For Columbia MSBA, is it better to give GMAT or GRE?

Question

Mansih K · Accepted Answer

Some Columbia MSBA admits pick their test based on how each plays to their academic profile.
&bull; GRE can be better if verbal is a strong suit &mdash; a 165+ Quant and 155+ Verbal is competitive here. &bull; GMAT works well if you&rsquo;re aiming to show business-school readiness; a 700+ with Quant in the 90th percentile gets noticed. &bull; Columbia&rsquo;s MSBA leans technical, so admissions care more about high Quant scores than total score alone. &bull; STEM grads who haven&rsquo;t taken many verbal-heavy courses sometimes find GMAT Quant slightly easier to master, while GRE offers more flexibility in question style. &bull; Columbia uses internal score conversion to compare GMAT and GRE fairly, so either test is evaluated on an equal footing. &bull; One recent admit with a computer science degree chose GRE after hitting 168 Quant in practice &mdash; it balanced their profile better than a 710 GMAT with weaker verbal.
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T Mehta · Answer

For Columbia MSBA, both GMAT and GRE are accepted, and the admissions team has no stated preference. The better choice depends on your strengths. If you&rsquo;re stronger in quantitative reasoning, the GMAT&rsquo;s Quant section may be easier to maximise &mdash; many admitted students score above 48/51 in GMAT Quant. On the GRE, a Quant score of 165+ (out of 170) is considered competitive for Columbia.
Data from recent admits shows that students with engineering, math, or finance backgrounds often do well with the GMAT, while those with strong verbal and analytical writing skills sometimes choose the GRE. Since Columbia&rsquo;s MSBA is quantitatively heavy, whichever test allows you to hit top percentile Quant scores will serve you better. If unsure, take practice tests for both and compare results &mdash; the one with the higher percentile in Quant and overall will be your best bet.