The Graduate Management Admissions Test, better known by the acronym GMAT
(pronounced G-mat), is a standardized test for determining aptitude to
succeed academically in graduate business studies. The GMAT is used as one
of the selection criteria by most respected business schools globally, most
commonly for admission into an MBA program.
The GMAT is one of many factors schools use when reviewing applications for
admission; it is typically balanced with work experience, application
essays, an interview, and undergraduate GPA. Although performance on the
test helps to determine whether a candidate is admitted to a particular
school, these other admissions criteria also play a pivotal role.
The fee to take the GMAT is currently US$250, worldwide. The Test
In the United States, non-citizens are required to present a passport or
permanent resident card to gain admission to the test.
During the GMAT, the test taker will not be allowed to use paper and pencil;
dry erase books will be given to the test taker and a fine tip dry erase
marker will be used. This is something to think about as it causes many to
panic on test day. This is the way things are in the U.S., while this may
not be the case overseas.
Analytical Writing Assessment
The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section of the test consists of two
essays. In the first, the student must analyze an argument and in the second
the student must analyze an issue. Each essay must be written within 30
minutes and is scored on a scale of 0-6.
Each essay is read by two readers who each mark the essay with a grade from
0-6, in 0.5 point increments. If the two scores are within one point of each
other, they are averaged. If there is more than one point difference, the
essays are read by a third reader.
The first reader is Intellimetric, a proprietary computer program developed
by Vantage Learning, which analyses creative writing and syntax. The second
and third readers are humans, who generally look at the overall impact
rather than spelling and grammar.
Although spelling does not formally count against your total score, it can
bring the score down if the reader is having a hard time reading the essay
due to misspelled words. There are many factors involved when deciding the
score. There are no length requirements and the readers mainly look for a
well structured essay that flows smoothly.
Quantitative and Verbal Sections
The "Total Score", comprised of the quantitative and verbal sections, is
exclusive of the writing assessment, and ranges from 200 to 800. The GMAT is
scored-based on a 100 point standard deviation, meaning that the test is
designed for 68% of examinees to score between 400 and 600, whilst the
median score was designed to be 500. The median score today is closer to
540.
The quantitative and verbal sections comprise a computer-adaptive test. The
first question may be very difficult. The next few questions in each section
may be around the 500 level. If the examinee answers correctly, the next
questions are harder. If the examinee answers incorrectly, the next
questions are easier. However, during the test, and especially if the
student is doing very well, he may find a string of very easy questions. It
is commonly believed that the earlier questions are more important than the
later questions. However, while the score may change more dramatically
earlier in the test than it does later in the test, that is only because
each early question makes up a greater percentage of questions answered so
far. In other words, early questions are NOT actually more important to
one's final score than later questions, just as one's early grades in
college are not more important than one's later grades in terms of final
GPA. Also, questions left blank (that is, those not reached) hurt the
examinee more than questions answered incorrectly. This is a major contrast
to the SAT, which has a wrong-answer penalty. Each test section also
includes several experimental questions, which do not count toward the
examinee's score, but are included to judge the appropriateness of the item
for future administrations.
The quantitative section consists of 37 multiple choice questions, which
must be answered within 75 minutes. There are two types of questions:
problem solving and data sufficiency.
The verbal section consists of 41 multiple choice questions, which must be
answered within 75 minutes. There are three types of questions: sentence
correction, critical reasoning and reading comprehension.
Changes to the GMAT
As of January of 2006, paper and pencil will no longer be available to use
as scratch notes during the exam. The test proctor will give a wet erase
booklet and special wet erase pen. The test takers will be required to raise
their hand and ask for a new book or pen if either one is needed. This
change has been of much surprise to many. It is said the change is for 2
reasons, one being the fact people were getting actual test questions out of
the testing center through paper and pencil, another reason is to save
paper.
Required Scores
Although the AWA score is not normally a factor considered by schools when
determining a candidate's application, there are times when it is taken into
account. In some cases, the AWA score may be examined more closely if the
admissions committee wants to verify whether an applicant's writing ability
matches the quality of the essays that have been submitted, to get more
information if the Verbal Section score is low or to check an applicant's
grasp of English is satisfactory. A low score flags students who know math
and grammar but can not properly write a structured essay.
Most schools do not publish a minimum GMAT score as they will accept a lower
GMAT score from a strong candidate but may want a higher score from a weaker
candidate. Schools do generally publish the average and median score of
their latest intake. Whilst these should be used as a guide, applicants must
remember that half of all successful applicants will have scored below the
median mark.
For admission to a top global business school, a fairly high score (at the
very least in the upper 600s) is generally required for the prospective
student's application to even receive serious consideration, while for other
schools hoping to improve their rankings in the major publications (e.g.
U.S. News or BusinessWeek), a higher score is generally enough to almost
ensure admission, provided the candidate has performed reasonably well on
the other admissions criteria.
History of GMAT
In 1953, the organization now called the Graduate Management Admission
Council (GMAC) 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 (now known as
the Graduate Management Admission Test), was taken just over 2,000 times; in
recent years, it has been taken more than 200,000 times annually. Initially
used in admissions by 54 schools, the GMAT is now used by more than 1,500
schools and 1,800 programs.
Until the end of 2005, Educational Testing Service (ETS) administered the
GMAT exam. On January 1, 2006, GMAC transitioned vendors to a combination of
ACT Inc, which develops the GMAT, and Pearson Vue, which delivers the exam.
- GMAT Exam: GMAT Scores,
GMAT Questions
|
