The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a test that is required for taking admissions in many graduate schools in the United States and other countries. The GRE General Test is an online test that has a score range from 130 to 170 and is taken by MBA aspirants all over the world to pursue an MBA in the USA. The GRE General Test has some sections like verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytical writing.
The GMAT is conducted only for business school candidates, the GRE is taken for admission to all graduate programs including the MBA. Top international business schools accept both GRE and GMAT scores. However, due to the pandemic both these exam scores are getting waived off by many top class universities. This has led to confusion in the minds of the students whether to take the GRE in future. So, let’s look at some of the facts below about the feasibility of GRE in the post-pandemic era to get a good understanding.
Increase in GRE Score Submission
Due to the pandemic, the exam preparation of many students has been hampered. Many coaching centres and exam centres had to remain closed temporarily due the covid crisis. Though there are online resources and tests available, still many students could not get access to quality study materials or could not reach the test venues. So, to ease this burden off the shoulders of the students, many B-Schools in the USA are waiving off the GRE tests.
However, in certain schools there has been a trend in the increase in the GRE score submission as well. The Olin School of Business under the Washington University has witnessed a rise from from 49% to 71% in GRE scores submission. A few other business schools like the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business gained +18% to 39%, and the Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business gained +18 to 53% in this exam score submission.
Decline in GRE Score Submission by MBA Applicants
Where there is an increase in GRE score submission, the opposite is also true. Here, you will find few colleges where the test is waived off or the % of score submission is less. Let’s start with UNC Kenan-Flagler B-School, where the score submission dropped from 48% to 22%. Similarly, at Carnegie Mellon the rate drops by 8 points to 11%. The UC Irvine (Paul Merage Business School) too witnessed a drop in score submission from 22% to 7%.
Many colleges are stressing on the candidate’s past academic records, work experience and extra curricular skills for evaluation. However, GRE test-takers are still welcome to submit their scores as a parameter of their candidature. The overall admission process has not changed whether one submits the scores or decides not to submit. To study with the best, one has to be the best!
Business Schools with their GRE and their GRE Score Submissions’ Percentages
| School | % GRE 2020 | % GRE 2019 |
| Stanford GSB | 25% | 19% |
| Chicago Booth | 17% | 13% |
| Harvard | 22% | 20% |
| Columbia | 24% | 16% |
| UC-Berkeley (Haas) | 35% | 21% |
| Dartmouth (Tuck) | 39% | 21% |
| Yale SOM | 35% | 26% |
| Michigan (Ross) | 37% | 34% |
| NYU (Stern) | 23% | 18% |
| UCLA (Anderson) | 14% | 10% |
| Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | 11% | 19% |
| UNC (Kenan-Flagler) | 22% | 48% |
| Texas (McCombs) | 38% | 33% |
MBA in USA – Colleges which have Waived Off GMAT/GRE
| Institute’s Name | Details |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT-Sloan) | Submitted material will be checked as is and without negativity |
| Darden School of Business-University of Virginia | May have qualified SAT & ACT scores into consideration for a waiver |
| Ross School of Business – University of Michigan | Will admit or waitlist Round 1 MBA students |
| McCombs School of Business | Waivers only for candidates who didn’t gave the test due to Covid-19 |
| Simon Business School | Needs Bachelor’s degree GPA of 3.2 or higher |
| Wisconsin | Needs 5 years of work experience and a Bachelor’s degree |
| University of Georgia (Terry) | Current or former military service required |
| University of Pittsburgh (Katz) | Work experience or exceptional undergraduate or graduate degree |
| UC-Irvine | Needs 4 of work experience and a great academic performance |
| George Washington University | GMAT or GRE not required anymore |
| Fordham University | Test optional due to Covid-19 |
| Pepperdine University | Needs 3 years work experience |
| UC-San Diego | Waivers available only for FlexEvening and FlexWeekend MBA programmes |
| Syracuse University | Test waivers available in 2021 |
| Rollins (Crummer) | Waivers for those with graduate degrees |
| Clarkson University | Now waiving the GMAT and GRE for all applicants |
| Georgetown University | The GRE/GMAT requirement is waived for Georgetown students who earned at least a 3.2 cumulative undergraduate GPA and for non-Georgetown students who earned at least a 3.5 cumulative undergraduate GPA. |
| Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Business | GMAT and GRE requirements are waived for Sawyer’s Full-Time MBA, Part-Time MBA, Global MBA and Executive MBA programs provided that applicants meet certain conditions. |
Full-Time MBA Courses in US Accepting the Executive Assessment Test
- NYU Stern
- Columbia Business School
- Stanford
- Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business
- University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business
- Rutgers Business School
- University of Nevada, Reno
- University of Rochester Simon Business School
- The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation
- University of Virginia Darden School of Business
- Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Because of this pandemic majority of the universities have decided to waive the GRE/GMAT requirement. Many universities are stressing more on the holistic capabilities of the students rather than merely few exam scores. The past academic records, work experience are vital to this. However, students who have taken the GRE can submit their scores.
GRE caters to all subjects like Physics, Maths, and including Business Management for admissions to PG programs in the USA. Hence it caters to the needs of a much wider section of students compared to GMAT. Though many business schools have waived off the GRE scores, it is difficult to ascertain the fate of this exam yet. We will suggest students to shortlist their dream colleges first and check their requirements. After that they will get a clear picture about which exam to attempt.
If you have read till now, you must be aware of the status of the GRE exam to study an MBA in the USA. The next thing you must do is to target a college of your choice and start preparing accordingly. Please stay tuned to our blogs as we will present such insightful articles on GRE further.