Study and Strategy questions relating to the GMAT.
RakheeJ87
Course Students
 
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Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2015 11:37 am
 

GMAT vs GRE

by RakheeJ87 Tue Mar 08, 2016 9:59 pm

Hello!

I am looking for some help deciding between the GMAT and GRE. I've been prepping for the GMAT but am considering switching over to the GRE.

GMAT: 690 overall, 42 quant, 41 verbal
GRE: 162 quant, 155 verbal

Trying to figure out if its more worthwhile to raise my quant score on the GMAT or work on raising my verbal score on the GRE.

Thanks for any insight!
StaceyKoprince
ManhattanGMAT Staff
 
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Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
Location: Montreal
 

Re: GMAT vs GRE

by StaceyKoprince Sat Mar 12, 2016 3:14 pm

Hi! The scores you've given are official test scores?

Your GMAT score is already very good, though quant is a little low for top-10 programs (I'm assuming that's your concern).

It's harder to gauge the GRE scores because most programs are not yet sharing average GRE scores for people they admit. Also, I just want to check the scores you gave: your V GRE score is 155? That's significantly lower, equivalently, than your GMAT V score, so I'm wondering whether you might have mixed up the Q and V numbers for your GRE score. Or possibly you just didn't study much for the GRE before taking it or the vocab was hard for you?

Your GRE quant score is quite good already (assuming it is 162 - the scale tops out at 170) - though, again, we don't really know what schools want, since most aren't publishing GRE data yet.

I would recommend several things:

(1) Talk to an admissions consultant, because there are other aspects to consider (which schools specifically, what your work background is, what your major was in school, etc.). We've got a folder here called Ask An Admissions Consultant.

(2) If you are willing, consider paying ~$50 for a subscription to US News & World Report's b-school rankings. They have mentioned to get some schools to respond with average GRE scores. Not all - but if a particular school that you like hasn't posted GRE scores, then find a school that is similarly ranked and that has posted GRE scores. That will give you an idea of what those kinds of schools consider competitive on the GRE.

(3) Read this article series and/or do #4:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog ... -gmat-gre/

(4) Join my next GMAT vs. GRE workshop (there was just one a few days ago, so the next one is not until April 11th) or watch the tape of the last one. I'm not sure whether it's been posted yet; you can send an email to gmat@manhattanprep.com to ask where the tape is. To sign up for the next one, you can just sign up on the website.

In general, if you're already at a 690, I'm inclined to stick with the GMAT. But how do you feel about that quant score - do you feel like you've absolutely maxed out your potential already and that score was the highest you can ever see yourself getting? Or is it more that you feel like you've plateaued and aren't sure how to gain more points from here, but not necessarily that it's impossible to go any higher?
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep