Every business school aspirant gives GMAT (Graduation Management Admission Test) at some point in his/her career to secure an admission in a management course In this article, we will go through the structure of GMAT, the usefulness of GMAT and a few tips that might help you to crack GMAT.

The relevance of GMAT

GMAT is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a Virginia based non-profit organization. GMAT is accepted as a selection criterion in more than 7000 programs across 2300+ business schools spread across 114 countries. In India, 90 business schools accept GMAT as a selection criterion, which is higher than any other exam conducted for admission in business schools.

GMAT Test Structure 

GMAT test is 3 hours and 7 min long and is divided into four sections:

Section Name	Duration (in minutes)
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)	30
Integrated Reasoning	30
Quantitative Reasoning	62
Verbal Reasoning	67

The analytical writing assessment section involves an analysis of an argument and writing a critique of that argument. This response is assessed by two independent ratings that are averaged to give the final AWA rating of the applicant. The rating is from 0 (minimum) to 6 (maximum). The higher the rating, the more relevant and accurate is the critique made by the applicant. A lesser rating indicates a less relevant, less accurate or sometimes senseless, off-topic critique (rewarded by a 0 rating).

Integrated Reasoning (IR) tests the applicant’s skills to analyze tabular data. The section involves 12 questions, usually in a multiple-choice format with contradictory answers (Yes/No, True/False). This section is rated on a scale of 1 to 8.

The Quantitative Reasoning involves 31 problem solving and data sufficiency type questions with scores ranging from 0 to 60. The problem-solving questions involve questions from geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. Data sufficiency questions ask the applicant to decide whether the given data or combinations of that data is enough to solve a specific problem mentioned in the question.

Verbal Reasoning comprises 36 questions which are divided into three sections: reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and reading comprehension. All questions are in Multiple Choice format with scores ranging from 0 to 60.

GMAT Score

GMAT score ranges from a minimum of 200 to a maximum of 800 in multiples of 10. The AWA and IR sections do not contribute to the GMAT score, they are assessed separately. GMAT can be taken a maximum of 8 times in total and a maximum of 5 attempts in a single year. Two exam attempts are required to be a minimum of 16 days apart from each other.

Preparation

As you might have noticed, GMAT is quite a tough nut to crack, which is why it is common for students to start their GMAT preparation about a year prior to giving their exams. It is also common to join a coaching institute to aid the preparation with a suitable number of mock tests taken to understand the strength and weaknesses of the applicant. If you are aspiring to score high in GMAT, you must remember that it requires well-planned and exhaustive preparation. Wish you all the best!