The Graduate Management Admission Test)) is a computer adaptive test which assesses a
person's analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in standard written
English in preparation for being admitted into a graduate management program, such as
an MBA.
The GMAT does not measure business knowledge or skill.
Nor does it measure intelligence.
The GMAT is simply a test of how well one takes the GMAT.
According to the test owning company, the Graduate Management Admission Council, the
GMAT assesses analytical writing and problem-solving abilities, while also addressing data sufficiency,
logic, and critical reasoning skills that it believes to be vital to real-world business
and management success.
GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council.
More than 5,900 programs offered by more than 2,100 universities and institutions use the
GMAT exam as part of the selection criteria for their programs site.
Business schools use the test as a criterion for admission into a wide range of graduate
management programs, including MBA, Master of Accountancy, and Master of Finance programs.
The GMAT exam is administered in standardized test centers in 112 countries around the world.
On June 5, 2012, GMAC introduced an integrated reasoning section to the exam that is designed
to measure a test taker’s ability to evaluate data presented in new formats and multiple
sources.
According to GMAC, it has continually performed validity studies to statistically verify that
the exam predicts success in business school programs.
According to a survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep, the GMAT is still the number one
choice for MBA aspirants despite the increasing acceptability of GRE scores.
History In 1953, the organization now called the Graduate
Management Admission Council began as an association of nine business schools, whose goal was to
develop a standardized test to help business schools select qualified applicants.
In the first year it was offered, the assessment, was taken just over 2,000 times; in recent
years, it has been taken more than 230,000 times annually.
Initially used in admissions by 54 schools, the test is now used by more than 2,100 schools
and 5,900 programs worldwide.
Format and timing The GMAT exam consists of four sections: An
analytical writing assessment, integrated reasoning, the quantitative section, and the
verbal section.
Total testing time is three and a half hours, but test takers should plan for a total time
of approximately four hours, with breaks.
Test takers have 30 minutes for the analytical writing assessment and another 30 minutes
to work through 12 questions, which often have multiple parts, on the integrated reasoning
section and are given 75 minutes to work through 37 questions in the quantitative section and
another 75 minutes to get through 41 questions in the verbal section.
The quantitative and verbal sections of the GMAT exam are both multiple-choice and are
administered in the computer-adaptive format, adjusting to a test taker’s level of ability.
At the start of the quantitative and verbal sections, test takers are presented with a
question of average difficulty.
As questions are answered correctly, the computer presents the test taker with increasingly
difficult questions and as questions are answered incorrectly the computer presents the test
taker with questions of decreasing difficulty.
This process continues until test takers complete each section, at which point the computer
will have an accurate assessment of their ability level in that subject area and come
up with a raw score for each section.
Analytical Writing Assessment The AWA consists of one 30-minute writing
task—analysis of an argument.
It is important to be able to analyze the reasoning behind a given argument and write
a critique of that argument.
The essay will be given two independent ratings and these ratings are averaged together to
determine the test taker's AWA score.
One rating is given by a computerized reading evaluation and another is given by a person
at GMAC who will read and score the essay themselves without knowledge of what the computerized
score was.
The automated essay-scoring engine is an electronic system that evaluates more than 50 structural
and linguistic features, including organization of ideas, syntactic variety, and topical analysis.
If the two ratings differ by more than one point, another evaluation by an expert reader
is required to resolve the discrepancy and determine the final score.
The analytical writing assessment is graded on a scale of 1 to 6 in half-point intervals.
Integrated reasoning Integrated Reasoning is a relatively new section
designed to measure a test taker’s ability to evaluate data presented in multiple formats
from multiple sources.
The skills being tested by the integrated reasoning section were identified in a survey
of 740 management faculty worldwide as important for today’s incoming students.
The integrated reasoning section consists of 12 questions in four different formats:
graphics interpretation, two-part analysis, table analysis, and multi-source reasoning.
Integrated reasoning scores range from 1-8.
Like the Analytical Writing Assessment, this section is scored separately from the quantitative
and verbal section.
Performance on the IR and AWA sections do not contribute to the total GMAT score.
The integrated reasoning section includes four question types: table analysis, graphics
interpretation, multi-source reasoning, and two-part analysis.
In the table analysis section, test takers are presented with a sortable table of information,
similar to a spreadsheet, which has to be analyzed.
Each question will have several statements with opposite-answer options, and test takers
click on the correct option.
Graphics interpretation questions ask test takers to interpret a graph or graphical image.
Each question has fill-in-the-blank statements with pull-down menus; test takers must choose
the options that make the statements accurate.
Multi-source reasoning questions are accompanied by two to three sources of information presented
on tabbed pages.
Test takers click on the tabs and examine all the relevant information, which may be
a combination of text, charts, and tables to answer either traditional multiple-choice
or opposite-answer questions.
Two-part analysis questions involve two components for a solution.
Possible answers are given in a table format with a column for each component and rows
with possible options.
Test takers have to choose one response per column.
Quantitative section The quantitative section of the GMAT measures
the ability to reason quantitatively, solve quantitative problems, interpret graphic data,
and analyze and use information given in a problem.
The use of calculators is not allowed on the quantitative section of the GMAT.
Test takers must do their math work out by hand using a wet erase pen and laminated graph
paper which are given to them at the testing center.
Questions require knowledge of topics such as arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.
There are two types of quantitative questions: problem solving and data sufficiency.
Scores range from 0 to 60, although they only report scores between 11 and 51.
Problem solving questions are designed to test the ability to reason quantitatively
and solve quantitative problems.
Data sufficiency is a unique question type that appears on the GMAT and is designed to
measure the ability to understand and analyze a quantitative problem, recognize what information
is relevant or irrelevant and determine at what point there is enough information to
solve a problem or recognize the fact that there is insufficient information given to
solve a particular problem.
Verbal section The verbal section of the GMAT Exam measures
the test taker's ability to read and comprehend written material, reason and evaluate arguments
and correct written material to express ideas effectively in standard written English.
The question types are reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence correction
questions.
Scores range from 0 to 60, although they only report scores between 11 and 51.
Reading comprehension passages can be anywhere from one paragraph to several paragraphs long.
Reading passages contain material from subject areas like social sciences, history, physical
sciences, and business-related areas.
Reading comprehension passages are accompanied by interpretive, applied, and inference questions.
This section measures the following abilities: Understanding words and statements in reading
passages Understanding the logical relationships between
significant points and concepts in the reading passages
Drawing inferences from facts and statements in the reading passages
Understanding and following the development of quantitative concepts as they are presented
in verbal material Understanding the author's point of view and
their proposed arguments Critical reasoning questions are designed
to test the reasoning skills involved in making arguments, evaluating arguments, and formulating
or evaluating a plan of action.
Questions are based on materials from a variety of sources.
This section measures the following abilities: Argument construction
Argument evaluation Formulating and evaluating a plan of action
Sentence Correction questions ask the test taker to determine if there is a mistake with
a given sentence and if so, to determine the best way in which the sentence should be written.
Total score The total GMAT score ranges from 200 to 800
and measures performance on the quantitative and verbal sections together.
Scores are given in increments of 10.
From the most recent data released by GMAC, the average GMAT score of all test takers
is about a 540.
The higher a test taker's score is, the higher their level of ability was on the GMAT.
Business schools place their emphasis on the test taker's combined quantitative and verbal
score because it is this score that gets reported when the schools publish their class profiles
of the students they admit into their program.
The higher the school's average GMAT score is, the more selective that school is said
to be.
The score distribution resembles a bell curve with a standard deviation of approximately
100 points, meaning that 68% of examinees score between 440 and 640.
More precisely, the mean score is 545.6 with a standard deviation of 121.07 points.
The final score is not based solely on the last question the examinee answers.
The algorithm used to build a score is more complicated than that.
The examinee can make a mistake and answer incorrectly and the computer will recognize
that item as an anomaly.
If the examinee misses the first question his score will not necessarily fall in the
bottom half of the range.
All scores and cancellations in the past five years will be on a student's score report,
a change from the previous policy of the last three scores and cancellations being kept
on the score report.
Registration and Preparation Test takers may register for the GMAT either
online at mba.com or by calling one of the test centers.
To schedule an exam, an appointment must be made at one of the designated test centers.
The GMAT may not be taken more than once within 31 days, even if the scores are canceled.
Official GMAT exam study materials are available on the mba.com online store and through third-party
vendors.
The cost of the exam is US $250.
Some students preparing for the GMAT take courses from a test preparation company.
Test preparation courses can be very costly, but very effective.
As evidence of the effectiveness of test preparation courses, many test preparation companies have
gone on record stating noteworthy GMAT results, including average or guaranteed score increases
over 90 points.
Other available test preparation resources include university text books, GMAT preparation
books, sample tests, and free web resources.
See also Business education
Business school Graduate Management Admission Council
Master of Accountancy Master of Business Administration
List of admissions tests Graduate Record Examination
References
External links The Official GMAT Web Site
Official web site of the Graduate Management Admission Council
The Official GMAT Web Site in India The Official GMAT Web Site in Africa
The Official GMAT Web Site in China