GMAT – A Complete Guide

GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test, which is one of two standardized tests that MBA hopefuls take as a part of the MBA application process. The duration of the test is 3 hours 7 minutes, excluding two optional 8-minute breaks. Your GMAT score is one of the key factors that is assessed by business schools before making you an offer of admission. With a high GMAT score, especially a ninety-ninth percentile score, you can improve your chances of securing an admit with a scholarship. 

In this article, we have shared everything that you need to know about the GMAT.

What is GMAT?

GMAT or Graduate Management Admission Test is a computer adaptive test with multiple choice questions that you take if you want to apply to an MBA program. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) manages and creates the GMAT to standardize evaluations of prospective students’ ability to succeed in graduate school. Along with your GMAT score, MBA admissions committees look at your academic records, work experience, essays, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, and other factors to assess if you are ready for the rigorous MBA program.

What is a computer adaptive test?

GMAT is taken on a computer. The software evaluates your performance as you move through the test and adapts the difficulty level of questions according to whether or not you get a question right. So, how well you do on each question will determine how hard the questions that follow are. Thus, your score is based not just on how many questions you get right, but also on the difficulty level of the questions you reached.

GMAT sections

There are four sections on the GMAT. These four sections are:

1. Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)
2. Integrated Reasoning (IR)
3. Quantitative Reasoning
4. Verbal Reasoning

This table explains each section’s questions, their types, and their duration.

GMAT Section	No. of Questions	Question Types	Duration
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)	1 essay	Argument analysis and communication in the form of a critique	30 minutes
Integrated Reasoning (IR)	12 multiple choice	Two-Part Analysis, Multi-source reasoning, Graphic interpretation, Table analysis	30 minutes
Quantitative	31 multiple choice	Data Sufficiency, Problem Solving	62 minutes
Verbal	36 multiple choice	Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, Sentence Correction	65 minutes

Let’s understand each section in detail

Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)

This part of the test helps business schools figure out how well you can write. It has one essay-style question that is graded by both a computer and humans. There will be 30 minutes allotted to finish the AWA.

Here, you’ll be tested on your ability to think critically by analyzing an argument and articulating your conclusions.

To get a good score in this section, you should pick out relevant information from the case or the question presented, analyze it thoroughly, and then present your findings in a well-developed, well-organized, and cohesive argument.

You will be graded on your essay based on four factors: your analysis of the prompt, the quality of your supporting arguments, your command of the English language, and the clarity with which you present your ideas.

Here is an example of an essay that received a perfect score.

The prompt or the case

The following appeared in a memorandum from the director of research and development at Ready-to-Ware, a software engineering firm.

The package of benefits and incentives that Ready-to-Ware offers to professional staff is too costly. Our quarterly profits have declined since the package was introduced two years ago, at the time of our incorporation. Moreover, the package had little positive effect, as we have had only marginal success in recruiting and training high-quality professional staff. To become more profitable again, Ready-to-Ware should, therefore, offer the reduced benefits package that was in place two years ago and use the savings to fund our current research and development initiatives.

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

Take a look at the explanation to understand how to write a perfect essay

Integrated Reasoning

The Integrated Reasoning section measures how well you analyze data to solve complex problems. It tests your ability to:

• Analyze information presented in text, graphics, and numbers
• Evaluate relevant information from different sources
• Synthesize and manipulate information from multiple sources to solve complex problems
• Organize information to see a relationship and solve the various interrelated problems 

There are 12 questions to be answered as part of the Integrated Reasoning section. You will have 30 minutes to complete the section. Here are the types of questions asked under the Integrated Reasoning section:

• Table Analysis 
• Graphics Interpretation 
• Multi-source Reasoning 
• Two-Part Analysis 

You will have 30 minutes to complete the GMAT IR section.

Quantitative Reasoning Section

Mathematical fundamentals such as arithmetic, algebra, and geometry are tested in this section. This section has 2 types of questions

1. Problem Solving
2. Data Sufficiency

Problem-solving questions test how well you can use logic and analytical thinking to solve numerical problems in algebra, arithmetic, geometry, and other areas.

Questions testing data sufficiency assesses the test taker’s ability to identify pertinent data and analyze the quantitative problem. You’ll be given a problem, followed by a question or two statements. You have to decide if the information in the statement is enough to answer the question.

In the quant section, there are 31 multiple-choice questions that must be answered in 62 minutes.

Verbal Reasoning Section

The Verbal section tests your command of standard written English, and your ability to read critically and analyze arguments. It consists of 36 multiple-choice questions that need to be completed within 65 minutes.

GMAT verbal includes three question types – Critical reasoning, reading comprehension, and sentence correction.

Section order

GMAT test-takers can choose the order of the tests from the three options below. The break is optional and lasts 8 minutes. You can keep going with your exam if you don’t think you need a break.

• Order 1: AWA – IR – Break – Quant – Break – Verbal
• Order 2: Verbal – Break – Quantitative – Break – IR – AWA
• Order 3: Quant – Break – Verbal – Break – IR – AWA

How is the GMAT scored?

Your GMAT score is based on how well you did in the Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning sections. The raw calculation is then turned into a number in the range of the total score.

Total GMAT scores can be anywhere from 200 to 800. Most people who take the test get a score between 400 and 800.

IR and AWA sections do not get factored into your score.

GMAT score	Score range
Total Scaled Score	200 – 800 (In 10-point increments)
Verbal Scaled Score	6 – 51
Quantitative Scaled Score	6 – 51
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)	0 – 6 (In 0.5-point increments)
Integrated Reasoning	1 – 8 (In 1-point increment)

GMAT scores and percentiles

This is how GMAT scores convert into percentiles. This is based on the data collected between Jan 2019 and Dec 2021. The sample size is 414618.

The average GMAT score of all the test takers is 574.

GMAT Score	Percentile Ranking
800	99%
790	99%
780	99%
770	99%
760	99%
750	98%
740	97%
730	96%
720	94%
710	90%
700	87%
690	84%
680	80%
670	78%
660	74%
650	70%
640	64%
630	62%
620	58%
610	54%
600	50%
590	47%
580	43%
570	40%
560	37%
550	34%
540	31%
530	27%
520	26%
510	24%
500	22%
490	20%
480	18%
470	17%
460	14%
450	13%
440	12%
430	11%
420	10%
410	9%
400	8%
390	7%
380	6%
370	6%
360	5%
350	4%
340	4%
330	3%
320	3%
310	3%
300	2%
290	2%
280	2%
270	2%
260	2%
250	1%
240	1%
230	1%
220	1%
210	0%
200	0%

GMAT Eligibility Criteria

• Work Experience – A person can take the GMAT exam without having any prior work experience.
• Age – The test taker must be 18 years or above. If the candidate is between 13 to 17 years old, they should have permission in writing from their parents or legal guardian.
• Number of attempts – Candidates can take the GMAT online exam up to two times. All GMAT online exam attempts will count towards your 5 attempts during a rolling 12-month period and 8 lifetime limits.

Score validity

A GMAT score is valid for 5 years from the date of your attempt. 

Types of GMAT exam

There are two versions of the GMAT. 

1. GMAT Online
2.  In-center GMAT

In center GMAT

This version of the GMAT has to be taken at a designated test center. Therefore, when you register for the in-center test you would have to travel to the test center location to take the test. Visit this page to find your nearest GMAT testing center.

What is the GMAT Online Exam?

The GMAT Online exam is a remote proctored version of the exam. It is designed to help candidates meet their application goals from the comfort of their own homes. Candidates can take the GMAT either online or in a test center, or both.

More information on both the GMAT versions can be found here.

Is GMAT hard?

To begin with, the GMAT is hard because of its adaptive nature. Your score is based not only on how many questions you got right but also on how hard those questions were. So, even if two students get the same number of questions right, their total GMAT scores might be different.

Second, the pressure of time is another thing that makes the GMAT more difficult. For example, in Quantitative reasoning, you have 62 minutes to answer 31 questions. Even if you give each question the same amount of time, you only have 2 minutes to answer.

*Please keep in mind that you don’t have to spend 2 minutes answering a question. How long it takes will depend on how hard that question is.

Last, the GMAT is hard to crack because of its content and structure. Some questions aren’t what they seem to be, and they can make you pay attention to the wrong things. You can easily get caught in these traps and waste your time on test day. On top of that, the GMAT has four parts that test different skills and abilities. So, you have to be at your best in each section.

GMAT cost

The GMAT registration fee in India is $275 for the test-center exam and $300 for the at-home online exam. Here are the costs for both test versions:

Fee category	Test center cost	Online test
GMAT Registration Fee	$275	$300
Enhanced Score Report (purchased at time of registration)	$30	Not Available
Additional Score Report	$35 each	$35 each
Cancel score (via mba.com My Account page after the exam)	$25	Not Applicable
Reinstate score	$50	Not Applicable
AWA Essay Rescoring	$45	$45
Reschedule Fees
More than 60 days before appointment	$55	$60
15-60 days before appointment	$110	$120
14 days or less before appointment	$165	$180
Cancellation Fees
More than 60 days before appointment	$110 refund	$120 Refund
15-60 days before appointment	$80 refund	$90 Refund
14 days or less before appointment	$55 refund	$60 Refund

How to take the GMAT for free?

GMAC gives you the option of taking the test at a lower price or not paying the registration fee. Every test taker is eligible to apply for a fee waiver, but they can’t do it themselves. It should be requested by your business school. GMAC lets business schools choose their own criteria for deciding which students are financially needy. So, if you want a GMAT fee waiver, you’ll have to show your school that you can’t afford it. Unfortunately, there is no readily available list of business schools that offer GMAT fee waivers. Please reach out to individual business schools directly.

What is a good GMAT score?

‘Good’ is a relative term. A GMAT score might be good for someone and might be bad for the other. However, as a thumb rule, a good GMAT score is considered to be 20+ points higher than the average/median GMAT score of your target business school’s latest incoming class. 

For example, if your target business school is Harvard Business School and its median GMAT score is 730 for the class of 2024, then a good GMAT score would be 750 if you are applying for the class of 2025.

If multiple business schools are on your list then pick the school with the highest median GMAT score and add 20 points to its score. For example, if you target 5 business schools and their latest class’ median GMAT scores were 730, 720, 710, 700, and 720 then add 20 points to the 730 score. Now, 750 is your target GMAT score.

How to choose a GMAT test date?

Choose the test date by following these steps:

1. Find out the earliest MBA application deadline among your target schools
2. Start preparing at least 10 months before the deadline
3. Take the test at least 7 months before the deadline. It helps keep you some buffer in case you need to retake the GMAT
4. Once you achieve your target GMAT score, focus your attention on other MBA application components like essays, LORs, resume, etc.

If you need help with essays, LORs, resume, interview and are looking for a comprehensive MBA application service then feel free to contact us.