According to the Businessweek blog Getting In, only 4% of applicants to top MBA programs decided to submit GRE scores. Only 5% of applicants to Harvard Business School and to Yale SOM submitted GRE scores, while UVA Darden received less than 2%. Washington Olin received a whopping 7%, while Stanford GSB said the number of GRE submissions was “not a statistically significant group.”
With so few students submitting GRE scores to business school and so few of those applicants getting accepted—at UVA Darden, for example, only two or three GRE-submitting students were accepted—is it really worth it to take advantage of this new offering?
The point of accepting GRE scores was to widen the application pool by encouraging dual-degree applicants, younger applicants, and foreign applicants to enter the mix. But according to Geoff Gloeckler, the BW blog post author, it may “take a few years for admissions officers to feel completely comfortable with the test as an alternative to the old, reliable GMAT.”
“Until then,” says Gloeckler, “I’m not sure I would feel comfortable letting my application ride on such an unknown.”
In a comment to his post, Gloeckler follows up by saying that he had again spoken with Sara Neher, the director of admissions at UVA Darden, who recommends that:
a) If you can’t decide between the two tests, applicants should not take both as a solution.
b) If you’ve already taken the GRE, submit that and not the GMAT.
c) If you haven’t taken either one of the tests yet, take the GMAT, and not the GRE.
Something to consider…
For more information regarding the GRE-GMAT debate, please see GMAT or GRE: Which is Best for You?
Also, to encourage you to get an early start on your b-school applications, Accepted is offering you 10% off all MBA services through July 31, 2010. Enter coupon code EB10 at checkout to save!
Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best
Read the full article: Top MBA Programs See Little GRE Action