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GMAT or GRE?

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  • 05-07-2011 7:45pm
    #1
    PowerfulBenny
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭


    Hi everyone,
    I'm new to boards.ie. Just wondering if anyone out there could help me decide which one (GMAT or GRE) would be a more useful exam to take to help me apply to loads of MBA courses? Also, if anyone here has done either of these, how difficult are they and would I need to hire a grind to do well?

    Thanks a lot,
    Ben.


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    #2
    bnt
    Registered Users Posts: 13,005 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    For MBAs, GMAT is definitely the one - it is, after all, the Graduate Management Admissions Test. GRE is a more general test, while GMAT is tailored to MBA entry. Go to http://www.mba.com/ and it's on the front page.

    I did the GMAT about 6 years ago on spec, and did well, even though I had no undergraduate degree at the time. Not hard at all, I thought. I didn't do as well on the Maths portion due to unfamiliarity: the questions weren't hard as such, but a couple were things I just hadn't ever done, and there was no time to play with them. Put it this way: you don't need to have any degree to ace it, but you do need to be wide awake and thinking clearly.

    If the free materials online aren't enough, get a book. It's a test of intelligence and comprehension, not a test of memory, so I doubt that "grinds" would be much use. You need to be able to fully comprehend a report and answer questions on it, as well as write a short report in a clear and organised fashion.

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



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    #3
    cerebus
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭cerebus


    PowerfulBenny wrote: »
    Hi everyone,
    I'm new to boards.ie. Just wondering if anyone out there could help me decide which one (GMAT or GRE) would be a more useful exam to take to help me apply to loads of MBA courses? Also, if anyone here has done either of these, how difficult are they and would I need to hire a grind to do well?

    Thanks a lot,
    Ben.

    Depending on where you plan to apply, it may not make that much of a difference which one you do. Some MBA programs do accept the GRE, but not all - your target schools' websites/application FAQs should help you figure it out.

    In terms of which is easier, hard to say - both cover pretty much the same territory I think. Whatever one you decide to do, I agree with the previous poster: self-study should be enough to get you through it. Just get comfortable with the style of the various questions and the time-limits and you should do OK.


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    #4
    PowerfulBenny
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭PowerfulBenny


    Thanks for your replies. I have decided to do the GMAT after all. I hope you don't mind me asking what kind of scores you got by studying alone? It's just that Smufit offer a scholarship for anyone who gets a really high GMAT score (720 I think). After looking at loads of free samples etc. online this week, I am thinking that I may in fact need a grind (Smurfit are recommending Kaplan courses, anyone heard of these??).

    I agree that the maths sections don't look too bad but the verbal is a nightmare for me and I have read that you get punished for having a lopsided score (i.e. really high in maths and really low in verbal).

    If I do get grinds they would cost over 500 quid and the test costs around 200 quid. Obviously I would look silly if I didn't get the result...then again it would save me tons of money if I did. What do you guys think? Any advice would be hugely appreciated..


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    #5
    cerebus
    Registered Users Posts: 447 ✭✭cerebus


    PowerfulBenny wrote:
    (Smurfit are recommending Kaplan courses, anyone heard of these??).

    Kaplan courses are supposed to be alright from what I have heard, though I am sure it probably depends a lot on the specific instructor and the classroom environment.
    PowerfulBenny wrote:
    I hope you don't mind me asking what kind of scores you got by studying alone? It's just that Smufit offer a scholarship for anyone who gets a really high GMAT score (720 I think).

    I was able to score higher than that through self-study, but obviously everyone's experience is going to be different.

    What you could do is try one of the online sample tests from GMAC that you can find here: http://www.mba.com/the-gmat/download-free-test-preparation-software/

    Treat it like the real GMAT - sit down and work through it. It will give you a reasonably accurate assessment of how you are positioned for the real thing, and also highlight where you might have topics/question types to work on. Depending on how the results from the sample test look you can then make a more informed decision about whether you want to invest in a Kaplan prep course.


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