The GRE and the GMAT are both standardized tests that are giving to individuals pursuing postgraduate education. The Graduate Record Examination is a test that is given to potential students prior to their admission into many graduate programs. The GMAT, or Graduate Management Admission Test, is quite similar though this test is specifically tailored for individuals that are entering graduate business studies.

The GRE is designed by Educational Testing Service. They also administer the test for institutions around the globe. The Graduate Record Examination is generally taken through a computer though paper versions are used sometimes. The emphasis of the GRE is to assess the applied abstract thinking of students in the standard subjects of analytical writing, vocabulary and math. The role of the student’s score in their admittance is completely up to the school that is being applied to. In addition to the general Graduate Record Examination, there are GRE tests designed to focus on specific subjects also. The numbers and subjects in existence have been reduced over the years, but eight still remain. The subjects are Chemistry, Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biology, Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Psychology and Literature in English.

The GMAT is a standardized test that is given specifically to individuals planning to enter a graduate business program. The influence of the score is, as in the case of the GRE, completely at the discretion of the institution being applied to. This test is intended to test the education level that an individual has acquired over a long-period. The test focuses on three areas specifically. These include verbal, mathematical and analytical writing skills. The length of the test is 3.5 hours and it is generally administered through a computer similar to the GRE. In some instances temporary computer stations may be setup to allow testing, but there is a paper version that exists, though it is rarely used. The GMAT is intended to predict how well the student may do in the course of graduate studies.

Both of these tests are designed to test long-term education and the individual taker’s application of that education. Both use an adaptive testing format on a computer that changes difficulty or adapts the test to the taker. Both also have very different focuses and each institution has a slightly different application of the data that these tests supply.