Wharton just made applying to its MBA program a bit easier.
Beginning in fall 2010, Wharton plans to accept the Graduate Record Exam as an alternative to the Graduate Management Admission Test.
With this decision, Wharton joins over 250 international MBA programs that accept GRE scores, including Harvard Business School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.
Still, these schools are in the minority, with over 4,600 business education programs accepting only GMAT scores, according to GMAT spokesman Sam Silverstein.
In fact, only 24 percent of the top MBA programs in the country are currently accepting the GRE, according to a survey of admissions officers at 260 top MBA programs by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, and 4.3 percent say they are considering accepting the GRE in the future.
While the GMAT has been the standard for business school admissions since 1954, MBA programs have expressed hope that accepting the GRE - which students can use to apply to graduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences - will attract a more diverse applicant pool.
A Wharton admissions official told The Daily Pennsylvanian in February that Wharton had no plans to accept GRE scores in the near future, but Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid J.J. Cutler said discussions following last year's admissions cycle led the program to change its policy.
Businesses are increasingly requiring interdisciplinary work, making students who have non-business backgrounds more attractive to MBA programs, according to Cutler. Accepting the GRE will open the door for graduates who "may not have anticipated the need for an MBA" but work in fields where a business education would benefit them.
Director of Career Services Patricia Rose said she believes Wharton's decision to accept the GRE will help students.
Many students feel most prepared to take the GRE when they are seniors, she said, and will now be able to rely on that score for later applications.
Mark McNutt, a spokesman for Educational Testing Services, added that students will benefit from the difference in cost between the two tests. The GRE costs $150, while the GMAT costs $250.
However Dave Wilson, the president and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council, which oversees the GMAT, said the GMAT remains the best predictor of performances in business schools.
He explained that the GMAT's quantitative section is more complex than the equivalent on the GRE.
Despite the increased options, Rose predicted little change in the number of students taking the GMAT.
Andrew Mitchell, assistant director for GRE and GMAT programs at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, agreed.
"The vast majority of business schools still only accept the GMAT for applications," Mitchell said, adding that Kaplan recommends students still take the GMAT if they're interested in business school.
Still, both Rose and Mitchell said Wharton's decision could foreshadow a big movement by business schools to accept both tests.
"Wharton being a leader in the field," Mitchell said. "It will be interesting to see whether more schools start accepting the GRE."
