Graduate Management Admission Test
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The Graduate Management Admission 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 used as one of the selection criteria by most respected business schools globally, most commonly for admission onto 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, somewhat less important, college or university GPA. Although a candidate's performance on the test will go a long way towards determining whether or not he or she is admitted to his or her school of choice, these other admissions criteria also play a pivotal role.
The fee to take the GMAT is currently US$250, worldwide ([link]).
The Test
The test consists of three sections: Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), Quantitative Section and Verbal Section.
Analytical Writing Assessment
The AWA consists of two essays. In the first, the student must analyse an argument and in the second the student must analyse 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 a proprietary computer program called E-rater, 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.
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 is 500.
The quantitative and verbal sections comprise a computer-adaptive test. The first question in each section is of around the 500 level. If the examinee answers correctly, the next question is harder. If the examinee answers incorrectly, the next question is easier. As the questions progress, the effect of each question on the overall mark decreases. Because of this effect, the earlier questions are more important than the latter questions.
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.
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.
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. 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.
See also
External links
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