Graduate Management Admission Test popularly known as GMAT is an exam that quantifies a person’s analytical writing, quantitative, verbal and reading skills. GMAT is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). Over 5,900 programs offered by more than 2,100 universities and institutions across the world use the GMAT exam as part of the selection criteria for their MBA courses.
GMAT is a computer-adaptive test and not computer-based, which means candidates will receive one question at a time, and depending on the accuracy of the answer, the computer will determine the difficulty level of the next question.
RECENT UPDATES
GMAC shortened GMAT by 30 minutes, effective April 16, 2018. The new exam will be of 3 hours and 30 minutes including test instructions and breaks. Students have the option to customize their GMAT experience by choosing the section order in which they feel the most comfortable taking the exam.
ELIGIBILITY
GMAT does not have a defined set of eligibility criteria. But, make sure you meet the eligibility criteria published by the university/college that you aspire to study MBA at.
For GMAT in general, the only criterion is that the candidate must have completed 18 years of age. There is no upper age limit. If the candidate is between 13 and 17 years old, he/she should get written permission from his/her parents/legal guardian to attend the test.
PROCEDURE
Candidates can register online by visiting the website www.mba.com and creating an account. After creating the web account the aspirants can schedule their GMAT test dates. The registered candidates are allowed to choose at least three exam centres.
Candidates can give the exam a maximum of five times a year, and once in a month, and eight times in a lifetime.
You can register for GMAT six months before the date you want to attend the exam and up to 24 hours before the test. But remember that the test dates and exam seat quotas fill up fast. So, it is advisable that you register at least 2-3 months in advance.
FEES
This is how it works:
- GMAT Registration Fee – US $250
- GMAT Preparation Cost – US $349 (e-GMAT’s or GMAT Online course)
- Rescheduling GMAT Fee (if necessary) – US $50 or US $100 or US $150
PATTERN AND SCORE
| Scores | Duration | No of Questions | Topics includes | |
| Analytical Writing Assessment | 1 – 6 | 30 min | 1 | * Analysis of an Argument |
| Integrated Reasoning | 1 – 8 | 30 min | 12 | * Multi-Source Reasoning * Table Analysis * Graphics Interpretation * Two-Part Analysis |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 6 – 51 | 60 min | 31 | * Data Sufficiency * Problem Solving |
| Verbal Reasoning | 6 – 51 | 60 min | 36 | * Reading Comprehension * Critical Reasoning * Sentence Correction |
PREPPING
Candidates can download the GMAT prep software and the official GMAT starter kit free of cost once you sign up on mba.com. They comprise a set of practice exams. You can also purchase the Official Guide For GMAT Verbal Review and The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative Review from the www.mba.com store for an additional practice.
RESULTS
Candidates can view their GMAT result as soon as the exam is over. They will have an option of accepting or rejecting it. In case you accept the result, you and the institutes of your choice (up to five of them) can view the result. But if you decline the result, none of the parties will be able to view the outcome.
Once the exam is over, candidates can download the non-official result. The official GMAT result can be downloaded only after 20 working days from your account on the GMAT website.
The GMAT scores are normally valid for a period of five years. In case you are not satisfied with your GMAT result, you can write a retest within 16 days of the previous test.
