Applicants still prefer the GMAT over GRE

[beatthegmat]

I just got this interesting press release from Kaplan. Has some survey research on applicant preference for GMAT over GRE, kinda interesting:

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Dear beatthegmat.com,

We thought you and your students would find the following results from Kaplan's just released survey on the GMAT vs GRE issue interesting. The press release explains more, but in a nutshell: In a survey of 300 prospective business school students, when asked, "If you knew that your top choices for business schools offered the option of allowing you to take either the GMAT or GRE entrance exam to qualify for their program, which would you be most likely to take?" 55 percent of respondents said they would take the GMAT, compared to 12 percent who would take the GRE. Interestingly, according to the same survey, 47 percent said they think the GMAT is more difficult than the GRE - while only 10 percent think the GRE is more difficult. (29% were not sure which was more difficult; 14% said the exams were equally difficult.)

Best regards,

Russell Schaffer

Press Contact: Russell Schaffer, [email protected], 212.453.7538

MAJOR GRE CHANGES ARE DESIGNED TO ESTABLISH IT AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL ADMISSIONS STANDARD - BUT FOR NOW, VAST MAJORITY OF MBA APPLICANTS STILL OPT FOR THE GMAT

While More Business Schools Accept the GRE, Aspiring MBAs Overwhelmingly Stick with the GMAT Even As They Consider it a Harder Test

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW: KAPLAN GRADUATE SCHOOL ADMISSIONS EXPERT

New York, NY (March 9, 2010) - A new Kaplan Test Prep survey shows that even as the maker of the GRE announces significant test changes intended to make it an attractive option for business school admissions, most students would still opt for the GMAT. When asked, "If you knew that your top choices for business schools offered the option of allowing you to take either the GMAT or GRE entrance exam to qualify for their program, which would you be most likely to take?" 55 percent of respondents said they would take the GMAT, compared to 12 percent who would take the GRE. Twelve percent said they would take both.

Ironically, according to the same survey of 300 aspiring MBAs polled in January and February 2010, 47 percent said they think the GMAT is more difficult than the GRE - while only 10 percent think the GRE is more difficult. (29% were not sure which was more difficult; 14% said the exams were equally difficult.)

The findings come as the GRE test maker reveals further details on major test changes scheduled for 2011, which would seem to make the test more difficult. Historically, the GRE has been the required admissions test for most competitive graduate school programs, while the GMAT has been the required admissions test for business schools. In recent years, competitive business schools have begun accepting the GRE as an alternative to the GMAT.

"The GRE test maker has made headway in gaining acceptance with many competitive MBA programs, and the announced test changes are most likely designed in part to make it more attractive to business schools," said Liza Weale, director of graduate programs, Kaplan Test Prep. "According to a recent Kaplan survey, the majority of top business schools are still GMAT-only and report that they are not currently planning to accept the GRE, so for now, we're recommending that students applying to business school take the GMAT, and students applying for other graduate programs take the GRE. Aspiring MBAs who only take the GRE may be limiting their options."

Newly Announced Key Changes to the Verbal Section of the GRE:

Multiple Answer Questions: Select all answers that correctly apply, not just one answer.
Sentence Equivalence Questions: Select the two answer choices out of six that would correctly complete the sentence, and which when used separately, would create two alike sentences.

Newly Announced Key Changes to the Quantitative Section of the GRE:

Multiple Answer Questions: Choose all the answers that could correctly be applied to the question.
Numeric Entry: Enter the correct answer to the math problem. No choices given.

Additionally, while the GRE will still use computer-adaptive technology, test takers can skip around within a section, making it a Multi-Stage Test (MST). ETS also announced that the first administration of the new GRE will be August 1, 2011. Test takers who need their score before November 1, 2011 should take the current GRE.

In December 2009, ETS announced a narrower scoring scale; the addition of an online calculator; the elimination of antonyms and synonyms; and the ability to skip and return to questions.

For more information about the GRE's planned 2011 changes, how it may affect its 600,000 plus annual test taking population and possibly alter the business school admissions process, please contact Russell Schaffer at [email protected] or 212.453.7538.

About Kaplan Test Prep

Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com), a division of Kaplan, Inc., is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings and a complete array of books, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as English language and professional licensing exams. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

[Scott@VeritasPrep]

Thanks Eric. This makes a lot of sense. Even though the GRE has grabbed a lot of headlines over the past year, I think that most serious business school applicants still opt for the GMAT. This is consistent with most school's stated reason for accepting the GRE, which is to encourage more people who might not have considered business school to give it a shot (the thinking being that many of them may have already taken the GRE).

So, among aspiring MBAs (as the press release states), I would expect most of them to still plan on taking the GMAT. If that weren't the case, then GMAC would really need to be worried!! And, the schools are probably fine with this, since they expect to see GRE scores submitted from "I hadn't been thinking about business school until recently"-type applicants.

Taking this thinking a bit further, I suspect that an applicant whose story is that he's been serious about getting an MBA for a long time, but who submits a GRE score along with his application, may raise a few eyebrows among admissions officers. I don't think that would automatically keep anyone out by any means, but it would probably make admissions officers wonder why the applicant opted for the GRE (an easier test, in most people's opinion), if they're truly serious about earning an MBA.

Scott

[beatthegmat]

Thanks Scott for that add. I've heard "off the record" from friends of friends that MBA admissions committees view applicants with GMAT scores more seriously. I'll continue hunting for verified sources to follow up on that claim.

[money9111]

hhmm Eric you should buy the domain name BeatTheGRE just in case! just kidding... well sorta haha just redirect it to BTG haha

[beatthegmat]

Hey money9111, type it in your browser and see what happens.

[money9111]

lolol sweet!

[dmateer25]

Hey money9111, type it in your browser and see what happens.

I tried that before, plus some of the other popular standardized tests because I was curious! I think you have them all covered.

[amitchell]

Thanks Scott for that add. I've heard "off the record" from friends of friends that MBA admissions committees view applicants with GMAT scores more seriously. I'll continue hunting for verified sources to follow up on that claim.

We've gotten a lot of questions from applicants along these lines, but admissions officers have told us they don't want to be inconsistent with their own policy of accepting GRE scores. An admissions officer from a top 5 school told me off the record, "We can't have a policy to accept the GRE and then not accept it equally." Their perspective is that doing so would be dishonest.

That position makes sense in the broader context of b schools accepting the GRE. They are accepting the GRE to broaden the applicant pool - to be inclusive and promote healthy competition on fair grounds, not to exclude anyone.

[money9111]

I completely understand why they would say that on and off the record, but I feel, and it's just my opinion, that internally each committee member would ask themselves... "why did they opt for the GRE and not GMAT?" Since the GMAT is accepted by all business schools and the GRE is not, why would someone who wants to go to business school opt for the GRE? I think the reason for accepting the GRE is for those who choose to go to b-school after having already taken the GRE for some other reason... maybe a masters program.

[DanaJ]

I just wanted to add that, from my own research for graduate programs, most programs in finance, management (such as the CEMS network) and other-economics related fields accept the GMAT. Unless you wanted to go for a program in engineering and then switched to an MBA, I do not see a reason to go for anything else except the GMAT.

Oh and I've checked out that comparison tool provided by ETS... A sample of less than 800 is, IMHO, a pretty small population as compared to the huge numbers of worldwide test takers... Especially since test takers come from very diverse backgrounds!

[ansumania]

Thanks Scott for that add. I've heard "off the record" from friends of friends that MBA admissions committees view applicants with GMAT scores more seriously. I'll continue hunting for verified sources to follow up on that claim.

Eric,

I apologize to post this question here but I could not think of a better way to contact you.

for some reason, I am not able to send PMs from my messgae box. It is getting stuck in the outbox.

I have already cleared my inbox , sent items et. but no chnage. I am not able to contact any instructors.

Pl. suggest.

regards,
Ansumania