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GMAT Guide

The Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) is a standardized test that graduate business schools use to help assess the qualifications of applicants. The test is designed to measure the core mathematical and English language skills required for success in business school. Vocational skills and business knowledge are not tested.

Administered by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), the GMAT exists as a computer adaptive test (CAT) in North America and many international locations and serves to "predict students' academic performance in the core courses of a graduate management or business program." Aside from the essay sections, the GMAT uses an adaptive algorithm to home in on what it determines your exact ability level to be. Len Swanson originally designed this engine (he now works at Knewton).

The GMAT costs $250; your scores are valid for business school application purposes for five years. The test is offered by appointment generally six days a week around the world (with schedules varying based on local needs) at more than 400 testing centers in 94 countries—largely through Pearson VUE’s test center network.

More quick stats:

• The GMAT is an assessment tool used by more than 4,000 programs and 1,800 schools around the world, about 60% of which are located in the United States.
• The test was taken 219,077 times in ’06-’07, and of that total about 46% were taken by non-US students.
• Test volume is up 11% through August 2008 over the same period last year, carrying a trend of three consecutive years of increasing volume.
• Men comprise 61% of the test-taking population; this number has remained relatively stable during the last 10 years.
• More than half of all test-takers are between 24 and 30, though the test-taking population is trending younger.
• Twenty-one percent of all GMATs are taken by repeat test-takers; the test can be taken up to 5 times every 12 months.
• Those who took the test in 2007 sent out 655,506 score reports (average of three per test), and though many test-takers now reside outside the US, about 83% of all score reports are sent to US-based programs.

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What's on the GMAT?

The test consists of four timed sections. The first two sections are the Analytical Writing Assessments (AWAs), the third is comprised of 37 multiple choice math questions, and the final section features 41 multiple choice verbal questions.

You are allotted 3.5 hours to complete the four sections. Although the GMAT represents a big part of your business school application, it does not measure any knowledge of business skills, specific undergraduate coursework, or subjective qualities such as motivation, creativity, and interpersonal skills—the idea is to equalize the playing field for applicants from varying industries and disciplines.

Structure of the test

Intro Computer Tutorial		untimed
Analytical Writing Assessment		60 min
	Analysis of an Argument	30 min
	Analysis of an Issue	30 min
Optional Break		8 min
Quantitative Section		75 min (37 questions)
	Problem Solving	23-24 questions
	Data Sufficiency	13-14 questions
Optional Break		8 min
Verbal Section		75 min (41 questions)
	Critical Reasoning	14-15 questions
	Reading Comprehension	4 passages, 12-14 questions
	Sentence Correction	14-15 questions

While GMAC reserves the right to change the test, as it stands now you'll start with the AWAs (in either order) and then move onto the multiple choice sections (also in either order).

The essays test your ability to construct and articulate an argument. You'll need to brainstorm, organize your thoughts, and draft each essay within 30 minutes. Then after an hour of writing, you'll move on to the quantitative and verbal sections. The quantitative section measures mathematical skills and quantitative reasoning and interpretation, while verbal focuses on comprehension, evaluation, and correction of written material.

Remember that the GMAT is an adaptive test—it changes based on how you're doing. That also means you have to answer every question that comes your way and you can't go backward. You'll begin each multiple choice section with a question of middling difficulty, and the questions will become either more difficult or more manageable based on how you're doing.

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Scoring the GMAT

The most important number on the GMAT is your total score, which will range from 200 to 800. You'll also have three other scores: a Quantitative score, ranging from 0 to 60; a Verbal score, ranging from 0 to 60; and a score for the Analytical Writing Assessment, ranging from 0 to 6.

Each of these scores also comes with a percentile rank that illustrates how you compare with other test-takers—your competition in the applicant pool.

The median score was originally set to 500 but has since migrated north to just under 540. The test was designed to have a scoring table resembling a bell curve, so with its standard deviation of approximately 100 points about 68% of test takers will score between 440 and 640. Top programs have average scores above 700—the highest 10^th percentile.

The individual scores give greater insight into your performance on the various portions of the test. Scores below 9 and above 44 for the Verbal section or below 7 and above 50 for the Quantitative section are rare. The total score does not simply break down into 400 points for each section; the scoring algorithm is rather complex.

The AWA score comes from two scores of 0 to 6, in 0.5 point increments. The first score is assigned by Intellimetric, a computer program which analyzes syntax and structure. The second score is rendered by a human reader, who evaluates the quality, organization, development, and expression of ideas and supporting arguments. 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 another human. The AWA has a mean score of 4.1, though most business schools don't weigh the AWA as heavily as they do the Verbal and Quantitative sections of the test. Some schools ignore the AWA altogether.

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