GMAT Waivers and When Schools Accept the GRE

By Muntasir Aug 07, 2026 8 min read

TL;DR

GMAT waivers and GRE acceptance are decided by each business school, not by GMAC. Many top MBA programs, including Wharton, NYU Stern and UT Austin McCombs, accept the GRE as a substitute for the GMAT. Some schools also grant standardized test waivers to applicants with strong academic records and years of work experience, though eligibility rules differ by school. GMAC says no valid score conversion exists between the GMAT and GRE. ETS publishes its own comparison tool for admissions committees, but ETS presents the output as context for reading a GRE score, not as an exact conversion.

GMAT Waivers and When Schools Accept the GRE

GMAT waivers and GRE acceptance are set by each business school, not by GMAC. Some MBA programs waive the standardized test requirement entirely for qualified applicants. Others accept the GRE as a substitute for the GMAT, with no preference between the two tests. Before you decide to skip the GMAT, check the exact rules published by each program on your list.

This guide covers what a GMAT waiver usually requires, how to look up a program's current policy, which schools accept the GRE, and how admissions committees compare scores between the two tests. It also covers when sitting the GMAT is still the safer move, even when a waiver or a GRE option is available. Every policy below is quoted from the school's own admissions page, since waiver rules and accepted test lists change from one application cycle to the next.

What a GMAT Waiver Typically Requires

Waiver requirements vary by school. These three examples show the range: NYU Stern and UT Austin McCombs each run a formal waiver process, while Wharton offers no GMAT or GRE waiver at all. Read each row as one school's rule, not as a general standard.

School	Waiver path	Core eligibility	Process and deadline
NYU Stern	Full-Time MBA and Luxury and Retail MBA test waiver	Completed bachelor's degree	Waiver request with resume, transcripts, certifications and a 300-word essay, reviewed on a rolling basis. NYU undergrad alumni with a 3.20+ GPA receive an automatic waiver.
UT Austin McCombs	Standardized Merit-Based Test Waiver	Strong academic performance in an analytical undergraduate or graduate degree, ideally a 3.0+ GPA with quantitative coursework, plus a minimum of 3 years of progressive post-undergraduate work experience with significant analytical responsibilities	Official waiver form due at least 10 days before your target application date. Decision within 10 business days. Cannot be resubmitted in a later round. Becomes void if you later submit a valid test score.
Wharton	No GMAT or GRE waiver	Not applicable	A separate English-proficiency test waiver exists for applicants educated at English-medium institutions, but no waiver applies to the GMAT or GRE itself.

Where a waiver exists, the pattern holds. It replaces the test score with proof of academic or professional strength, and each school reviews the proof case by case. A high GPA alone rarely qualifies you: most programs also want quantitative coursework or measurable work experience in an analytical role.

Wharton is the counterexample in the table above. Some top programs require a test score from every applicant and publish no waiver route, so treat a waiver as school-specific rather than standard. Build your school list first, then check each program's waiver page before you book a test date or skip one.

How to Find a Program's Waiver Policy

Third-party rankings and forums list waiver rules inconsistently. Go straight to the source instead. These five steps get you the policy in force for your own application cycle.

Search the school's own admissions FAQ or requirements page for the exact terms "test waiver" or "GMAT waiver."
Confirm the waiver covers the specific program you are applying to. Stern's waiver, for example, covers the Full-Time MBA and Luxury and Retail MBA only, not every program the school runs, according to NYU Stern.
Check the current cycle's deadline window. Waiver windows change every year. Stern's 2026-27 window runs only through April 1, 2027.
Note whether a waiver exists at all. Wharton, for example, has no GMAT or GRE waiver, only a separate English-proficiency test waiver, according to Wharton.
If a waiver form exists, submit it well ahead of your application deadline. McCombs requires its form at least 10 days before your target date, with a decision inside 10 business days.

Schools Accepting the GRE Instead of GMAT

GMAC does not set a universal GRE policy. Each business school decides on its own whether to accept the GRE, and how to weigh it against the GMAT. The table below shows how three programs handle the choice and what each one does with the scores you send.

School	GMAT/GRE policy	How scores are used
Wharton	Accepts GMAT (legacy or Focus Edition) or GRE, with no preference between the two	Recommends finishing the test at least two weeks before the application deadline
NYU Stern	No preference among GMAT, GRE, Executive Assessment, LSAT, MCAT or DAT	Considers your highest overall GMAT score achieved in one sitting, despite GMAC's GMAT superscore policy
UT Austin McCombs	Accepts GMAT, GMAT Focus Edition, GRE or the Executive Assessment	Required unless the applicant holds an approved Standardized Merit-Based Test Waiver

Score handling differs even between schools with no stated preference. Stern states it will still consider your highest overall GMAT score achieved in one sitting, despite GMAC's GMAT superscore policy, according to NYU Stern. Stern's page sets out no equivalent rule for GRE scores, so ask the admissions office directly if you want to know how a second GRE attempt gets read. Apply the same question to every school on your list, since one program's rule tells you nothing about the next.

Budget for the test you pick as well. ETS lists the GRE General Test fee at $249 in most locations for the 2026-27 cycle, effective August 1, 2026, with a lower fee in China and a fee-reduction program for applicants who show financial need, unemployment or Peace Corps service, according to ETS. GMAT pricing is set by GMAC and varies by country and by test-center or online delivery, so pull the current figure from the official fee page on mba.com before you compare the two. For a wider view of how the GMAT factors into MBA admissions decisions overall, see our guide on the GMAT and MBA admissions.

How GMAT and GRE Scores Get Compared by Admissions

GMAT Focus Edition Score Scale

The GMAT Focus Edition reports a total score from 205 to 805, in steps of 10. Each section, Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights, scores separately from 60 to 90, in steps of 1. The standard error of measurement runs about 3 points per section and 30 to 40 points on the total score, according to mba.com. Run your own section results through our GMAT score calculator to see how they add up to a total score.

Why a GRE-to-GMAT Conversion Does Not Exist

GMAC states no valid conversion exists between GRE and GMAT scores in either direction. GMAC has publicly called the ETS GRE Comparison Tool for Business Schools methodologically flawed, describing it as a disservice to test takers and business schools alike. GMAC's recommendation to applicants and schools is direct: take the GMAT itself instead of relying on a converted score, according to the GMAC blog.

How ETS's Own Comparison Tool Works

ETS publishes a GRE Comparison Tool for Business Schools, available online and as a downloadable spreadsheet. It converts an applicant's GRE Verbal and Quantitative scores into a predicted equivalent GMAT score. ETS reports a margin of error of about 50 points on the total predicted GMAT score and about 6 points each on Verbal and Quantitative, per the ETS comparison tool page, though ETS does not publish which GMAT scale the prediction targets, the 205 to 805 Focus Edition scale or the legacy 200 to 800 scale. ETS frames the tool as a way to help admissions committees read a GRE score alongside GMAT scores, not as an exact conversion.

When Taking the GMAT Anyway Is Still the Safer Choice

A waiver or a GRE option does not remove risk from your application. Weigh these factors before you skip the GMAT. Each one points to a case where a real GMAT score is the stronger submission.

Your target schools include ones without a GRE option or a waiver. Confirm each program's policy on its own admissions page. Not every business school follows Wharton, Stern or McCombs' approach.
You do not meet a waiver's eligibility bar. McCombs requires 3 or more years of progressive, analytical work experience. Stern's waiver requires a completed bachelor's degree plus a full supporting application. Neither waiver applies automatically outside the stated exceptions.
Admissions committees weigh GMAT and GRE scores side by side, but GMAC itself warns against converting one score into the other. A submitted GMAT score removes the uncertainty a converted GRE score carries.
Your GRE Quantitative result undersells your math strength. ETS puts the margin of error near 50 points on its predicted GMAT total, on a scale ETS leaves unstated, so a borderline GRE score might read weaker than a real GMAT attempt would show.

If the GMAT is your stronger path, set a target score using our guide to what counts as a good GMAT score for your target programs, then start timed practice. Section-level practice shows you fast where the score gap sits, and full-length runs tell you whether your pacing holds for the real sitting. We offer free GMAT practice tests and drills, no signup required, to help you build a score you are ready to submit.