Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) Exam
Required For
PG level courses in multiple disciplines
Mode of taking test
Computer Based
Paper-Pen Based
Test Type
Admission Test
Official Website
About GMAT
About Test
The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, is crucial for admission to top business schools. It is a multiple-choice, computer-based and computer-adaptive standardized exam that assesses your readiness for a business or management program. It measures your command of basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, multi-source data analysis, and grammar. It analyses your ability to evaluate written material, think critically, and solve problems. The GMAT test is available at both test centres and online- making it convenient for the candidates to plan their test strategy.
Why take the test?
The Graduate Management Admission Test is a one-of-a-kind standardized exam designed for admission to graduate business and management programs. It is accepted for over 7,000 programmes at about 2,300 graduate business and management schools worldwide. It examines your analytical reasoning and critical thinking, which constitutes an integral part of the skill sets to pursue an MBA. It demonstrates your commitment and readiness for the rigours of a graduate business program. The score obtained in the test can help you study MBA from some of the top management schools, thus increasing your job opportunities.
GMAT Basics
Eligibility
Candidate must be a graduate from a recognized University and must be 18 years of age.
General Facts
Date and Frequency
GMAT is conducted throughout the year. You can take the GMAT once every 16 days, up to five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period (365 days) and up to a total of eight times.
Center and Admit Card
The GMAT exam is offered on demand and year-round at 34 cities in India through 39 test centres.
Result
You can check your Official Score Report within 20 days of the Exam Date on the official website of GMAT. A unique link will be sent to your email ID given at the time of registration which will assist you on how to access the GMAT Score Report.
Score Reporting
You can send your Official Score Report to up to five programs that you select at the test center prior to the start of your GMAT exam. It will be sent electronically or by mail, depending on the programs’ preferences. This service is covered by your GMAT exam registration fee. Once you have made your selections, they cannot be changed.
Score Validity
5 Years
Time Duration
3 Hours and 23 minutes (approx)
Score range for the test
200 – 800
Sections
General Test
Verbal
- Questions - 36
- Duration - 65 minutes
- Score - 0 to 60
The GMAT Verbal section is designed to test your command of standard written English, your skill in analyzing arguments, and your ability to read critically. You will see reading comprehension questions, critical reasoning questions and sentence correction questions.
Analytical Writing Assessment
- Questions - 1
- Duration - 30 minutes
- Score - 0 to 6
The Analytical Writing Assessment, or “essay” section, helps business schools analyze your writing skills. It is scored separately, and your AWA score is not used to generate your 200-800 point score. Essays are scored by a human grader and a computer grading system, and the two scores are averaged for your final score.
Integrated Reasoning
- Questions - 12
- Duration - 30 minutes
- Score - 0 to 8
This section consists of Multi-Source Reasoning questions, Graphics Interpretation questions, Two-Part Analysis questions and Table Analysis questions. It judges your data interpretation and reasoning abilities.
Quantitative
- Questions - 31
- Duration - 62 minutes
- Score - 0 to 60
The GMAT Quantitative section is designed to test your content and analytical knowledge of basic math concepts, including arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. It consists of 14-15 Data Sufficiency and 16-19 Problem solving questions.
Fees
Registration Fees
USD 250
Rescheduling Fees
USD 50
Test Center Change Fees
USD 50
Other Miscellaneous Fees
USD 80
GMAT Exam Registration Process
GMAT registration can be done both online on the official website and offline on phone or by mail. If you are applying through phone, then call the GMAT Customer Service in your region which will be charging you an additional fee of US$ 10 whereas postal mail provides an option to apply via check or money order.
FAQs
The GMAT is a computerised test which is available year-round at testing centres globally. You must book an appointment to sit the test. Testing centres operate on individual schedules with some open on weekends, and most have morning and afternoon slots available.
You can do this via the test appointment booking system on www.mba.com. If you reschedule your appointment at least 7 full days before your original appointment then you will need to pay a reschedule fee of US$50. If you reschedule less than 7 full days before your original appointment, then you will be charged the full registration amount.
You will receive 5 scores on the GMAT: an overall score, a subscore for the Verbal section, a subscore for the Quantitative section, and scores for the Analytical Writing Assessment and Integrated Reasoning sections. Your overall score will be from 200 to 800 and the subscores will be scored from 0 to 60. For each of your scores, you will also receive a percentile rank, which shows the percentage of test-takers who scored below you (based on everyone who has taken the GMAT in the last 3 years). So if you score in the 70th percentile, it means that 70% of test-takers scored lower than you did.
A “good” GMAT score is only relative to the MBA of Masters programmes to which you are applying! You will need to do some research on the schools to which you want to send your scores and set yourself realistic goals based on the average scores accepted by those programmes. Top tier schools will usually be looking for a score in the 90th percentile or above. However, your overall profile also plays a vital role in selection.
