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I have a friend not good in math and could not pass the lsat because of it. One doesn't need math to pass the lsat, but if you do not have math you will find certain number oriented games difficult. I think you can get some master in management or financial engineering degrees without any test.
Don't listen to people saying you need to be able to do the gmat, lsat gre etc to pass the school, its a big lie. Outside of the USA and Canada the LSAT IS NOT USED. Even in Quebec including McGill and the French law programs in ottawa and moncton, no lsat. Does that mean Mcgill lawyers are less competent than thomson river u lawyers, of course not. McGill is rated the 2nd best law school in canada although canada has no tiers for law schools.
I think more institutions are recognizing that some people are not good with standardized tests and that scores are not always indicative of how a person will do in graduate school.
GRE is not an indicator of how well you will perform in graduate school, particularly in Sciences. I can tell you that GRE Math is a joke in that sense.
What it does is serve as a screen/separator for competitive schools. When I applied to Engineering grad school, they said anything below a 700 at certain schools, and you were pretty much not getting in. Of course, admissions criteria that schools publish on their websites is almost always more grim than what they actually accept when it comes to non-professional schools.
But the point is that enough otherwise qualified candidates were able to get a 700 that if you didn't you were likely screwed.
So, it stands to reason that if a grad school program does not use the GRE, then it's not that competitive. Which doesn't mean it's bad, just that not that many people are applying for seats there. I'm sure there are exceptions, but in general I believe this is the case.
I would take the GRE if your verbal and quant skills are about equally competent (or incompetent depending on your point of view). Going to a b-school that doesn't require either test isn't going to be worth the investment. The GMAT quant side contains incredibly difficult math problems because of the logic involved and most of the people who score in the top 10% are from China or India. I thought the verbal side was more about logic and grammar than about vocabulary. The SAT verbal section emphasized vocabulary a lot so you may be relieved by less complicated words useless in real life. The math on the GRE is not as hard while the verbal side is more vocab-intensive.
From gmatninja, their conclusion that taking the GRE is better if:
You’re better at vocabulary than grammar. I don’t know whether I’ve ever met anybody who fits this description. Maybe a really well-read native English speaker who lacks the discipline to do well on sentence correction?
You’re comfortable with statistics and algebra and geometry, but you struggle on the toughest GMAT-style questions. It’s possible that a test-taker with moderately strong quant skills—and relatively little propensity to make dumb errors—would have a much easier time on the GRE.
Of course there are exceptions but the great majority of any good reputable schools or worthwhile programs require adequate performance on entry exams. I mean you can try Harvard Business School, they don't have a minimum GMAT that they say needs to be achieved. Then when you come back down from the clouds and join the mortals you'll realize what you need to do.
Put in the work. There are no shortcuts dude. Take a test prep course and work it hard. Don't look for the easy way out, it won't get you where you want to be nor make you the person you want to be.
Best of luck.
Edit: wanted to add that on a personal note, I went to a top 15 (no not top 10) B school. I had everything the school of my choice wanted except my GMAT was a few points too low - I pried that information from the admitting committee, They told me that if I scored at least 100 points higher, I was in. So I went back to teh drawing board. I didn't even study much harder but for some reason I went in to the test feeling good. Guess what...I ended up going more than 200 points better. More than 200!! Lobster that night baby.
Consider what your situation is and how you can improve it overall. If you really want this, then keep your eye on the prize and maximize everything an admitting committee considers. Your college GPA is likely done, nothing you can do to improve that. But you can get professional experience. Graduate programs put a lot of weight on that. You can also gather recommendation letters from the best people you can find. Identify some and start working on how you can connect with them. Also, start thinking about what makes a good entrance essay, what grips people. Lastly, get to know the administrators of the program and make sure they know you. Those things work. My GPA was lacking so I put tons of emphasis on my professional accomplishments and the administrators of my program knew who I was and knew my strengths. You'll have a much higher chance of getting into a program if there are people who know you there.
If you put together a good strategy and work your a$$ off towards it, you'll get there. Even if you have some weaknesses, don't let that stop you - work with them, on them, and around them. But you have to genuinely want it and want it bad, otherwise it's wasted energy.
Are they any? I have taken the GMAT so many times, 3 times, and the score is always a 490 or less. Now, I had enough with this and I'm applying to programs that don't need a GRE /GMAT.
Any one knows of schools or programs in the NY area?
With a score like that not sure business school is a good option.
I think more institutions are recognizing that some people are not good with standardized tests and that scores are not always indicative of how a person will do in graduate school.
This is wishful thinking. I know for business schools the GMAT has predictive power of course nothing is absolute. Also the investment banks/consultants will often ask for GMAT scores before they even deign to speak to you.
My Masters program did not require the GRE or GMAT.... they said it is not an indicator of how well a student will do in the program.
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