GMAT

GMAT is an abbreviation for the Graduate Management Admissions Test. It is a compulsory test for gaining admission to almost all MBA programs and other business-related education programs for graduate level. It is a computer based standardized test. It is administered and developed by the Graduate Management Admission Council. This test was started in 1953 A.D.

The duration of the GMAT test is 3 hours and 30 minutes. The total score of GMAT ranges from 200 to 800. The score of a test-taker is valid for 5 years. There are four sections in the GMAT test:

1. Analytical Writing Assessment, in short AWA where you need to write an essay within 30 minutes
2. Integrated Reasoning (IR) section with 12 questions to answer within 30 minutes
3. Quantitative section or Math section where test-takers need to solve 37 questions within 75 minutes. There are two types of questions in this section:

1. Problem-solving choice questions
2. Data Sufficiency problems where you are provided with two parts of information and inquired whether you have enough data to answer the question

4. Verbal section with 41 questions with a 75 minutes time. This section has three sub-sections:

1. reading comprehension, where you are tested for your understanding of a passage
2. sentence correction and
3. critical reading, where you are asked to evaluate an argument’s structure

The test is to be given in English language and this test is available in 114 countries with 600 test centers. This test can be taken again only after 31 days. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people took the test last year. The test fee is US$ 250 and this test is offered many times a year.

GMAT scores are a bit complex to understand. AWA score is scored separately from 0 to 6. Scoring 4 or above makes your credits strong. IR is also scored separately from 1 to 8. Besides them, other two sections remain that are individually scored on a raw-score scale from 0 to 60 each allocated a percentile. Scoring 43 raw score in Quantitative section will earn you a 61^st percentile and scoring 43 in verbal section provides you a 96^th percentile. When these two raw scores are combined, they make up your overall score on a scale of 200 to 800. Your final score will also hold a percentile ranking, which is vital as it’s the number used by admission committees to evaluate candidates.

You can register for the GMAT test at www.mba.com or you can contact any test center. MARS is also there to guide you for your registration and test preparation.