and not so good at quant. And thus believe that I should find GRE easier compared to GMAT.

2. I have taken GMAT twice. In the first attempt, my score was 640. I had applied to tons of MBA programs earlier and was rejected at many of them. Submitting GRE this time will also help me cut the trail of negative results earlier and start afresh.

3. Moreover, GRE will help me cast a broad net as it is accepted by PhD finance as well as PhD economics.

4. Is admission to PhD economics far less competitive than for PhD finance?

Any thoughts on the above arguments/questions are welcome. Thanks!
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by Laura GMAT Tutor » Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:46 pm
I can't answer all of your questions, but I can tell you a little bit about the GRE to give you an idea of how realistic it is to take it.

The GRE has EXTREMELY tough vocabulary. Quick quiz: how many of the following words could you define?

sanguine
crepuscular
pulchritude
abeyance
sesquipedelian
cephalic
exculpate

If you have trouble with those words, well, then the GRE verbal will likely present a problem. It's insane. I'm a native speaker with a really strong vocabulary (I've also studied Latin and Greek and have been fascinated with vocabulary since I was a child) and I STILL find the vocabulary on the GRE to be quite challenging.

I don't mean to discourage you -- I just want you to know what you're facing. A lot of people will tell you that you just need to study the top 500 words and that's just not so. The vocabulary is from the MOON. It's astonishing.

Will you likely study 800 on the quant in GRE? Yeah, I could see that. The questions have fewer steps since they're designed to be solved in a shorter period of time, so they can be quite a bit easier. You have to get used the Quantitative Comparisons, but they're easier than Data Sufficiency.

The essays on the GRE are similar to the essays on the GMAT. Pretty much the same, in fact.

If you need to take the GRE to get into PhD programs, then you need to take it! I'm not an admissions expert so I can't speak to that. But I'll tell you that it's tough for people to get used to GRE verbal.

Btw...

those words:
sanguine - cheerful, optimistic, warm
crepuscular - of or pertaining to the twilight
pulchritude - beauty
abeyance - a temporary halt to something
sesquipedelian - having many syllables
cephalic - pertaining to the skull
exculpate - free from blame
follow me on twitter! :)
@LauraGMATtutor

or visit my blog:
https://realusefulgmat.blocked/
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by Amphius » Sat Nov 27, 2010 2:54 pm
Thanks Laura for that information on each of the tests! Few of the words you listed were quite daunting to me even though I have always been fascinated with english vocabulary ever since I read WordPower Made Esay by Norman Lewis some ten years ago.

For both PhD in finance and economics admission committees are mostly interested in the highest percentile quant scores and most of the successful candidates have a perfect quant score. So it all boils down to which quant section is easy to ace? A strange thing about GRE percentile chart is that even with a perfect score of 800 your percentile is only 94%. So GRE scale is precariously poised. Even if you slip to 790 you seriously jeoparadise your chances. Whereas a score 51 on GMAT quant is 98%. Thus with the GMAT one can demonstarte quant skills much better. However, is it easier to get 51 on the GMAT or 800 on the GRE? I really grappled with GMAT quant in my earlier attempt.

Thanks!!

Laura GMAT Tutor wrote:I can't answer all of your questions, but I can tell you a little bit about the GRE to give you an idea of how realistic it is to take it.

The GRE has EXTREMELY tough vocabulary. Quick quiz: how many of the following words could you define?

sanguine
crepuscular
pulchritude
abeyance
sesquipedelian
cephalic
exculpate

If you have trouble with those words, well, then the GRE verbal will likely present a problem. It's insane. I'm a native speaker with a really strong vocabulary (I've also studied Latin and Greek and have been fascinated with vocabulary since I was a child) and I STILL find the vocabulary on the GRE to be quite challenging.

I don't mean to discourage you -- I just want you to know what you're facing. A lot of people will tell you that you just need to study the top 500 words and that's just not so. The vocabulary is from the MOON. It's astonishing.

Will you likely study 800 on the quant in GRE? Yeah, I could see that. The questions have fewer steps since they're designed to be solved in a shorter period of time, so they can be quite a bit easier. You have to get used the Quantitative Comparisons, but they're easier than Data Sufficiency.

The essays on the GRE are similar to the essays on the GMAT. Pretty much the same, in fact.

If you need to take the GRE to get into PhD programs, then you need to take it! I'm not an admissions expert so I can't speak to that. But I'll tell you that it's tough for people to get used to GRE verbal.

Btw...

those words:
sanguine - cheerful, optimistic, warm
crepuscular - of or pertaining to the twilight
pulchritude - beauty
abeyance - a temporary halt to something
sesquipedelian - having many syllables
cephalic - pertaining to the skull
exculpate - free from blame
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