What is the GMAT exam?
The GMAT exam is the Graduate Administration Admission Test. The test is a standardized test that helps business schools assess your skills. The test measures your basic verbal, mathematical, and analytical writing skills. These are skills that you have developed throughout your education.
The test is made up of three sections. These sections include the analytical writing assessment, the quantitative section, and the verbal section. The analytical writing assessment includes two separate writing tests on problem analysis and argument analysis. You have thirty minutes to complete each section.
The quantitative section contains thirty-seven multiple choice questions. These questions are divided into two sections, plus data sufficiency and troubleshooting. You have seventy-five minutes for this section of the test.
The verbal section contains forty-one multiple-choice questions in three sections. These sections include reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence correction. You also have seventy-five minutes for these sections.
The GMAT does not measure your business knowledge or job skills. The test also does not measure any specific courses you have taken in college or your skills in specific subject areas. The test does not measure your creative abilities or subjective qualities. Schools use the test as a tool to predict how you will do in MBA programs or other graduate management programs.
Schools use their scores with two characteristics in mind. These characteristics that the test measures will show how you have developed skills that are considered important in graduate study programs. The test is also used to predict whether you will be academically successful in your first year of graduate school. GMAT scores also provide graduate schools with a uniform, standardized assessment of students. The meaning of your score at one school may be different at another school. The test does not provide a “pass” or “fail” assessment of your skills.
The key to studying for the test is to start early. Students must also pace themselves while studying for the test. Students may want to brush up on their basic math skills as well as their writing skills. Students must purchase practice tests and practice, practice, practice. There are several review questions that can be downloaded from the Internet. There are also computer programs available to help you study for the test. The student will want to review and study one section at a time, try not to mix and match too much.