Difference between GRE & GMAT

You may have noticed that many institutions need test results as part of their admissions requirements when you’re applying to graduate business programmes. You will frequently have the choice of submitting your Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) result.

We’ll examine each exam in more detail and explain why you might choose to take one over the other—or none at all—in order to strengthen your graduate programme application.

Comparison between the GMAT and GRE

What is GMAT?

The Graduate Management Admission Council is in charge of giving out the GMAT, an exam that is usually required for enrollment in MBA programmes and business schools. The exam measures a person’s ability to critically analyse and reason, which is essential for success in prominent graduate management schools.

Whether you’re taking the GMAT in a testing location or online will affect the structure. The in-person version has four portions, and you can arrange them in one of three ways depending on your strengths and preferred testing method.

Analytical writing: The exam’s analytical writing portion requires you to examine and compose a critique of a specific argument in a single 30-minute writing assignment.From 0 to 6 points, it is graded in half-point increments.

Integrated Reasoning: The Integrated Reasoning portion (which does not appear on the GRE) assesses your capacity to analyze data and find solutions to challenging issues. This segment consists of a 12-question, 30-minute block (mostly multiple choice). You’ll be required to go and evaluate data from many sources, including tables and graphs, and to work out issues that are both quantitative and verbal. The score is given in increments of one point, from one to eight.

Quantitative: There are 31 multiple-choice questions in this 62-minute segment. A few examples of questions include “Data Sufficiency” issues, which challenge you to decide if you have enough data to answer a certain topic, and quantitative problems. Six to 51 points, in one-point increments, are possible to obtain.

Verbal: The 65-minute Verbal Reasoning part consists of 36 questions that are intended to assess your proficiency in reading, comprehending, and analysing textual content. You’ll be asked inquiries on, among other things, sentence construction, critical thinking, and reading comprehension.. Six to 51 points, in one-point increments, are awarded for this.

For the Integrated Reasoning component only, you are permitted to utilize a simple internet calculator. You may utilize a white board (for at-home testing) or a supplied laminated notebook with dry erase markers (for testing centers) to solve questions on the Quantitative Reasoning section. You cannot skip questions on the GMAT and come back to them or modify your answers.

What is GRE?

The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which administers the GRE, is used by many graduate institutions, including law and business schools, to evaluate applicants. Your critical thinking, verbal and mathematical reasoning, analytical writing abilities will be assessed in the test.

The GRE may be taken up to five times in any 12-month rolling period . You can decide which test results are submitted to the colleges you’re applying to if you take the exam more than once.

The GRE has three components that are scored and one that might be experimental or unscored. The portion on analytical writing will always be listed first, but you won’t know where the other sections are listed or which one isn’t being graded.

Analytical writing: There are two independent, 30-minute writing assignments in this part. You’ll be required to formulate your own position on a subject and assess another person’s position. The range of possible scores for this part is 0 to 6, in half-point increments.

Verbal Reasoning: The Verbal Reasoning test is divided into two sessions of 20 questions each, each lasting 30 minutes. This part will consist of three different question types: reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence. Scores are assigned in increments of one point and range from 130 to 170.

Quantitative Reasoning: This section of the exam has two 35-minute periods with 20 questions each and is intended to assess your fundamental arithmetic abilities. Multiple-choice questions with one or more possible responses, numerical input questions, and quantitative comparison questions are all possible. Math, algebra, geometry, and data analysis are among the topics covered.
During the Quantitative Reasoning phase of the exam, you are permitted to utilize an on-screen calculator. You may move back and forth, edit your replies, and flag questions for “Review” if you wish to return to them later on in each section.

GMAT or GRE, which is simpler?

Your academic talents and testing preferences will determine which test you will find simpler.

The quantitative portion of the GRE is often easier than the GMAT in comparison. The GRE section frequently has more geometry questions, but the GMAT involves more logical thinking issues.

In contrast, the GMAT’s verbal section frequently employs language that is more difficult to understand than the GRE’s. Many test takers believe the GMAT verbal section to be a little easier.

Many people must choose between taking the GMAT and the GRE since more and more business programmes now recognise the GRE. Both tests have written, quantitative, and verbal components that deal with a lot of the same subjects. The GRE contains somewhat more difficult verbal questions, most people believe, whereas the GMAT has more difficult mathematical problems.

Many business schools do not favor one exam over the other, but some do prefer the GMAT because they feel that it assesses abilities that are more closely tied to the courses in business schools and that presenting GMAT scores demonstrates an applicant’s commitment to business school.

Research the exam requirements for the top institutions you are interested in, then take a practice test for each exam to determine which exam you should take. To assist you decide, consider these facts as well as additional distinctions between the examinations.