The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a standardised tests that you need to take to apply to a B-School in the US and to al lot of other premier management institutes across the world. It is a computer adaptive test, meaning that the difficulty level of the test would keep changing according to the answers you mark. Each multiple –choice section of the exam will begin with a question of a medium level of difficulty. With each question that you answer correctly, you will move on to a question of higher difficulty and vice-versa; every incorrect answer will take you to a question that is easier than the previous one. In other words, the GMAT adjusts to your individual ability level and therefore the GMAT score can be taken as in accurate measure of your analytical, mathematical and verbal skills developed over a period of time.
Test Duration and Structure
The GMAT goes on for almost four hours and is divided in three sections. It begins with the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section, which consists of two 30-minute analytical writing tasks: Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument. The Analysis of an Isssue task requires you to analyse a debatable topic and develop a cogent essay putting forth your viewpoint on the topic and substantiating it with relevant details/ examples drawn from your experience, observations and reading. On the other hand, the Analysis of an Argument task requires you to analyse the logic of an argument given to you and then write a critique of that particular argument. The topics for both tasks are selected form an existing pool of issues and arguments(visit the official GMAT website www.mba.com for the updated lists of issue and arguments).
The AWA section is followed by a 5-minute optional break and then comes the Quantitative Section of the exam. This 75-minute section has 37 multiple-choice questions on arithmetic, algebra and commonly known concepts of geometry. This section measures a test taker’s concepts and his/her ability to reason quantitatively, solve quantitative problems and interpret graphs. The section has two types of multiple –choices questions: Problem Solving (PS) and Data Sufficiency (DS). While PS questions are just math problems with five answer options and test the almost direct application of the math concepts you already know, each DS two question consists of a question and two statements. You are asked to determine whether the data in the statements is sufficient to answer the question. You can except an almost equal distribution of these tow question types on the GMAT Quantitative section. At the end of this section, you will be given an optional 5-minute break and then begins the Verbal section.
The Verbal section consists of 41 questions to be answered in 75 minutes. This section measures ability to understand written material, to evaluate arguments and to correct written material to conform to standard written American English. The section has three types of multi-choice questions: Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning and Sentences Correction. The Reading Comprehension (RC) passages are about 300 to 500 words in length and are based on business, social science and science. The passages are followed by interpretive, applied and inferential questions based on what is stated or implied in the given passage. No prior knowledge of any subject is required to crack GMAT RCs. The Critical Reasoning (CR) questions measure the reasoning skills involved in making arguments, evaluating arguments and formulating or evaluating a plan of action. Again, CR questions are based on material on a variety of subjects but no familiarity with any specific subject matter is required to do well on these questions. The Sentence Correction (SC) questions on the GMAT are perhaps the easiest questions. These questions require the test taker to select an answer option that is grammatically and structurally correct and is the most effective way to express a given idea. Bear in mind that the GMAT expects you to conform to standard written American English.
Scores:
The total GMAT score ranges from 200 to 800. You are given an additional score out of 6 for the AWA section. Along with these scores, you receive a scaled score (between 0 and 60) for each multiple-choice section, i.e. the Quantitative and the Verbal sections. You will also be given percentiles for each of the three sections and the total score.
You can request your GMAT scores to be sent to five management programmes at no additional cost at the beginning of your exam. If you wish to send your scores to more than five programmes or after the GMAT exam, you can do by paying an additional fee of $28 for each score report and filling in an Additional Score Report form. The form is available online. You can also requests ASRs by phone. Note that though you GMAT score would be valid for five years, most B-schools do not accept scores older than two years.
Test Registration
The GMAT test costs $250. If you have a credit card, the best way to register or the GMAT is online (at www.mba.com) or by phone (+91 (0) 120 439 7830). You can also register by mail or by fax by filing in the registration form given in the GMAT Bulletin and sending along a DD or Money Order in favor of “Person Vue” (this is the address of the cheque).
The GMAT is conducted in most major cities of the world. So before registering for the test, check the seat availability at a test center location most favourable to you. You can do so by using the ‘Check Seat Availability’ function on the website
For further details on the GMAT visit www.mba.com.
TEST FORMAT | |||
Section | Question Type | No. of Questions | Duration |
Analytical Writing Assessment | Analysis of an Issue Analysis of an Argument | 1 | 30 mins |
Optional Break (5 mins) | |||
Quantitative | Total Problem Solving Data Sufficiency | 37 19 (approx.) 19 (approx.) | 75 mins. - - |
Optional Break (5 mins) | |||
Verbal | Total Critical Reasoning Reading Comprehension Sentence Correction | 41 13-14 (approx.) 12-13 (approx.) 15-16 (approx.) | 75 mins - - - |
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