Cracking GMAT

A score of 700 and above in GMAT opens the door to top business schools

Graduate Management Aptitude Test has to be cleared for admission to business schools in the United States of America. Students who wish to go to other countries like Canada and the UK for business and management education also have to clear GMAT. More than 4,800 programs offered by more than 1,500 institutions in 83 countries use the GMAT as part of the selection criteria for their programs.

GMAT is designed to test the skills that are essential for clearing a course in management education. The GMAT evaluates basic verbal, mathematical and analytical writing skills. It has four separately timed sections and it has to be completed in three and a half hours.

GMAT can be taken only in English language. It is a computer based test and its score is valid for 5 years and there is no bar on age of the candidate.

GMAT Test Structure

• Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA): This section comprises of two separate writing tasks each with duration of 30 minutes. One task is the Analysis of an Issue while the other one is Analysis of an Argument.
• Quantitative Section: Candidates have the choice of an optional break after AWA. The Quantitative Section contains 37 multiple-choice questions of two question types—Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving. A maximum of 75 minutes is allowed to complete the entire section.
• Verbal Section: Candidates have an option for a taking a break after completing the Quantitative Section. The Verbal Section contains 41 multiple choice questions. The types of questions are —Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning and Sentence Correction. Candidates are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete this entire section. 

Computer-adaptive format
GMAT is a totally computer based test. AWA consists of writing tasks while Quantitative and Verbal Sections consist of multiple-choice questions delivered in a computer-adaptive format. The test for every candidate is unique as the questions in these sections are dynamically selected. The difficulty level of questions is adjusted to the ability of the candidate, depending on the responses to the previous questions.

The evaluation process
Only one question is provided to the candidate at any point of time. There is no option to return to, skip or change responses to previous questions as the computer scores each question before choosing the next one.

There is a large collection of questions with varying levels of difficulty for each section of multiple choices. All sections start with a question of moderate difficulty. The difficulty level of the questions increases with each correct response while easier questions are given if the answers to the previous questions are incorrect. On completion of the section, the computer makes a comprehensive assessment of the candidate’s ability.

Timing
It is extremely important to take the test in time as non completion of the test will lead to severe penalty. The screen displays both the time and number of remaining question during the exam. There are 37 Quantitative questions and 41 Verbal questions. It is advised to make the most befitting guess to a time consuming question, if you do not know the answer and move to the next question.

Determining the score
The candidates’ score depends on the following parameters:

1. The number of questions answered.
2. Number of correct answers.
3. Level of difficulty of the questions as well as other statistical features of the questions.

Fees
A candidate has to shell out $250 for taking GMAT.

Minimum score required
The minimum score for admission to top schools is above 700. Usually, schools do not mention the minimum GMAT score a candidate must have for admission. It depends on the ranking of the school as well as personal accomplishments during schooling and in the corporate world of the candidate.

Countries that accept GMAT scores
Some of the most preferred countries for management education that require GMAT scores for their programmes are:

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• India
• United Kingdom
• United States