An increasing number of business schools are accepting Graduate Record Examinations test scores as a substitution for the traditional Graduate Management Admission Test submission in the application process, a Kaplan Test Prep survey released Sept. 12 shows.
The survey, conducted in summer 2011, included responses from 265 MBA programs including 16 of the top 25 in "U.S. News & World Report" and found that 52 percent of these business schools now accept the option of a GRE score submission instead of the GMAT score submission.
Although the GMAT has been the standard test or "yardstick" for business school admission for the past four decades, the GRE has emerged as a handy alternative, said Andrew Mitchell, Kaplan Test Prep's director of pre-business programs.
Mitchell said the option to submit the GRE as an alternative to the GMAT gives students additional flexibility to pursue either a master's degree or an MBA if they are "still uncertain about their graduate school plans."
The change allows schools to increase access to their programs, thus making it "that much easier [for students] to apply to business school," he said.
The Darden School has been accepting GRE scores for the past two years, though the number of people who submit them is less than 1 percent, said Sara Neher, assistant dean of admissions for Darden.
Neher said applicants who submit the GRE are not judged differently than those who submit the GMAT.
"Most of the people that have submitted the GRE are people who took it for some other purpose," Neher said. "I would much rather have them decide to come get an MBA ... I don't want to penalize them for coming to that realization a couple years after school."
Despite the existence of an alternative, "the overwhelming majority of people applying to business school are still using the GMAT," Mitchell said.
Critics of the new system have said taking and submitting the GMAT sends "a strong signal that you're interested in business school," meaning students who submitted GRE scores could fall short by "not sending as strong a signal" if they wish to be admitted to business school, Mitchell said.
Because both scores are valid for five years, Mitchell offered advice to applicants debating which test to take.
"If you know you're interested in business school, then prepare for the GMAT," he said. "If you're weighing more than one option, you have a reason to take the GRE."
Takers of the GMAT will face a new test in June 2012 as an integrated reasoning section is implemented.
Mitchell said "for people who do decide to take the GMAT ... take the test before the test change"
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