The Graduate Management Admission Test is used as part of the selection criteria for over 2,300 universities and business schools around the world. It is a computer-based assessment that ascertains your analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal and reading skills. It can be taken up to five times a year but no more than eight times in total. Each attempt must be at least 16 days apart.
The assessment is designed to test skills that are highly important to business and management programs. It assess your logic and critical reasoning skills, as well as data sufficiency and problem-solving abilities.
The exam itself is split into four sections which include:
An analytical writing assessment (30 minutes, 1 essay) An integrated reasoning section (30 minutes, 12 questions) Quantitative (62 minutes, 31 questions) Verbal (65 minutes, 36 questions)
The total testing time is three hours and seven minutes.
The quantitative and verbal sections of the GMAT are both multiple-choice and as you answer each question, the test will adapt to your level of ability. The level of difficulty at the start of each of these tests will be average and depending on whether you answer the question correctly or not, the next question will be easier or more difficult. This process continues until the end of each section.
The Analytical Writing Assessment consists of a 30-minute writing task and requires you to demonstrate you analysis of an argument. You will need to put forward your argument with substantial reasoning and justification. Your essay will be scored using two independent ratings; one which is scored by a computer and one that is scored by a representative of GMAC (who is not aware of the computerised score). The two scores are then combined to create an overall score between a scale of 0 (minimum) - 6 (maximum). A score of 0 indicates that the response was either nonsensical, off-topic or completely blank.
Integrated Reasoning consist of 12 questions in four different formats: graphic interpretation, two-part analysis, table analysis and multi-source reasoning. The test is designed to assess your ability to evaluate data presented to you in multiple formats from a variety of sources.
The quantitative assessment determines your ability to reason quantitatively, solve quantitative problems, interpret graphic data and analyse/use information provided in a problem. It requires you to demonstrate knowledge of certain algebra, geometry and arithmetic. You are not allowed to use a calculator within this part of the GMAT.
The verbal assessment includes three question types: critical reasoning, reading comprehension and sentence correction. You will have five answers to choose from for each question as this test is one that offers multiple choice.
