GMAT - Graduate Management Aptitude Test

About the Exam

The GMAT is a Computer Adaptive Test administered online by Educational Testing Services (ETS) through Sylvan testing centers located in all the major cities in India. Those who wish to enroll for courses in Business Management in American universities have to take the GMAT test and submit their scores to the department.

Eligibility
All Indian citizens with a valid passport are eligible to take the GMAT. Test takers can take the test only once every calendar month. The test scores are valid for a period of 5 years.

Test Details

GMAT is administered at all Sylvan Prometric Centers across the world everyday for the first three weeks of every month. For a test appointment you have to contact Sylvan in that particular country and apply to ETS using a GMAT form available in the bulletin.

Exam Structure

The exam consists of 3 sections:

Quantitative Section: consisting of 37 Questions to be answered in 75 minutes.

Verbal Section: consisting of 37 Questions to be answered in 75 minutes.

Essay Response Sections on various topics: 2 sections of 30 minutes each.

For every wrong response ¼ of the mark is deducted.

Application Details

Application bulletin can be obtained by writing to Institute of Psychological and Educational Measurement, Allahabad or can be directly downloaded fromwww.gmat.org. The fees payable for GMAT varies from country to country and must be paid in US$. The actual rates can be verified from the Bulletin.

Which are the Indian cities where a candidate can take GMAT- CAT?

GMAT-CAT is conducted by ETS (Education testing services) at Sylvan test centers in 14 different international regions and the number of centers differs from region to region.

India falls in region 14 and the following 9 Indian cities have sylvan test centers.

1.      Ahmedabad
2.      Allahabad
3.      Bangalore
4.      Bombay
5.      Calcutta
6.      Hyderabad
7.      Madras
8.      New Delhi
9.      Trivandrum

What is GMAT?
GMAT stands for Graduate Management Aptitude Test.

Purpose of test
GMAT is designed to help graduate schools of business assess the applicants for admission to advanced study in business and management in the  US.

How is GMAT administered?
The GMAT is not a paper – pen test anymore. Now it is a Computer Adaptive Test which can be taken on any working day, 10 hours a day throughout the year at approximately 400 test centers throughout the world.

 
What is Computer Adaptive Test and how it is different from ordinary test?
In a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT), the computer screen displays one question at a time, which is chosen from a large pool of questions categorized by content and difficulty. The first question is always of medium difficulty, the selection of each question thereafter is determined by the responses. In other words GMAT-CAT adjusts to the ability level of the candidate.

Unlike paper – pen tests in a CAT the candidate

1.      cannot skip a question.
2.      can not change the answer of a question.

The questions which appear and their level of difficulty depend on the response of the previous question.

What are the computer skills required to take the GMAT CAT.

1.      Basic knowledge of word processor
2.      Accessing the help function.
3.      Using a mouse,
4.      Entering a response

What are the topics in which the candidate is tested?
The GMAT CAT will include questions related to

- Verbal
- Quantitative
- Analytical writing

GMAT does not test specific knowledge of business or any other specific content areas. Also it does not measure achievement in any particular subject area.

How are the scores calculated?
The scoring in the test is not in a traditional way. The completed answer document is not compared with the key to calculate the final score. The computer builds up the score while the candidate is working.

1. Initially the candidate is assumed to be average and gives a average level of questions
2. Based on the responses the computer adjusts itself to the candidates level.
3. The first 1/3rd of the questions is found to carry higher weightage 4.  Moreover the difficult questions have higher weightage.
5.  For every wrong answer 1/4th is deducted.

Scores are therefore dependent on

1.      Number of questions answered correctly
2.      The type of questions answered.

How are the scores for analytical writing calculated?
Each of the 2 essays are graded on a scale of 0(minimum) to 6(maximum)

1: An essay that is totally illegible/not written on the assigned topic
2: An essay that is fundamentally deficient
3: An essay that is seriously flawed
4: An essay that is seriously limited
5: An essay that is merely adequate
6: An essay that is strong
7: An essay that is outstanding

An essay will be graded by two graders and the final score will be an average of the two. If the scores are more than 1 point apart then the third grader will grade it.

How many questions appear in each section?

- Analytical Writing:
Analysis of an issue : 1 Topic
Analysis of an argument : 1 Topic

- Verbal:
Sentence correction : 15 questions
Reading Comprehension : 15 questions
Critical reasoning : 11 questions
Approximately one three-fourth min per question

- Quantitative:
Problem solving : 19 questions
Data Sufficiency : 18 questions
Approximately two min per question

What is the purpose of warm up period ?

Warm up period is to allow the candidate get familiar with the computer, the mouse, the scroll bar functions in particular) and with the peculiarities of the program. The warm up period is unlimited.

What is the optional break and when should it be taken?

An option of two 5 minute breaks will be given, one after completing essay and the other between quantitative and verbal sections. The optional breaks are mandatory.