The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, is an important part of the business school application process.
Here is everything you need to know about GMAT.
The GMAT is a multiple-choice, computer-based and computer-adaptive standardized exam that is often required for admission to graduate business programs (MBA) globally. It is prepared, developed and administered by testmaker GMAC to provide business schools with common measures of applicants’ preparedness for graduate-level academic work. Business school admission committees look at your GMAT score, along with work experience, academic record, and supporting materials, to assess your readiness for the rigors of an MBA program.
It measures your ability to analyze and evaluate written material, think critically, and solve problems through your command of basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, multi-source data analysis, and grammar. The GMAT is first and foremost a test of your critical thinking skills. Knowing how to reason through and analyze information is the key to a great GMAT score.
The content on the GMAT is broken down into four scored test sections: Analytical writing assessment, integrated reasoning, quantitative and verbal.
The quantitative section tests your knowledge of basic math like arithmetic, algebra, and geometry, and analytical abilities in 62 minutes. It consists of 31 questions of two types: data sufficiency and problem solving. While data sufficiency questions come with two statements of data to determine whether the statements provide sufficient data to answer the question, problem solving questions present with five possible answer choices that test high school math skills.
The verbal section tests command of standard written English, skill in analyzing arguments, and ability to read critically in 65 minutes. The section consists of 36 questions of three types: critical reasoning, sentence correction, and reading comprehension. While critical reasoning questions asks you to break down an argument into pieces and answer questions related to it, sentence correction questions present sentences with a portion underlined, followed by five answer choices to you to find out the option that fits best within the sentence. Lastly, reading comprehension present scholarly passages in the topics of business or science (social, biological, physical) and for critical reading and analyzing.
Integrated Reasoning section measures the ability to evaluate information presented from multiple sources in different formats.
The analytical writing assessment presents a brief argument similar to a statement you would find in a verbal critical reasoning question. The task is to write an essay that critiques the structure of the argument.
The GMAT is a computer-adaptive test, adapting to your performance as you are taking the test. In the beginning of the test, the computer assumes you have an average score and gives you a question of medium difficulty. As you answer questions correctly, the computer serves up questions that are more difficult and increases its estimate of your ability, and vice versa. The score is determined by an algorithm that calculates your ability level based not only on what you got right or wrong, but also on the difficulty level of the questions answered.
(Green: LOW, Orange: MEDIUM, Magenta: HIGH)