If you’re still undecided whether to take the GRE for your MBA considering its impact on your future job prospects, you must understand how GRE scores influence your professional profile.
What Does the GRE Really Measure?
On the surface, the GRE measures fundamental skills required to succeed in graduate school: verbal and quantitative skills, critical thinking, and analytical writing. For many MBA applicants, achieving an exceptional score at the GRE is vital not only to demonstrate a high level of command in these skills but also to increase the chances of getting into a business school.
The GRE is a fundamental requirement in most graduate schools’ admission process. However, concerns about what the GRE truly measures in prospective graduate students tramples its indispensability.
To illustrate, in an in-depth article reported by Veronica Clayton for The Atlantic in 2016, years of various research about the GRE revealed that the test poses obstacles to many talented yet disadvantaged students.
In the article, there is glaring evidence and data that the GRE test was designed in favor of more economically privileged applicants. For instance, it’s noted that when searching for methods to improve GRE scores, results often suggest hiring a private tutor or enrolling in an exclusive class—something that many underprivileged students cannot do.
Additionally, the GRE was perceived as a failure and a poor tool in encouraging diversity. Previous findings showed that the GRE scores were highly correlated to the race, gender, and socioeconomic status of the applicant, underpredicting the success of minority students.
It’s important to recognize the value of obtaining an impressive score at the GRE, but its weak areas and loopholes can’t be ignored. This is why most graduate schools don’t only rely on the GRE score to assess the applicant’s abilities.
For prospective MBA students, it’s essential to exhibit dedication and grit to learn and expand skills. After all, in future employment, while academic and professional qualifications still highly matter, it’s always the passion and the drive that allow job seekers to land a good job.
Predicting Success in the MBA Journey
The GRE measures different key skills in students. However, it fails to evaluate other factors that influence the student’s success in business school. This includes creativity, perseverance, and intellect.
Completing an MBA degree isn’t restricted to the key skills that GRE measures. Aside from basic arithmetic and verbal reasoning, an MBA journey consists of the practical application of knowledge and human connection. And relying on predictions of success on GRE alone can be a tenuous undertaking.
What Employers Look for in an MBA Graduate
Do employers prefer MBA graduates whose program required the GRE?
In most employment application processes, it’s very rare for employers to ask applicants to discuss their GRE scores. Even job postings do not add “Stellar GRE scores” in the job requirements.
What employers look for when hiring an MBA graduate are relevant skill, business acuity, professional work experience, and willingness to contribute to the company’s growth.
Employers also look for skills in leadership, task management, and managerial skills. In most cases, employers are usually on the lookout for candidates with skills that GRE doesn’t directly measure.
How would an MBA without GRE reflect on your future employment? The truth is it doesn’t matter whether you took your MBA with or without the GRE requirement, so you don’t have to worry about taking an MBA program where GRE is not required.
The GRE measures key skills that are necessary for MBA students to succeed in life, but it’s difficult to deny the challenges it poses to minority students. Fortunately, many employers don’t rely on GRE scores to assess the ability of their applicants. Check out more of our stories here at MSM Unify to get more insights on standardized tests and landing an MBA job in the future.
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