The Graduate Management Admission Test, more commonly known as the GMAT, is a computer-based examination that is conducted in English, to enable the business schools in assessing the skills of undergraduate students in the field of business and management. Any college/university considers GMAT scores to compare the level of competence among applicants for graduate courses. It is a standardized test, much like TOEFL/IELTS, i.e it is accepted internationally. The standard cost to take GMAT is US 250$.

Format:

The GMAT has four sections and lasts a total of three and a half hours. It is computer adaptive- the levels of the question proposed to a student depends on your skills and answer in the previous question. That is to say, the harder the question, the higher the level. At the beginning of each section the computer will present a question in the middle range of difficulty. If the question is answered correctly, the next question will be harder and the score will adjust upwards. This difference will show in the assessment as well. You won’t be able to skip ahead to answer questions that come to you easily because you’ll only be given one question at a time and the next one doesn’t appear until you’ve capped in an answer. So the trick to this test is the old adage- practice makes a man perfect.

No matter how hard the test sounds, GMAT is conducted to test your general skills and logic and not management skills. The GMAT exam measures basic verbal, mathematical, analytical writing skills that you have developed in the course of your education and your test is valid for five years.

Analytical Writing Assessment:

It is a 30 minute long section that requires students to write an essay critiquing the topic. It judges the ability of a student in analyzing a situation/reason behind the situation, and then supporting one’s position. It is the only section that has no multiple choice questions.( measured on a scale of 0-6)

Integrated Reasoning (IR) section:

It is again a 30 minute drill in which students have to answer 12 questions covering 4 broad categories-Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, Multi-Source Reasoning, and Two-Part Analysis. No writing part is computer adaptive. (measured on the scale from 1-8)

Quantitative section:

It is 75 minutes with 37 multiple-choice questions. It covers Problem solving and Data sufficiency skill-based questions.( measured on a scale from 0 to 60)

Verbal section:

This gives the student 75 minutes to attempt 41 questions covering Sentence Correction, Critical Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension. These are again multiple choice questions. (measured on a scale from 0 to 60)

There are four scores on the GMAT — one for each section and then a total. The total score ranges from 200 to 800. There are no minimum passing marks for GMAT. However individual universities have their own levels which need to be checked for. A lot of practice is must to gear yourself up for the exam. Cramming up for the test is not an option. Therefore one has to start early and develop pacing skills to cover all the portions of the test. The point is- Thousands of business schools accept this exam. Hence a good deal of preparation can work in your favour.