GRE Now Available for at Home Testing (no joke)

Yes, you read that right. The GRE can now be taken at home.

With Pearson Vue test centers closed until April 16th due to Coronavirus, ETS, the owner of GRE, the general admissions test which has also started competing fiercely with GMAT for MBA, has taken a bold step to keep testing moving forward. I admire them for the radical move but wonder how they’re going to control the test environment and prevent rampant cheating. Yes, the test will be administered by secure browser and there will be a proctor with access to your webcam to survey your testing environment. But that really doesn’t seem like enough. Who knows. Maybe it’s all fine. I suppose we’ll know more once it gets going. A few things you’ll need to do GRE at home:

  1. A solid internet connection.
  2. A windows computer (no Mac)
  3. A webcam
  4. A microphone not attached to a headset (you’re not allowed to wear headphones)

There are a bunch of other common sense rules about the testing environment. You can see all of the GRE at home requirements and sign up here.

Will the GMAT follow suit and offer a “GMAT at Home” option? I would never have predicted GRE at home, at least so quickly, so it’s all a bit up in the air. That said, GRE has always been the more loosy-goosey test so my guess is that GMAT is not quite ready to dive into this cold pool. However GRE has most definitely put the pressure on so expect GMAT to cook something up to compete.

If you have been affected by the GMAT Coronovirus delay here are some suggestions for studying during this period. If you’re considering switching to the GRE here is our GMAT vs GRE breakdown.