GraduateManagementAdmissionTest

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TheGraduateManagementAdmissionTest(GMAT
(/dimt/(JEEmat)))isacomputeradaptivetest(CAT)
intendedtoassesscertainanalytical,writing,quantitative,
verbal,andreadingskillsinwrittenEnglishforuseinadmission
toagraduatemanagementprogram,suchasanMBA.[3]It
requiresknowledgeofcertaingrammarandknowledgeof
certainalgebra,geometry,andarithmetic.TheGMATdoesnot
measurebusinessknowledgeorskill,nordoesitmeasure
intelligence.[4]Accordingtothetestowningcompany,the
GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC),theGMAT
assessesanalyticalwritingandproblemsolvingabilities,while
alsoaddressingdatasufficiency,logic,andcriticalreasoning
skillsthatitbelievestobevitaltorealworldbusinessand
managementsuccess.[5]Itcanbetakenuptofivetimesayear.
Eachattemptmustbeatleast16daysapart.[6]
GMATisaregisteredtrademarkoftheGraduateManagement
AdmissionCouncil.Morethan5,900programsofferedbymore
than2,100universitiesandinstitutionsusetheGMATexamas
partoftheselectioncriteriafortheirprograms.Businessschools
usethetestasacriterionforadmissionintoawiderangeof
graduatemanagementprograms,includingMBA,Masterof
Accountancy,andMasterofFinanceprograms.TheGMAT
examisadministeredinstandardizedtestcentersin112
countriesaroundtheworld.[5]Accordingtoasurveyconducted
byKaplanTestPrep,theGMATisstillthenumberonechoice
forMBAaspirantsdespitetheincreasingacceptabilityofGRE
scores.[7]AccordingtoGMAC,ithascontinuallyperformed
validitystudiestostatisticallyverifythattheexampredicts
successinbusinessschoolprograms.[8]

Contents
1 History
2 Predictivevalidity
3 Formatandtiming
3.1 AnalyticalWritingAssessment(AWA)
3.2 Integratedreasoning
3.3 Quantitativesection
3.4 Verbalsection
3.5 Scoring
4 Preparation
5 Criticism
6 Seealso
7 References

GraduateManagementAdmissionTest

Acronym

GMAT

Type

Computerbasedstandardizedtest

Developer/ GraduateManagementAdmission
administrator Council
Knowledge/
skillstested

Quantitativereasoning,verbal
reasoning,integratedreasoning,
analyticalwriting.

Purpose

Admissionsingraduate
managementprogramsofbusiness
schools.

Yearstarted

1953

Duration

3.5hours[1]

Score/grade Quantitativesection:0to60,in1
range
pointincrements(only6to51
reported),
Verbalsection:0to51,in1point
increments(only6to51reported),
Integratedreasoningsection:1to8,
in1pointincrements,
Analyticalwritingassessment:0.0
to6.0,in0.5pointincrements.
Totalscore:200to800.
Score/grade 5years
validity
Offered

Multipletimesayear.

Countries/
regions

600testcentersin114countries. [2]

Languages

English

Annualno.of About250,000inayear[2]
testtakers
Prerequisites Noofficialprerequisite.Intended
/eligibility
forbachelorsdegreeholdersand
criteria
undergraduatestudentswhoare

8 Externallinks

abouttograduate.Fluencyin
Englishassumed.

History

Fee

US$250

Scores/
gradesused
by

Morethan2,100
universities/businessschoolsinUSA
andothercountries.

In1953,theorganizationnowcalledtheGraduateManagement
AdmissionCouncil(GMAC)beganasanassociationofnine
Website
www.mba.com(http://www.mba.co
businessschools,whosegoalwastodevelopastandardizedtest
m)
tohelpbusinessschoolsselectqualifiedapplicants.Inthefirst
yearitwasoffered,theassessment(nowknownastheGraduate
ManagementAdmissionTest),wastakenjustover2,000timesinrecentyears,ithasbeentakenmorethan
230,000timesannually.[9]Initiallyusedinadmissionsby54schools,thetestisnowusedbymorethan2,100
schoolsand5,900programsworldwide.[9]OnJune5,2012,GMACintroducedanintegratedreasoningsectionto
theexamthataimstomeasureatesttakersabilitytoevaluateinformationpresentedinmultipleformatsfrom
multiplesources.[10]

Predictivevalidity
TheintendedpurposeoftheGMATistopredictstudentsuccessingraduatebusinessprograms.Accordingto
GMAC,thereisa.459correlation(21%variance)betweentotalGMATscoresandmidprogramstudentgrades
basedondataitcollectedbetween1997and2004.[11]Independentresearchhasshownsignificantlydifferent
results.IndependentresearchhasshownthattheGMATcanexplainonly4.4%ofthevarianceinfinalMBAGPA
whileundergraduateGPAcanexplain17.4%ofthevarianceinfinalMBAGPA.[12]Additionally,morerecent
independentresearchhasshownthattheGMATdoesnotaddpredictivevalidityafterundergraduateGPAand
workexperiencehavebeenconsideredandthatevenundergraduateGPAalonecanbeusedinlieuofthe
GMAT.[13]

Formatandtiming
TheGMATexamconsistsoffoursections:Ananalyticalwritingassessment,integratedreasoning,thequantitative
section,andtheverbalsection.[14]Totaltestingtimeisthreeandahalfhours,buttesttakersshouldplanforatotal
timeofapproximatelyfourhours,withbreaks.Testtakershave30minutesfortheanalyticalwritingassessment
andanother30minutestoworkthrough12questions,whichoftenhavemultipleparts,ontheintegratedreasoning
sectionandaregiven75minutestoworkthrough37questionsinthequantitativesectionandanother75minutes
togetthrough41questionsintheverbalsection.
Section

Durationinminutes Numberofquestions

Analyticalwritingassessment 30

1essay

Integratedreasoning

30

12

Quantitative

75

37

Verbal

75

41

ThequantitativeandverbalsectionsoftheGMATexamarebothmultiplechoiceandareadministeredinthe
computeradaptiveformat,adjustingtoatesttakerslevelofability.Atthestartofthequantitativeandverbal
sections,testtakersarepresentedwithaquestionofaveragedifficulty.Asquestionsareansweredcorrectly,the
computerpresentsthetesttakerwithincreasinglydifficultquestionsandasquestionsareansweredincorrectlythe

computerpresentsthetesttakerwithquestionsofdecreasingdifficulty.Thisprocesscontinuesuntiltesttakers
completeeachsection,atwhichpointthecomputerwillhaveanaccurateassessmentoftheirabilitylevelinthat
subjectareaandcomeupwitharawscoreforeachsection.

AnalyticalWritingAssessment(AWA)
TheAWAconsistsofone30minutewritingtaskanalysisofanargument.Itisimportanttobeabletoanalyzethe
reasoningbehindagivenargumentandwriteacritiqueofthatargument.Theessaywillbegiventwoindependent
ratingsandtheseratingsareaveragedtogethertodeterminethetesttaker'sAWAscore.Oneratingisgivenbya
computerizedreadingevaluationandanotherisgivenbyapersonatGMACwhowillreadandscoretheessay
themselveswithoutknowledgeofwhatthecomputerizedscorewas.Theautomatedessayscoringengineisan
electronicsystemthatevaluatesmorethan50structuralandlinguisticfeatures,includingorganizationofideas,
syntacticvariety,andtopicalanalysis.Ifthetworatingsdifferbymorethanonepoint,anotherevaluationbyan
expertreaderisrequiredtoresolvethediscrepancyanddeterminethefinalscore.[15]
Theanalyticalwritingassessmentisgradedonascaleof1(theminimum)to6(themaximum)inhalfpoint
intervals(ascoreofzeromeanstheanswerwasgibberishorobviouslynotwrittenontheassignedtopicorthetest
takerfailedtowriteanythingatallontheAWA).
Essayscore

Description

Anessaythatisdeficient.

Anessaythatisflawed.

Anessaythatislimited.

Anessaythatisadequate.

Anessaythatisstrong.

Anessaythatisoutstanding.

Integratedreasoning
IntegratedReasoning(IR)isarelativelynewsection(introducedinJune2012)designedtomeasureatesttakers
abilitytoevaluatedatapresentedinmultipleformatsfrommultiplesources.Theskillsbeingtestedbythe
integratedreasoningsectionwereidentifiedinasurveyof740managementfacultyworldwideasimportantfor
todaysincomingstudents.[16]Theintegratedreasoningsectionconsistsof12questions(whichoftenconsistof
multiplepartsthemselves)infourdifferentformats:graphicsinterpretation,twopartanalysis,tableanalysis,and
multisourcereasoning.Integratedreasoningscoresrangefrom18.LiketheAnalyticalWritingAssessment
(AWA),thissectionisscoredseparatelyfromthequantitativeandverbalsection.PerformanceontheIRandAWA
sectionsdonotcontributetothetotalGMATscore.
Theintegratedreasoningsectionincludesfourquestiontypes:tableanalysis,graphicsinterpretation,multisource
reasoning,andtwopartanalysis.[16]Inthetableanalysissection,testtakersarepresentedwithasortabletableof
information,similartoaspreadsheet,whichhastobeanalyzed.Eachquestionwillhaveseveralstatementswith
oppositeansweroptions(e.g.,true/false,yes/no),andtesttakersclickonthecorrectoption.Graphicsinterpretation
questionsasktesttakerstointerpretagraphorgraphicalimage.Eachquestionhasfillintheblankstatementswith
pulldownmenustesttakersmustchoosetheoptionsthatmakethestatementsaccurate.Multisourcereasoning
questionsareaccompaniedbytwotothreesourcesofinformationpresentedontabbedpages.Testtakersclickon
thetabsandexaminealltherelevantinformation,whichmaybeacombinationoftext,charts,andtablestoanswer

eithertraditionalmultiplechoiceoroppositeanswer(e.g.,yes/no,true/false)questions.Twopartanalysis
questionsinvolvetwocomponentsforasolution.Possibleanswersaregiveninatableformatwithacolumnfor
eachcomponentandrowswithpossibleoptions.Testtakershavetochooseoneresponsepercolumn.

Quantitativesection
ThequantitativesectionoftheGMATseekstomeasuretheabilitytoreasonquantitatively,solvequantitative
problems,interpretgraphicdata,andanalyzeanduseinformationgiveninaproblem.Questionsrequire
knowledgeofcertainalgebra,geometry,andarithmetic.Therearetwotypesofquantitativequestions:problem
solvinganddatasufficiency.TheuseofcalculatorsisnotallowedonthequantitativesectionoftheGMAT.Test
takersmustdotheirmathworkoutbyhandusingaweterasepenandlaminatedgraphpaperwhicharegivento
thematthetestingcenter.Scoresrangefrom0to60,althoughGMAConlyreportsscoresbetween6and51.[17]
Problemsolvingquestionsaredesignedtotesttheabilitytoreasonquantitativelyandtosolvequantitative
problems.DatasufficiencyisaquestiontypeuniquetotheGMATdesignedtomeasuretheabilitytounderstand
andanalyzeaquantitativeproblem,recognizewhatinformationisrelevantorirrelevantanddetermineatwhat
pointthereisenoughinformationtosolveaproblemorrecognizethefactthatthereisinsufficientinformation
giventosolveaparticularproblem.[18]

Verbalsection
TheverbalsectionoftheGMATexamincludesthefollowingquestiontypes:readingcomprehension,critical
reasoning,andsentencecorrection.Eachquestiontypegivesfiveansweroptionsfromwhichtoselect.Verbal
scoresrangefrom0to60,howeverscoresbelow9andabove44arerare.[18]
AccordingtoGMAC,thereadingcomprehensionquestiontypeattemptstotestyourabilitytoanalyzeinformation
anddrawaconclusion.Readingcomprehensionpassagescanbeanywherefromoneparagraphtoseveral
paragraphslong.[19]AccordingtoGMAC,thecriticalreasoningquestiontypeseekstoputyourreasoningskillsto
use.[18][20]AccordingtoGMAC,thesentencecorrectionquestiontypeattemptstotestyourgrammarandeffective
communicationskills.Fromtheavailableansweroptions,thetesttakershouldselectthemosteffective
constructionthatbestexpressestheintentofthesentence.[21][22]

Scoring
ThetotalGMATscorerangesfrom200to800andmeasuresperformanceonthequantitativeandverbalsections
together(performanceontheAWAandIRsectionsdonotcounttowardthetotalscore,thosesectionsarescored
separately).Scoresaregiveninincrementsof10(e.g.540,550,560,570,etc.).Fromthemostrecentdatareleased
byGMAC,theaverageGMATscoreofalltesttakersisabout540.
Thescoredistributionconformstoabellcurvewithastandarddeviationofapproximately100points,meaning
that68%ofexamineesscorebetween440and640.[18]Moreprecisely,themeanscoreis545.6withastandard
deviationof121.07points.[23]
Thefinalscoreisnotbasedsolelyonthelastquestiontheexamineeanswers(i.e.thelevelofdifficultyof
questionsreachedthroughthecomputeradaptivepresentationofquestions).Thealgorithmusedtobuildascoreis
morecomplicatedthanthat.Theexamineecanmakeamistakeandanswerincorrectlyandthecomputerwill
recognizethatitemasananomaly.Iftheexamineemissesthefirstquestionhisscorewillnotnecessarilyfallinthe
bottomhalfoftherange.[24]

Afterpreviewinghis/herunofficialGMATscore,aGMATtesttakerhastwominutestodecidewhethertokeepor
canceltheGMATscore.Acancelledscorecanberetrievedwithin60daysforafeeof$100.After60daysa
cancelledscoreisnotretrievable.[25][26]

Preparation
TesttakersmayregisterfortheGMATeitheronlineatmba.comorbycallingoneofthetestcenters.[27]To
scheduleanexam,anappointmentmustbemadeatoneofthedesignatedtestcenters.TheGMATmaynotbe
takenmorethanoncewithin31days,evenifthescoresarecanceled.OfficialGMATexamstudymaterialsare
availableonthemba.comonlinestoreandthroughthirdpartyvendors.Thecostoftheexamis$250.All
applicantsarerequiredtocarrytheirpassports,driver'slicense,orothervalidIDtotheexaminationhallwithout
whichheorshewillnotbeallowedtotaketheGMATexam.[28]Uponcompletionofthetest,testtakershavethe
optionofcancelingorreportingtheirscores.AsofJuly2014,testtakerswereallowedtoviewtheirscorebefore
makingthisdecision.[29]
TherearetestpreparationcompaniesthatofferGMATcourses.[30]Manytestpreparationcompanieshavegoneon
recordstatingnoteworthyGMATresults,includingaverageorguaranteedscoreincreasesover90points.[31][32][33]
Otheravailabletestpreparationresourcesincludeuniversitytextbooks,GMATpreparationbooks,sampletests,
andfreewebresources.[34]

Criticism
TheGMACwascriticizedforcharginganadditional$25foran"enhanced"scorereportwithdetailscomparisons
toothercandidatesandtimetakenperquestion.[35]`TheGMACalsochargesadditional$28foreveryscorereport
yousendtoauniversity.[36]

Seealso
Businessschool
GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil
MasterofAccountancy
MasterofBusinessAdministration
Listofadmissionstests

References
1."GMATExamFormatandTiming".TheOfficialGMATWebSite.
2."GMACStatistics".gmac.com.
3."TheGMATAdvantage".
4.Martz,GeoffRobinson,Adam(2009).ThePrincetonReview:CrackingtheGMAT,2010Edition.NewYork:Random
House.pp.1112.ISBN9780375429255.
5."LearnAbouttheGMATExam".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC).
6."GMATExamPolicies".MBA.com.GMAC.RetrievedMarch8,2016.
7.AlisonDamast(April26,2012)."Study:FewMBAApplicantsConsiderTakingtheGRE".Businessweek.Retrieved
July12,2014.
8."Validity,ReliabilityandFairness".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC).
9."GMACStatisticsVideo".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil.
10."GMATPrep:OnlineandOnCampusAbouttheGMAT".UMN.edu.RegentsoftheUniversityofMinnesota.
RetrievedMarch23,2016.

11."GMATValidityStudySummaryReportfor1997to2004".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC).
12.Bedsole,CharlesB.(December2013)."ApplestoApples?:ComparingthePredictiveValidityoftheGMATandGRE
forBusinessSchoolsandBuildingaBetterAdmissionsFormula"(PDF).UniversityofGeorgia.
13.Pratt,WilliamR.(2015)."PredictingMBAStudentSuccessandStreamliningtheAdmissionsProcess".Journalof
EducationforBusiness.
14."GMATAddsNewThinkingCap".NewYorkTimes.
15."HowtousetheAnalyticalWritingAssessmentScore".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC).
16."TheGMATgetsputtotheTest".BusinessWeek.
17.Lawrence,Rudner."DemystifyingtheGMAT:ScaleScores"(PDF).GMAC.Retrieved25June2012.
18."UnderstandingYourScoreReport".
19."SampleReadingComprehensionQuestion".MBA.com.GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil.RetrievedMarch23,
2016.
20."SampleCriticalReasoningQuestion".MBA.com.GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil.RetrievedMarch23,2016.
21."Idioms,SentenceCorrection,andtheGMATExam".TheOfficialGMATBlog.
22."SampleSentenceCorrectionQuestion".TheOfficialGMATWebSite.
23."WhatYourPercentileRankingMeans".
24.TalentoMiller,Eileen."TheCATintheGMAT".MBA.com.GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil.Retrieved
November26,2014.
25.GMATHandbook(http://www.mba.com/~/media/Files/mba2/thegmatexam/files/register/gmathandbook.pdf?la=enUS),
gmattutor.london(http://www.gmattutor.london)
26."Wecouldn'tfindthepageabouttheGMATthatyou'relookingfor.".TheOfficialGMATWebSite.
27."SchedulingInformation".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC).
28."PresentingproperIdentification".
29."PreviewYourGMATScore".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil.RetrievedJanuary15,2015.
30.GMATcourses(http://studycopter.com/mbagmatpreparation.php)
31."GMAT".OptimusPrep.RetrievedMay30,2014.
32."TestmastersScoreIncreaseGuarantees".Testmasters.RetrievedMay30,2014.
33."ShawnBerry'sGMATPreparation".ShawnBerry.RetrievedMay30,2014.
34."PrepareCandidatesfortheGMATExam&theClassroom".GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil.Retrieved
November26,2014.
35.http://poetsandquants.com/2015/01/22/forextra25yourenhancedgmatresults/
36."GMATScores&ScoreReports".TheOfficialGMATWebSite.Retrieved20160209.

Externallinks
TheOfficialGMATWebsite(http://www.mba.com)
OfficialwebsiteoftheGraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC)(http://www.gmac.com)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Graduate_Management_Admission_Test&oldid=730994551"
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