Solid GRE vs Okay GMAT

[GregoryN940]

Hi There,

I'm grappling with whether I should take the GMAT. My official GRE score is 160Q (79 pctile), 167V (97 pctile), 5.5 AWA. According to the official ETS calculator, this is equivalent to a 690 on the GMAT. However, the schools that I am targeting have median GMATs in the 700 to 720 range. Therefore, I've contemplated taking the GMAT in the last several weeks.

I've taken several GMAT practice tests, including Manhattan's - which was excellent, by the way - and I can't seem to break 690. What's more, while my verbal score is roughly the same across tests (on the latest test, V41-47, or 94-100 pctile) my math score is much lower (Q37-39 on the latest, or 45-51 pctile).

Although I'm willing to put in the time over the next two months to improve my GMAT score, focusing intensely on the math, I'm wondering if it makes sense instead to focus on the other aspects of my application and to just apply this fall with my GRE score.

Two additional, countervailing points of information: On the one hand, a 690 puts me at the bottom end of the middle 80 percent of admitted applicants at my target schools. On the other hand, schools apparently are more willing to take students with lower GRE scores, sometimes much lower, at least when translated into their GMAT equivalents http://poetsandquants.com/2013/03/16/schools-accepting-lower-gre-scores/. Assuming my application is solid in the other categories, should I invest in taking the GMAT or apply with the GRE?

Thanks so much,

[StaceyKoprince]

Admissions isn't my area of expertise, but I'll address what I can.

(1) Have you checked whether any of your target schools has said that it prefers the GMAT over the GRE? (Some schools do; most either don't or don't say anything.) If multiple of your schools state that they prefer the GMAT, then that might sway your decision. For instance, I just checked the Haas (UC-Berkeley) website and they say they prefer the GMAT. I also checked Stanford's site and they say that they have no preference between the GMAT and the GRE.

(2) Are you planning to apply for an internship or post-MBA job with any of the big management consulting or banking firms? These companies tend to ask for GMAT scores (not GMAT or GRE) and we have heard anecdotally that potential candidates have been advised to take the GMAT, not the GRE. Again, something that could sway your decision.

Next, ETS's "official" calculator is not official at all. There aren't any official academic studies that equate the scoring scales of the two tests. It's just an estimate on ETS's part to help people feel more comfortable taking the GRE instead of the GMAT, since the GRE is newer to the b-school industry.

What does that mean? I don't know. It could be that ETS's estimates are over- or under-inflated, or that they are right on. What really matters is how the schools view GRE scores...so there's a little more research to do.

Most schools publish various statistics regarding GMAT scores for their admitted students. Only some have begun to do so for GRE scores. The one place that I've found the most data gathered is on the US News & World Report b-school rankings website - but a subscription is required. When I last checked that site (about a year ago), they had reported GMAT averages for maybe 30% of the schools in the top-20. I would imagine they have more now, and if a specific school doesn't have GRE stats listed, you can check similarly-ranked schools until you find one that does have GRE averages posted. If the schools have similar rankings, assume their numbers are pretty similar, too.

You may also want to talk to some admissions consultants, who specialize in these kinds of questions. MBA Mission offers free 30-minute consults; this would be a great topic to discuss with them. (Yes, any companies that offer a free service are hoping you'll buy something as a result...but you don't have to! And this company isn't doing high pressure sales - I send my own students to them with admissions questions.)

Re: taking the GMAT (my area of expertise!), have you specifically studied / practiced how to handle the adaptive nature of the GMAT and the implications that has for your timing and performance? If not, that may be what's holding you back on quant. Take a look at this:
http://tinyurl.com/executivereasoning
and
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/2016/02/ ... n-the-gmat
and if you're really dedicated, look at the Scoring section of our free e-book The GMAT Uncovered (there's a free copy already in your student center account with us).

If you haven't been approaching the GMAT in that way, then you might be able to improve your quant score just based on that mindset alone. So then maybe it wouldn't be as much of a lift to get yourself to 690+...

Re: the poets and quants article...yes, at first, the GRE was a way for a school to get around lower test scores for an applicant that they wanted to admit. Plus, they didn't know either at first how to equate the two different tests. That doesn't mean that they are less demanding on the GRE for everyone - it was a consequence of the GRE being new (to MBA land), that's all. (And you can see this in the stats over time. As the GRE has moved more to the mainstream for MBA aspirants, scores have been creeping up.) So I wouldn't rely on that. Or, at least, I would ask someone at MBA Mission about it.