A majority of top business schools in the United States now allow applicants to submit GRE scores as an alternative to the GMAT, a survey by Kaplan Test Prep found.
This is the first time since Kaplan began tracking the issue in 2009 that a majority of the schools have accepted the GRE, which traditionally has been used only for admission to non-MBA graduate programs, Russell Schaffer, a spokesman for Kaplan, wrote in an email.
The survey was based on responses from 265 of the top MBA programs in the United States, including 16 of the top 25 schools, Schaffer said. Fifty-two percent of the schools now accept GRE scores.
"The motivation behind business schools accepting the GRE, generally, is to broaden the playing field of who's applying to programs," said Andrew Mitchell, director of pre-business programs and GRE and GMAT instructor for Kaplan Test Prep.
Mitchell said it's a common pattern for students who don't consider business school during their undergraduate years to end up there a few years later. For someone who is thinking of pursuing a master's degree but who isn't sure about his or her particular course of study, the GRE now is a more flexible option.
Kathy Harper, director of marketing and recruiting for Working Professional MBA Admissions, said everyone who applies to UF's traditional full-time MBA program still must submit a GMAT score.
Harper said applicants to the part-time working professional MBA program could submit a GRE score instead of a GMAT score only if they have completed a medical doctor degree, a doctor of pharmacy degree, a doctorate degree or a master's degree for which the applicant took the GRE in the last five years. This option has been in effect for the last two admission cycles.
"We are not at the point where we'll do a flat-out GRE admission [for undergraduate applicants]," Harper said.
