Which One is Important between GPA, GMAT or GRE Score?

If you are a scholar, you probably heard about GPA score, GMAT score and GRE score before. These three qualifications are more than just a number, it represents your learning ability and outcome and can determine panelist decisions for the selection process. But do you know, the difference between GPA score, GMAT score, and GMAT score?

 

Students outside the USA or Europe might not familiar yet with these acronyms. Some other countries use different tests or criteria for their school admission process. But in general, GPA, GMAT, and GRE is a scoring system that has been used to indicate the knowledge, learning ability and outcome of a student.
It might be biased to use just a single test to represent a whole individual, but the scoring of GPA, GMAT, and GRE does ease the system and has been popularly used around many countries. It’s important for you to know and prepare for GPA, GMAT and GRE test.

GPA Score

What is the GPA? Grade point average or GPA score is the accumulative grade from a long-term period of education. GPA score counts all of the single scores that you get during your degree. Since it’s attained from a comprehensive process of education, a GPA score tells more than GMAT or GRE score.

Note aside, the GPA score is very contextual. It’s a different challenge for an Ivy League student to get an A compared to a student in the mid-level university. Some major might be more challenging than others since there’s no rigid universal scoring process that can make sure that every A in every subject of every major shows the same value.

Therefore, the GPA is very contextual. GPA score that you need to get a full scholarship is more than just the number, panels will check on your country’s education environment, your university, study track, the courses that you took during the degree.

But despite that, the minimum GPA score for the scholarship does state in every scholarship. Usually, it is 3.00 out of 4.00 but more competitive ones might require 3.25 or even 3.5. These parameters also apply to most of the minimum GPA score for postgraduate school entrants.

GMAT Score

The Graduate Management Admission Test is a computer-based test that assesses your ability on analytical thinking, academic writing, and certain skills that shows your learning ability. The GMAT score validity period Is reaching until five years after you took the test.

The four sets of the test consist of integrated reasoning, verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. GMAT test preparation can be executed by learning from the previous test questions. In a year, you can retake the GMAT exam not exceeding five times a year.

Graduate schools around the world accept GMAT score, some even set is as a requirement. Nevertheless, the GMAT helps you to be highlighted during the admission.

GMAT gives scholarships advantages, especially if you are pursuing an education in programs that use the GMAT score as an admission criterion. Mostly business and management majors use the GMAT score to decide the scholarship qualification for a student. The minimum GMAT score that required for scholarship usually decided by the admission board. But equipped with a 740+ score will give you more benefit.

Even though your scholarship doesn’t state that the GMAT score is required. It’s better to upload your GMAT certificate to make your application standouts compared to others. The maximum score for GMAT is 800, achieving a higher score in GMAT can be good for your study and career prospects.

GRE Score

If you are aiming to study in the USA, the GRE score will be a significant test for you. GRE or The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is the test required in the admission process for almost all of the graduate schools in the United States. Issued by ETS (Educational Testing Service), the test assesses your reasoning, writing and thinking ability.

Is GRE difficult? The six sections test is scoring your learning ability that also acts as an outcome of your long-term learning ability process. The preparation for the GRE can ease you and boost your score. The higher score of GRE benefits you with an added value for the admission process.

High GRE can get you a scholarship since many graduate schools use the GRE score as requirements. GRE required for some scholarships while others take it equally with GMAT. You can choose whether to apply with your GRE or GMAT score. Having 158 in the verbal and quantitative section and 4.0 in writing considered as good enough. But you better to aim for higher scores to put you in a highly considering during the scholarship admissions process.

The highest possible score of GRE is 340. It’s important to look up at each section instead of narrowing your focus on the overall score. A top university like Harvard does require a much higher score, for example, 160s in some of their programs.

Which one is important between GPA, GMAT or GRE?

GPA shows your academic achievement that you attained during your study. It’s more reflective and used in most of the admissions while GMAT or GRE considered as intuitive test that can be taken several times.

All of the scores are equally considerable for a scholarship or school admissions. Aiming for a higher GPA during your study is recommended and it’s better to prepare to take GMAT or GRE to help you with the scholarship.

But you need to remember that the score is not solely the only important aspect of the selection criteria. Having a strong motivation and study plan, work experiences and contribution to the society does highlight you and it’s can’t be represented by merely just numbers.

Should I Take GRE or GMAT?

GRE and GMAT are very important for pursuing higher education. But you need to take attention to your school or scholarship criteria, whether they require GRE or GMAT for the admissions. It’s better to have well-planned study goals where you already decided which school that you aimed. Take a look at the school admission page to see their criteria and decide between GRE and GMAT.

But if you are in the United States or want to pursue your education in the states, GRE becomes more critical. Before preparing for going aboard, pack yourself with an adequate GRE score to ease your admission. Since you might need to retake the test, it would be better to take the test before the deadline of the document submissions.

Which one is harder between GRE and GMAT? Compared to GRE, GMAT is arguably more difficult in the quantitative questions. If you have good math skills. Taking GMAT might give you more advantages. On another hand, GRE involves harder vocabulary.

When taking the test, you can flip back and forth during the GME test while GMAT using time-limited questions. If you can’t decide the answer within certain minutes, the GMAT test will automatically continue to the next question. Some people might feel more comfortable taking GRE due to this reason.

For a student in business and management, GMAT is more important. Most MBA schools use it as a requirement that you need to prepare. Since you can take once in 16 days, better to set time before the admission schedule to give you opportunities to take the test again if the outcome scores don’t reach your goal.

Whether your scholarship or school require GRE or GMAT, taking the exam as preparation is a good investment for your future, even when you hadn’t decided your program yet.

How to get a high GRE or GMAT score?

Preparation is the key since GRE and GMAT is a paid exam. The price of the GRE General Test is $205 while the GMAT price can be up to $250. If you need to take the exam several times, it can be costly.

To get a higher score, you can practice using books and materials that sums up previous test questions. You can start with a GRE or GMAT prediction test to know which section that you need to put more attention. You can look up for some GRE & GMAT preparation courses. It might cost you, but strategically better than retake the exam again and again.

But self-learning can be sufficient if you can be disciplined. Schedule your time to study the test at least 2-3 hours a day. There’s a lot of materials available online that you can get for free. Once you feel ready, you can take the real test.

Get Scholarship without GRE and GMAT

Is it possible to get a scholarship without submitting GRE and GMAT? Some scholarship doesn’t require you to submit your GRE or GMAT score. The submission of the score will only be considered as an added value to your profile. To these kinds of scholarship, you can ace it without any GRE and GMAT score.
Some scholarship for a graduate program does even cover the cost for GRE or GMAT test and preparation. The institution will cover your preparation and test cost after you selected as the grantee. The scholarship for GRE and GMAT can be the solution if you need financial support for GRE and GMAT score.