In a move aimed at helping potential B-school students who cannot afford the application costs, the (l('http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c.asp?id=619347&c=fc315bca8ef355b5&l=33');">Stanford Graduate School of Business) will allow full-time MBA applicants to submit scores from the GRE in place of scores from the GMAT, according to Stanford's Director of MBA Admissions Derrick Bolton.

Accepting GRE scores for all full-time MBA applicants is a novel idea that could have far-reaching implications. Admissions officers at other top schools like Wharton and Chicago will be watching closely to see how Stanford's decision, which starts with the admissions cycle for the class entering in the fall of 2007, will play out. 

In recent years many B-schools have started waiving the GMAT requirements for applicants to executive MBA programs (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/8/05, "Sidestepping the GMAT"). And a few schools, like Harvard, have waived the GMAT requirement for their MBA programs entirely, out of concerns that the test cannot predict how well a candidate will succeed in B-school. (Harvard has since reinstated the GMAT requirement.) Most schools allow Business PhD candidates to submit either the GMAT or the GRE, and some waive the GMAT requirement for MBA applicants who already have advanced degrees.