GRE vs GMAT: Difference and Comparison

Students pursuing higher education are likely to have encountered a variety of common admission examinations, each of which is held on a distinct schedule.

These exams could be held across the country, at a specific university, for a common admission exam, and so on.

These exams allow students to select their seats based on a fair choice and chance. Typically, such exams are taken after senior secondary schooling, graduation, post-graduation, and beyond.

Key Takeaways

1. The GRE is accepted for various graduate programs, while the GMAT is primarily required for business school admission.
2. The GRE focuses more on verbal and quantitative reasoning, while the GMAT emphasizes analytical writing, integrated reasoning, and business-related math.
3. GRE offers a more flexible test format, whereas the GMAT follows a fixed structure.

GRE vs GMAT

GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is a standardized test that is required for admission to a wide range of graduate programs including business, law, and social sciences. The GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is a standardized test that is specifically used for business school admissions.

The GRE is divided into three sections: Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning. Each section is further classified, with the exam lasting approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes in total.

In addition, the exam is held three times a year.

The GMAT is a test designed primarily for students seeking admission to MBA programs. The Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning components of the exam may be divided into four categories.

The exam lasts 3 hours and 45 minutes and is only given once a year.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	GRE	GMAT
Full-Form	Graduate Record Examination	Graduate Management Admission Test
Purpose	Entrance examination for all the graduate programs	It is specifically the common entrance exam for management programs.
Time duration	3 hours 30 minutes	3 hours 45 minutes
Fees	Cheap	Expensive
Emphasizes On	Vocabulary	Grammar
Accepted By	Less number of colleges and universities	Almost every college and universities
Sections	Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning	Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning

What is GRE?

GRE is one of the national-level entrance tests in which candidates seeking admission to upper graduate-level courses participate.

The exam is recognized by universities and colleges all across the world.

Analytical Writing, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning are the three elements that make up the exam. The exam is 3 hours and 30 minutes long and is administered as an Adaptive Computer-Based Test.

The overall performance in one whole segment determines the difficulty level of the questions.

Additionally, students have the option of returning to earlier questions attempted on the paper. The vocabulary component of the exam receives the most attention.

The fees paid before taking the GRE are less expensive.

What is GMAT?

The GMAT exam is intended to be conducted on an all-India basis and is primarily for students seeking admission to postgraduate programs.

As the name implies, the courses covered by the exam are in the realm of management or business.

The Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning components of the exam are organized into four sections.

The exam will last approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes.

The Grammar part receives the most attention or emphasis.

The exam is administered as an Adaptive Testing Computer-based Test. This indicates that when a person appears for the first section, the difficulty level will be medium.

The level of difficulty decreases if a person does not answer it correctly, and vice versa.

Almost all management institutes and universities throughout the world recognize the test. The expenditures incurred before taking the exam are likely to be significantly higher.

Main Differences Between GRE and GMAT

1. The acronym GRE stands for the word Graduate Record Examination while comparatively, on the other hand, the GMAT is the acronym used for the complete term Graduate Management Admission Test.
2. The entrance examination GRE is taken by the students to get into the various graduation colleges or universities while comparatively, on another side, GMAT is taken up by the students to get admission in the different management or business schools. 
3. GRE examination is for about 3 hours and 30 minutes while comparatively, on the other hand, GMAT is conducted for 3 hours and 45 minutes.
4. The fees for the examination GRE are quite less while comparatively, on the other side, the fees for the GMAT entrance examination it is much costlier. 
5. The emphasis of the GRE examination is towards the vocabulary part, while comparatively, on the other hand, the emphasis of the GMAT examination is towards the grammar portion.
6. The GRE examination is accepted in a fewer number of colleges and universities while comparatively, on the other hand, the GMAT exam is accepted by every other college of management and business schools.
7. The sections covered in the GRE examination are – Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning, while comparatively, on the other hand, the sections covered in the GMAT examination are – Integrated Reasoning, Analytic Writing Assessment, Quantitative Reasoning, and Verbal Reasoning.

References

1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0013164495055004011
2. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED237513
3. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-3984.2002.tb01139.x

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023