What is the GMAT? (GMAT EXPLAINED)

Everything you need to know about GMAT Exam has been covered below:

About GMAT Exam

GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test its an entrance test that needs to be taken by anyone who wishes to pursue an MBA. This is a GMAC generated test that is created to test your ability to study business at a business school. Through this GMAT examination your verbal, written, quantitative and reasoning skills are tested. The score of the GMAT Exam is extremely important as these GMAT test scores are given the most value in the admission process. 9/10 MBA schools give GMAT entrance scores the highest priority globally.

Why the GMAT exam is important?

Understanding all about GMAT will boost your confidence and increase your knowledge. Knowing all about the GMAT exam will not only help you get into a business school instead it also opens more doors for an alternate career if you later decide to switch. It is the most trusted exam not only for MBA admissions but for any other postgraduate business program as well. GMAT exam means scoring well on the GMAT test these scores are not just useful during the admission process but it simply shows how capable a candidate is. Before one takes this test they must know everything about GMAT. This test simply projects your credibility, diligence, focus, conduct, and knowledge. These values will make you stand out from others.

What is the GMAT exam and how GMAT will help you stand out?

After understanding the GMAT meaning you will understand t the seriousness of GMAT examination. Your seriousness towards an MBA program can be defined by your GMAT test. If someone decides to take a GMAT test they will be very sure about what they exactly want to do in life. Through your GMAT score, one can easily tell about your seriousness towards MBA and the scores can easily predict your success in it. Hence, it is extremely important to score well on a GMAT test.
GMAT is not only an exam but also an opportunity to study yourself through it as it will help you showcase your highest achieving points along with that your aspiration toward things in life and also helps you understand your potential. GMAT opens a fair earning potential along with various opportunities ahead.

Test Structure of GMAT

GMAT is for people that have a keen interest in business. Information can be found on the official website or the internet. GMAT test itself is a computer integrated test. A graduate management admission test has four distinct sections:

• Analytical Writing Assessment
• Integrated Reasoning
• Quantitative
• Verbal

Earlier the GMAT test-takers had to attempt the exam in the same format but now it is not the case as the test takers get a chance to pick the format they would like to go about. Those options are in these forms

• Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative, Verbal
• Verbal, Quantitative, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment
• Quantitative, Verbal, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment

All the sections in the GMAT exam have a  time limit and a set of questions that one has to attempt, once you go on another question you do not get a chance to go back. Skipping even one question will lead to scoring a penalty that will eventually have an impact on your GMAT test score at the end. The total time of the test is 3 hours 5mins excluding the breaks.

• Analytical Writing Assessment is an essay writing question which is 30mins long.
• Integrated Reasoning has 12 questions in it which is also 30mins long. In which you can only spend 2 ½ mins on each question.
• Quantitative(math) has 31 questions and is 62 mins long section. In which you get only 2 mins to spend on every question.
• The Verbal section has 36 questions and is 65mins long. In which you get spend around 1minute 45 seconds on every question.

Analytical Writing Assessment

Analytical Writing Assessment is an essay section in which the test taker has to analyse the reasoning of the argument that is given. One doesn’t have to have complete knowledge of the topic but what is important is that the test taker can understand the topic and can write good quality relevant content. The topics given are not very complicated but are very general. So analytical writing skills are what matter not the knowledge of the specified topic.
The Analytical Writing Assessment is evaluated in two forms

• Computerised assessment in which the system assesses the linguistic and structure of the test.
• Trained professionals assess your test to understand your thinking and writing skills along with your understanding of argument and reasoning.

Main things to keep in mind while preparing for an Analytical Writing Assessment

• Do not directly jump in have a clear picture and argument ready before you begin writing anything. Evaluate every point. Find flaws in the argument presented.
• Make sure your writing skills are on point.
• Keep the essay format basic. As the essay will be assessed by someone who will be assessing several other essays as well. In the first paragraph, mention your argument the will followed later in the essay. Followed by the body of the essay. In the end, end your essay with a conclusion paragraph. This basic form is the most successful form of writing.
• Keep check of your Grammar. Grammar plays a vital role in language. Avoid making any grammar mistakes. Take time, in the end, to go through your grammar and make changes accordingly.
• The essay must have a general tone of voice. First-person terms must be completely avoided.
• The argument must be on point and direct.
• It is always better to be prepared and to be prepared you need practice. You must take a sample essay test and review them to understand your mistakes and later work on those mistakes before actually taking the test.
• Keep enough time to read your complete essay and make changes.

Integrated Reasoning

Integrated Reasoning is the second section of the GMAT test. In this section, four types of questions are presented:

• Graphic Integrated
• Two-part analysis
• Table analysis
• Multi-source reasoning

Let’s discuss each into Depth:

Graphic Integrated

Graphic Integrated questions involve graphs, various types of graphs are used in this type of questions. These questions are presented with dropdown multiple questions. These questions mostly have short synopsis provided which must be read before attending the questions as some of these questions are quite complicated as these are designed to test your hardcore skills. The synopsis is given as some graphs are a magnification of the graphs. This synopsis of 300 words most certainly. According to the GMAC, one should not spend more than 2.5 minutes on questions that are two-part.

Two-part analysis

The two-typed questions are quite different as the questions come with two problems that need to be solved. These questions could be reasoning based questions or they could also be mathematical equations. Both parts of the questions must be solved in 2.5 minutes.

Table analysis

These table type questions come with a table that has data in it that needs to be set in according to preference in the column. The answer that is selected will be the set of answers for that question as it will be presented with two opposing answers as well. (true/false, yes/no) Read the data carefully before attempting. Pay careful attention to the answer.

Multi-source reasoning

The multi-score reasoning is the section that is presented with information that must be read divided into three tabs on the left side of the screen whereas the question is presented on the right side of the screen. This question comes with multiple choice answers. The data presented in the tab could or could not be relevant. This part is mostly used to see if the person taking the GMAT test can compare information from various sources and identify what data is relevant.

Quantitative

The Quantitative reasoning section is where your mathematical knowledge is tested. The questions in this section are mostly from arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. These questions are not very difficult. They are just high school questions most of the time. These quantitative questions are to judge your analytical and logical skillset. This section is also further divided into two sections Problem Solving and Data sufficiency.

• Problem Solving

  Most of the questions are problem-solving questions. These questions test your analytical and logical skill-set. Most of the questions here involve algebra, arithmetic, and geometry.

• Data sufficiency
  

  Data sufficiency analyses your ability to identify data that is relevant. These questions mostly involve algebra and geometry.

Verbal

The Verbal reasoning section in the GMAT examination is to measure the ability to read, comprehend, reason, analyse, gauge arguments and express creative ideas and values in written form using standard English. It is in multiple-choice form.

• Reading Comprehension
  

  This part is to assess your comprehending ability. Your ability to read and understand statements. A logical understanding of things or relation between two important points. Reading skills are also tested. Logical structure, inference, application, supporting ideas and style.
  The comprehension presented in the test comes along with questions that will ask you to draw inferences, interpret further or add more to the passage that is given. These passages are mostly from fields like social science, business, humanities, biological and physical sciences only.

• Critical Reasoning
  

  This part sees your ability to evaluate, make and formulate an argument. A 100 words passage is given on which the questions are asked. These questions help us understand the ability to derive conclusions for critical arguments. These critical reasoning passages are based on short passages. The answer must certainly have views on what makes the argument strong or weak. 

• Sentence Correction

  In this segment, the person taking the test has to pick the right option that is given for the question. The answer must be grammatically well structured. This segment tests the grammar skills of the candidate. The answer that creates the most effective sentence must be picked keeping a check of grammar, sentence construction and word choice.

All the GMAT exam information is covered in this section.

What is a good GMAT score?

Getting a good score in a GMAT exam is extremely important to stand out from others. A good GMAT score increases the chances of getting your dreams fulfilled as it holds that great value. What is a solid score can vary from school to school. The scores received are from a minimum 200 score to a maximum score of 800 which certainly can be termed as a perfect score. The candidates are urged that the target score must be the score of the program one plans to get in. The scores are certainly standard for percentages. Like a score between 760 to 800 is 99% which is a perfect score. Whereas 750 is 98%, 730 is 97%, 680 is 82% and so on. There’s a whole table of scores ranging from different percentages.

Is GMAT hard? 

Nothing worthy comes easy. Understanding what is the GMAT exam is the first step to knowing your capabilities. GMAT examination is created to test your skills which makes it different from other regular examinations. Generally, the difficulty of GMAT depends on how well you are prepared for the test and what course you are aiming to get into. 561 out of 800 is the average score on the test. Only about 27% of the candidates who gave the test score more than 650 and only about 12% of them are successful in scoring more than 700.

The reason why GMAT is not that easy. Read all about GMAT and know about GMAT course details.

• It is not a piece of cake to sit for an exam that is 3.5 hours long without losing concentration.
• Restricted time usage. Constantly reminding yourself about the time that is left and to complete each question in the limited time frame given so that you do not leave any questions ahead.
• Leaving a question, unfortunately, affects your overall score.
• Too many parts within the questions can lead to confusion and stress.
• Someone who is a non-native English speaker may face a serious problem as the paper is conducted in English.
• You do not get to carry a calculator for your math section. The questions must be solved by the candidate itself without the help of a calculator which is certainly quite stressful as the question needs to be completed in a limited time frame only.
• English speaker that is non-native may also struggle with writing English or even understand the questions.

Hence, it is very important to be familiar with the strain and confusion one might go through while taking the test. The test-taker must know all about GMAT and be prepared for everything!

How and When should you prepare for GMAT Exam

GMAT entrance exam can be done 5 times in a year according to one’s availability. The admission process of getting into a business school is not only getting high scores on the GMAT but also get the application filled get reference letters from the past companies other documents and also essays. This is a complicated process that few colleges have but this procedure must be fulfilled before the deadlines ultimately. The entire purpose of the GMAT test is to get admission to a business school so the entire process must be given as much importance to the procedure of application. This procedure must be of equal importance.
Things to remember:

• Just start as soon as you can. You will not only be busy in understanding and preparing what is a GMAT test instead you would be handling other things in life also like your professional and personal commitments. In this entire situation, you will also be juggling with the GMAT application and Business school application process as well.
• Try your best to not re-schedule the GMAT entrance exam.
• Be extremely focused. Get yourself prepared for Grammar and Analytical Writing Assessment before-hand.
• Meet all your deadlines.
• Don’t keep anything for the last minute.

How should one prepare for the GMAT test?

One may understand how to prepare for the GMAT but how is it mostly where you may get stuck. It is important to understand what is the GMAT exam. There are too many things on the internet that will assure in helping you with the exam. This will only complicate things for you as you will be referring to various sources that you are not even sure if are authentic and relevant.

In the analytical and quantitative section is where you might end up solving tons of sample papers and examples which eventually do not guarantee success as the success is only guaranteed if you have a strong base and a healthy time–management skill or strategy. Instead of running after various unknown sources, it is always a better idea to refer to the GMAT syllabus, papers, and books provided by the GMAC itself. This is the most relevant source you can refer to. Whatsoever, do not think that taking previous tests and practicing them will help you ace the test as previous test questions are never repeated.

Tips to follow

• Do not get used to using a pen and book since GMAT is a standard computer-based exam as they will develop some unproductive habits.
• Quality of preparation matters, not quantity. Try to excel in AWA and Verbal as they are scoring section.
• Use the study material provided by the GMAC. As that is the most authentic study material you can find.

GMAT Eligibility

GMAC registrations are done on the official website of GMAC. Once, the registration is done the candidate can schedule their test according to their availability along with the test centre. The registration must be done 1 month before the exam and the results are declared after 20 days from the exam dates. This exam is given and accepted globally so there are no nationality criteria in it. You can take this test anywhere around the world. But there is the required age, the candidate must be 18 years old if the candidate is not 18 and are between 13 to 17years of age. They must provide with an approval from their parents or guardian. The candidate must have basic qualifications and must know English reading and writing.

The GMAT entrance exam scores are applicable for the next five years. Before a candidate makes a second attempt there must be about 31 days interval between the first attempt and the next attempt. The GMAT exam can only be given 8 times in a lifetime. Students with disabilities are given special reservations. There are special provisions made for it.

GMAT Test Cost

The GMAT test cost is the same around the world. It costs around $250 for the registration of the GMAT exam which can be done through any kind of online payment. By picking your preparation material and test schedule will help you keep your cost down. Along with a lot of preparation and planning are extremely important to score well on the test and also to maintain the cost.

Conclusion

It is important to understand the GMAT course details as GMAT examination is not a random exam that one can give. It’s a valuable exam that needs a lot of preparation and dedication. The criteria to apply for the test must be met. While taking the test, the test taker must showcase great time management skills as every question must be done within a limited time frame if not the case the candidate will not be able to complete the test with all attempted questions. Every skipped question hurts the overall score of GMAT at the end. A good GMAT test score will help you stand out from other candidates who also have applied to a business school. Most of the business schools give the highest importance to GMAT from other documents that are submitted. Everything about GMAT is covered in this article.