Report: Stanford Will Start Accepting GRE Scores
An odd piece of news caught our eye this morning: according to BusinessWeek, the Stanford GSB will allow full-time MBA applicants to submit GRE instead of GMAT scores beginning this year.
The rationale for the change is that since GRE test fees are lower than those for the GMAT, accepting GRE scores will make Stanford admissions more accessible to underrepresented minorities and to students from developing countries.
We admire Stanford's commitment to diversity, but we have to question the reasoning behind its new test score policy. From an applicant's point of view, it's not a particularly good deal.
There's no question that standardized test fees are expensive, expecially for international applicants. The $250 GMAT fee represents more money than even a manager might earn in a month in a number of countries.
But the GRE is no bargain, either. It costs $115 in the U.S. and from $140 to $175 overseas. Stanford applicants who go the GRE route would only be saving $75 to $115, which is an extremely modest sum in the context of business school costs. A Chinese applicant who pulls together $175 to take the GRE but who doesn't have the resources to apply for a U.S. visa or to travel to California hasn't saved $75 on test fees -- he's lost $175 on an investment he doesn't have the resources to follow through on.
More importantly, MBA applicants who opt for the GRE over the GMAT would be boxing themselves in on school choice. Stanford is the only top business school that accepts GRE scores. Putting all your eggs in the Stanford basket is an extremely risky admissions strategy. Realistic applicants increase their admissions chances by applying to several different schools, which would mean taking the GMAT anyway.
It seems to us that only a small number of applicants really stand to benefit from this change. Students applying to certain dual-degree programs will be spared the ordeal of taking two standardized tests, and college graduates debating between an MBA and a master of arts in another field might be more inclined to apply to the Stanford GSB and see what happens. It's hard to imagine that those are the prospective applicants Stanford has in mind when it talks about attracting a more diverse pool of MBA applicants.
Source: "Stanford Smiles on GRE Scores," by Kerry Miller - BusinessWeek, June 26, 2006
The rationale for the change is that since GRE test fees are lower than those for the GMAT, accepting GRE scores will make Stanford admissions more accessible to underrepresented minorities and to students from developing countries.
We admire Stanford's commitment to diversity, but we have to question the reasoning behind its new test score policy. From an applicant's point of view, it's not a particularly good deal.
There's no question that standardized test fees are expensive, expecially for international applicants. The $250 GMAT fee represents more money than even a manager might earn in a month in a number of countries.
But the GRE is no bargain, either. It costs $115 in the U.S. and from $140 to $175 overseas. Stanford applicants who go the GRE route would only be saving $75 to $115, which is an extremely modest sum in the context of business school costs. A Chinese applicant who pulls together $175 to take the GRE but who doesn't have the resources to apply for a U.S. visa or to travel to California hasn't saved $75 on test fees -- he's lost $175 on an investment he doesn't have the resources to follow through on.
More importantly, MBA applicants who opt for the GRE over the GMAT would be boxing themselves in on school choice. Stanford is the only top business school that accepts GRE scores. Putting all your eggs in the Stanford basket is an extremely risky admissions strategy. Realistic applicants increase their admissions chances by applying to several different schools, which would mean taking the GMAT anyway.
It seems to us that only a small number of applicants really stand to benefit from this change. Students applying to certain dual-degree programs will be spared the ordeal of taking two standardized tests, and college graduates debating between an MBA and a master of arts in another field might be more inclined to apply to the Stanford GSB and see what happens. It's hard to imagine that those are the prospective applicants Stanford has in mind when it talks about attracting a more diverse pool of MBA applicants.
Source: "Stanford Smiles on GRE Scores," by Kerry Miller - BusinessWeek, June 26, 2006
posted by AllStarEssays at 11:30 AM
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