Source: U.S.News
By Delece Smith-Barrow
Jan. 29, 2015 | 9:30 a.m. EST
Submitting a GMAT score can show that an applicant is serious about getting an MBA, experts say.
[dropcap]P[/dropcap]rospective business school students have some big decisions to make before submitting applications. They must figure out when to apply, where to apply and – one of the most important decisions – which admissions exam to take.
The GMAT and the GRE are key parts of the applications for most schools. Once applicants take the GMAT, for example, they can begin to figure out which schools fit with their score, says Chris Murphy, who helps MBA applicants get into school for Signet Education.
“It’s always the first step,” says Murphy, who graduated from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
For years many schools only accepted the GMAT, but now the GRE is also widely accepted, giving students the option of taking one test instead of the other. If a business school gives prospective students the option of submitting scores from both tests, admissions experts encourage applicants to still choose one.
Applicants often spend weeks or months studying for these exams. “It’s hugely time-consuming,” says Mary Pat Jacobs, the founder of Apply Point Admissions Consulting. Test preparation can also be costly, says Jacobs, who received her MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis and once worked as an associate director of admissions at the business school. Paying twice for test prep could lead to an extra large bill.
Applicants who are on the fence about which exam to take should consider three things when making a decision.
1. Graduate school options: Some college graduates are certain that getting an MBA is their next career move while others may waver between getting an MBA or another graduate degree, such as a master’s in engineering. Those in the latter group should lean toward taking the GRE, business school admissions experts say.
“It enables greater flexibility,” says Murphy. The GRE is used in the admissions process for graduate programs in a range of disciplines, such as psychology, English, math and public administration.
Candidates who are interested in a dual degree program may also have more incentive to take the GRE, because they can use the same score when applying for both programs, experts says. The GMAT, on the other hand, is almost exclusively for business school admissions.
If prospective students speak with the administration at the schools they are considering, they may also learn about other reasons to choose one test over the other. Scholarship opportunities at certain schools are available to students with a certain GMAT score, says Joanna Fowler, the associate director of MBA programs at the Jindal School of Management at University of Texas—Dallas.
“That’s where you really want to make sure you understand a school’s preference for an exam, if they have one,” she says. At Jindal, students with GMAT or GRE scores can be considered for scholarships.
Some schools will only accept the results from one type of exams , she says, which is one reason prospective students should do some research on where they want to go when deciding between exams.
In those cases, “You have your answer right there,” says Fowler, who also received her MBA from Jindal.
2. Test perception: Admissions experts are divided about the message an applicant sends when submitting GRE scores instead of GMAT results, or vice versa.
“If you submit a GMAT score you’re not going to be given preference,” says Jacobs. “They’re perceived equally.” This is also the policy at the Jindal school, Fowler says.
An applicant may not win points for submitting a GMAT score, but some schools may give the impression that this score is preferred. Schools often publish the average test scores for recent MBA students, but Murphy has noticed a difference in which test score averages are listed.
“Generally I see more of the GMAT score ranges published,” says Murphy, who worked in the admissions office for Kellogg while he was an MBA student and before the school began accepting GRE scores. If he were working in admissions now and saw someone submit a GRE score instead of the GMAT, it would make him wonder about the applicant.
“I would immediately question how focused are they on what they want to do, post graduate school,” he says.
Taking the GMAT confirms that a candidate is focused on getting an MBA, says JoAnne Goldberg, who works as a consultant for InGenius Prep. The company helps prospective graduate school candidates get accepted. “The GMAT is the test that shows that they’re serious about going to business school,” she says.
The GMAT is also an exam that business schools are more familiar with, experts say, making it easier for them to use the exam to gauge a candidate’s academic abilities. It’s also difficult to fairly compare a GMAT score – the more widely taken exam – with a GRE score, between applicants, Goldberg says.
Some believe – even though there’s no definitive proof – that the GRE is generally an easier exam, says Goldberg, who is a former assistant director of admissions at the Stanford University business school and an MBA graduate of the school.
3. Quantitative skills: Both exams test graduate school applicants on how well they do with numbers, as well as their academic strength in other areas such as verbal reasoning. But the GRE may offer a leg up for prospective students who aren’t fans of math.
“The GMAT mathematics section is just more difficult,” says Jacobs. “If someone has a weakness in the quantitative section, then I recommend the GRE.”
She strongly encourages applicants to take the GMAT. But business schools usually require prospective students to also submit letters of recommendation, essays, transcripts and other materials. Goldberg wants applicants to remember that no single test score will solely determine who is admitted to business school.
“It’s one factor,” she says. “Not the main factor.”
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