GRE Exam vs GMAT Exam :Which Exam is Best for You?

Introduction

An essential component of the graduate school or business school admission process is the Graduate Record Examination, or GRE. The GRE is a multiple-choice, computer-based, international test that is frequently needed for enrollment in MBA and graduate programmes. For graduate and business schools to compare applicants' qualifications and readiness for graduate-level academic work, test manufacturer ETS created and offered the GRE. In order to determine if you are prepared for the demands of graduate academic study, graduate admissions committees and business school admissions committees consider your GRE score, academic record, and supporting papers. Numerous graduate institutions, including law and business schools, examine the GRE, which is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), when deciding who gets into their programs. Your verbal and mathematical reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing abilities will be assessed in the test. Up to five attempts at the GRE may be made in any 12-month rolling period (once every 21 days). You can select which test results are submitted to the colleges you're applying to if you take the exam more than once. The Graduate Management Admission Test (often known as the Gmat exam) is an internationally accepted multiple-choice, computer-based, and computer-adaptive exam that is used for admission to graduate management and business schools (such as MBA programs). 

In order to give business schools standardised assessments of candidates' readiness for graduate-level academic work, the testmaker GMAC created and administers the GMAT exam. In order to determine if you are prepared for the demands of an MBA programme, business school admission committees consider your GMAT score in addition to your job experience, academic record, and supporting papers. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) administers the GMAT exam preparation, a test that is frequently used for admission to MBA programmes and business schools. The test gauges one's capacity for critical analysis and reasoning, which are necessary for success in prestigious graduate business schools. In a rolling 12-month period, you may retake the GMAT at a testing facility up to five times (no more than eight times total). You are allowed one retake for the GMAT exam fees online exam.

Differences between the GMAT Exam and GRE Exam

The GMAT exam is often utilised for business school admissions whereas the GRE is acceptable for the majority of graduate programs. This is the main distinction between the two exams (including business and law schools). Beyond that, there are differences in the two exams' formats, question kinds, testing procedures, and alternatives for forwarding your results to schools. The two tests are quickly contrasted here:

GMAT Exam

What is on the GMAT?

The GMAT is primarily a test of your critical thinking abilities, even while it does assess facts and rules, such as language, as well as quantitative topics in arithmetic, algebra, statistics, and geometry. It assesses your capacity for logical thought, problem-solving within time constraints, and the analysis and evaluation of verbal and quantitative information. The secret to getting a high GMAT score is understanding how to effectively reason through and evaluate material.

What are the GMAT sections?

Although there are four different section types on the GMAT exam, you will employ the same analytical and critical thinking abilities throughout the exam as you do in your MBA education. The GMAT exam is divided into four scored test portions, each of which is given a distinct score. Additionally, the Quant and Verbal portions are merged to create your overall score. The four Sections of GMAT exam are as follows:

• Quantitative
• Verbal
• Integrated Reasoning
• Analytical Writing Assessment 

The sequence in which test portions are taken on the GMAT is up to the test-taker. Just before the exam starts, you will decide the sequence of the sections. You will have the option to select one of three orders:

1. Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative, Verbal
2. Verbal, Quantitative, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment
3. Quantitative, Verbal, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment

Since the Quant and Verbal portions are often the two most crucial sections for your chances of admission, almost half of test-takers opt to start with the Quant section (order #3) and around one-third choose to start with the Verbal section (order #2). The GMAT's Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA or Essay) portion receives a distinct score from 0 to 6, with each half-point representing one point. Scores for the Integrated Reasoning (IR) portion range from 1 to 8, with each point worth one. Official scaled scores for the Quantitative (Quant) and Verbal parts range from 0 to 60, although in practice only the scores between 6 and 51 are utilised. Your total score, which ranges from 200 to 800 and is expressed in 10-point increments, is also calculated by adding your verbal and quantitative results. The score that the majority of business schools are most concerned with is the Total score. The average total score is between 560 and 570. The average Verbal and Quantitative scores are normally in the upper 20s and low 40s, respectively. Both the mean IR score and the mean essay score often fall between 4 and 5. Information on the GMAT's scoring is provided here.

1. Quantitative

Your understanding of arithmetic, including number properties, algebra, statistics, and geometry, will be tested on the GMAT Quant portion. Your capacity to reason coherently about mathematical ideas is also tested. There are two types of problems in the GMAT exam Quant section:

• Data Sufficiency 

Two assertions of data and a question stem make up Data Sufficiency (DS) issues. At their core, DS issues are actually logic issues. Instead of solving for a mathematical solution, you are required to decide whether the statements provide enough details for someone to be able to solve the problem. 

• Problem Solving 

A common sort of difficulty on standardized tests is problem-solving (PS). You'll be asked to find a value or solve an algebraic equation after being given a question stem and five possible answers.

2. Verbal

The GMAT Verbal portion is meant to evaluate your command of formal written English as well as your capacity for critical thinking and argument analysis. Three different issue kinds are presented in this section:

• Critical Reasoning

Problems requiring critical reasoning (CR) measure an individual's capacity for developing a strategy and presenting and analysing arguments. You will be given a brief argument or a list of assertions along with a question regarding that data. You can be asked to identify an assumption or conclusion, to support or refute an argument, to assess a conclusion, or to clear up a contradiction.

• Sentence Correction

You will frequently encounter lengthy and complex phrases in GMAT Sentence Correction (SC). You will be prompted to choose the best version of the underlined portion from the original or one of four options once a portion—or the entirety—of the phrase has been underlined. Some of the response options may introduce new mistakes while others may repair the original statement if it included one or more problems.

• Reading Comprehension

An academic reading excerpt on a subject linked to business, social science, biological science, or physical science will be provided to you, and 3–4 questions will be asked about that passage. Your critical reading abilities, such as your capacity to summarise the primary concept, express ideas in the text, draw conclusions based on the material in the text, and assess the logical flow of a paragraph, are tested in reading comprehension (RC).

3. Integrated Reasoning (IR)

The Integrated Reasoning (IR) component of the exam evaluates both verbal and quantitative reasoning abilities. The IR portion employs alternative problem types that can combine quantitative principles with verbal abilities, such as reading comprehension and logical analysis, while still covering the same quantitative concepts as the Quant section. Additionally, the IR portion assesses your aptitude for deciphering and analysing charts and data. In contrast to other exam parts, IR tasks will purposefully provide you more information than you require sometimes quite a deal more. Finding the specific bits of information you need to solve an IR problem requires you to sift through a lot of data. The sort of analysis you will need to perform on case studies in business school is mirrored by these problem categories. The IR section has four different categories of problems:

• Multi-Source Reasoning 

You are given two or three tabs of material, usually with text but occasionally with tables or other images, as part of Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) prompts. Based on this knowledge, you'll likely need to resolve three different issues (similar to a Reading Comprehension passage). Either-Or statements or regular 5-answer multiple choice can be used to solve MSR problems (e.g. True or False). You will need to respond to three of these assertions in order to solve an either-or dilemma.

• Table Analysis

You'll be given a table containing 4 to 8 columns and 8 to 25 rows of data in a table analysis prompt, and you'll be asked to use that table to answer one issue. You may sort the table interactively using any of the column headers. You will need to respond to three Either-Or statements (such as True or False) in order to finish each task since they are always presented as either-or questions.

• Graphics Interpretation

The visuals you will see in graph problems might be traditional ones like a pie chart or bar graph, or they could be more odd ones like an organisational chart, a genetic map, or something the test authors came up with just for the test. It is your responsibility to comprehend the visual's operation and the content it conveys. Graph questions often consist of one or two phrases with two blanks; you must choose from drop-down selections to fill in the two gaps.

• Two-Part Analysis

There is one difference between two-part issues and typical 5-answer multiple choice problems. You'll respond to two questions rather than just one with a single response. A question could require you to locate variable x and variable y, for instance, or to both support and refute an argument. You will be given one set of five or six response options, and you must select one from that set for each of the two parts of the question.

4. Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)

Business schools can assess your writing abilities through the Analytical Writing Assessment, or Essay part. The essay is judged independently, and your 200–800 point score is not calculated using your essay score. An essay's final grade is calculated by averaging the two grades it receives from a human grader and a machine grading system. If there is a large discrepancy in the ratings, your essay is reviewed and scored by a second human. You will be given a brief argument for your writing assignment that is modeled after a paragraph from a Critical Reasoning question on the Verbal portion. Instead of expressing your own opinion on the subject, you are expected to evaluate the author's argument and the validity of the supporting details and logic.

GRE Exam

What is on the GRE?

The GRE test evaluates your knowledge of fundamental math, algebra, geometry, and data analysis in addition to your command of college-level language. More significantly, it assesses your capacity for critical thought, problem-solving, and the analysis and evaluation of written information. Find out more about the GRE's content here.

What are the GRE sections?

You will receive three scores on the GRE:

• Analytical Writing
• Verbal Reasoning
• Quantitative Reasoning 

These scores are generated by the following sections:

1. 1 Analytical Writing Assessment section
2. 2 Verbal Reasoning sections
3. 2 Quantitative Reasoning sections

In addition, you will see one of the following sections:

• Unscored (may be either Verbal Reasoning or Quantitative Reasoning)
• Research (used for ETS research purposes)

The scores for the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections range from 130 to 170. The average verbal reasoning score is 151, while the average quantitative reasoning score is 153. The typical score on the Analytical Writing Assessment, which ranges from 0 to 6 in half-point increments, is 4.0.

1. Analytical writing

The Analytical Writing Assessment, or "essay" component, assesses your ability to express your ideas and reactions to challenging concepts in a concise and logical manner. Creating a solid thesis in response to novel and unfamiliar themes is essential for succeeding in analytical writing. You will be asked to "Analyze an Issue" and "Analyze an Argument" throughout the two, independently timed exercises in analytical writing. In the "Analyze an Issue" exercise, you'll read a viewpoint on a general interest subject and receive guidance on how to react to the problem at hand. You must evaluate an argument for the "Analyze an Argument" exercise in accordance with the prompt's guidelines.

2. Verbal Reasoning (Verbal)

The GRE's verbal section assesses your analytical skills as well as your understanding of the links between sentences' various words and concepts. Verbal reasoning tests come in a variety of formats:

• Text Completion

Fill-in-the-blank questions for text completion (TC) need you to finish phrases. There are also 1-, 2-, and 3-blank questions as variations. Each Verbal part contains roughly six of these, and you should strive to finish them all in 1 to 1.5 minutes. You'll need to expand your vocabulary and hone your ability to fill in the blanks using context cues from the phrase in order to master them. There is no partial credit for these questions; you must accurately fill in every blank to obtain credit.

• Sentence Equivalence

You must complete a single blank in a sentence equivalence (SE) question with one of two options that results in a logically equivalent pair of phrases. In each Verbal part, there will be about four SE questions. Try to finish each in around a minute. To master SE questions, you'll need to practice expanding your vocabulary and spotting context cues, just as with TC questions.

• Reading Comprehension

Questions about reading comprehension (RC) are based on passages of one or more paragraphs that present an argument or explanation of a subject. RC questions call for you to comprehend the text's main concepts and its organisation, as well as to read the chapter in detail and make reliable deductions from it. The ability to strategically read and paraphrase is needed for RC questions. You should try to spend an average of 1-3 minutes on reading a piece and one minute every question. Each Verbal segment will include about 10 RC questions linked to five distinct passages.

3. Quantitative Reasoning (Quant)

The GRE Quant part evaluates your fundamental quantitative abilities as well as your capacity for deductive reasoning and quantitative problem-solving. You'll encounter inquiries involving fundamental computation, mathematics, geometry, and data analysis. High school often covers these subjects. There won't be any calculus, trigonometry, or other advanced mathematics. There are many forms for problems requiring quantitative reasoning:

• Quantitative Comparison

You are asked to compare Quantity A and Quantity B and to determine how they relate in questions involving quantitative comparison (QC). About 7-8 of these will probably be present in each Quant section. Learn the QC response options and fast cuts that let you compare instead than compute in order to master them.

• Problem Solving

Problem-solving (PS) multiple-choice questions often include five possible answers and only one right one. There are other types of questions, such as those that need you to choose one or more responses from a list of options (multiple-choice all-that-apply) or to type your response into a box (numeric entry.) Understand the arithmetic topics that are assessed as well as approaches that help you solve problems effectively if you want to conquer PS questions. A few (usually three per part) Problem-Solving problems are also connected to one or more charts. This Data Interpretation (DI) questions function similarly to other PS questions, however, it's vital to remember that the key to solving them is accurately deriving the information from the graphs.

Conclusion

Although the GMAT exam requires you to write one fewer essay, the gap is filled by the addition of an Integrated Reasoning component, which is obviously not a piece of cake. Therefore, it appears that the test designers did not make the exam difficulty crystal obvious any shortfall in one section's difficulty has been made up by the exam's overall parity by the easiness in other sections. The game is now in your court. Just keep in mind not to look for the simple solution,  because none exist. If you prefer verbal over quant, the GRE will be simpler for you. However, if knowing GRE terms is a challenge for you but you think you can put in a lot of effort in the quant section, you should choose the GMAT. The final step is to assess your readiness for the examinations and your strengths and shortcomings.