While GMAT is primarily used for MBA admissions, GRE is used for graduate programs of disciplines including psychology and engineering. GRE scores are also required for some PhD programs worldwide. The table below provides a thorough comparison of the tests.
| Criterion |
GMAT |
GRE General |
|
Test FEE |
$250 |
$205 |
|
Validity |
5 years |
5 years |
|
Dates |
Round the year |
Round the year |
|
Number of Sections |
4 |
6 |
|
Structure |
3 structures in total (i) AWA, IR, QR, VR (ii) QR, VR, IR, AWA (iii) VR, QR, IR AWA |
Apart from AWA, the rest of the 5 sections could be in any order with a minimum of 2 QR and 2 VR and one experimental section. |
|
Experimental |
There are few Experimental questions in QR and VR sections. |
There is one experimental section with 20 questions. |
|
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) |
1 Questions (30 Minutes) |
2 questions (30 minutes each) |
|
Integrated Reasoning (IR) |
12 Questions (30 Minutes) |
No IR section |
|
Quantitative Reasoning (QR) |
31 Questions (62 Minutes) |
20 Questions per section (30 minutes each) |
|
Verbal Reasoning (VR) |
36 Questions (65 Minutes) |
20 Questions per section (30 minutes each) |
|
Time |
187 minutes |
225 minutes |
|
Total Score |
200 – 800 (with 10 point increment) |
260 – 340 (with 1 point increment) |
|
IR |
1 – 8 (with 1 point increment) |
No IR section |
|
AWA |
0 – 6 (with 0.5 point increment) |
0 – 6 (with 0.5 point increment) |
|
QR |
6 – 51 (raw score) |
130 – 170 |
|
VR |
6 – 51 (raw score) |
130 – 170 |
|
Adaptive |
Computer Adaptive |
Section Adaptive |
|
QR Question types |
(i) Problem Solving (PS) (ii) Data Sufficiency (DS) |
(i) Problem solving with 1 answer (ii) Problem solving with 1 or more answers (iii) Quantitative Comparison (QC) (iv) Numerical Entry (NE) |
|
VR Question types |
(i) Sentence Correction (ii) Reading Comprehension (iii) Critical Reasoning |
(i) Sentence Equivalence (ii) Reading Comprehension (iii) Text Completion |
|
IR Question types |
(i) Table Analysis (ii) Two Part Analysis (iii) Graphical Interpretation (iv) Multi source Reasoning |
No IR section |
|
AWA |
(i) Issue Based |
(i) Issue Based (ii) Argument Based |
by: Khartik Sunkara – Senior Quants Trainer
