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The Graduate Management Admission Test
is a standardised test that measures verbal, mathematical
and analytical writing skills. It is intended to help
graduate business schools assess the potential of applicants
for advanced study in business and management. Nearly 1500
management institutes all over the world (most of them
in the US) require GMAT scores from each applicant. The GMAT
tests those fundamental skills that are conducive to success in graduate study - reasoning and comprehension
included - and does not require any subject-specific theoretical
study.
The test is designed in such a way that
it would be unlike any other test you would have taken at
school or college. First, the test has no question paper or
answer sheets, nor does it have the same set of questions
for all the examinees. Further, it does not give you the option
of not answering a question (unless, of course, you run out
of time at the end). All this because the GMAT is an entirely
computer based test - the keyboard and mouse do the work of
a pen or pencil. The test is scored out of 800 (in multiples
of 10), and most scores fall in the range of 500-600. However,
a score of even 800 is not unheard of!
The GMAT is only one of the several parameters
that graduate schools look at to determine the selection
of an applicant. A high score alone does not translate into
an admission offer from a great school. But the test can be
looked upon as the first major hurdle to be cleared in the
process of getting admission into a business school of your choice.
In 1953, the organisation now called the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) began as an association of nine business schools whose goal was to develop a standardised test to help business schools select qualified applicants. The assessment GMAC sponsored, which is today known as the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), was taken just over 2,000 times in the first year it was offered. 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 programmes. Since January 2006, GMAC has started using the new GMAT administrator, Pearson VUE, and new GMAT developer, ACT Inc. Former administrator and developer, Educational Testing Service (ETS), is no longer associated with GMAC. This change in GMAT administrator from ETS to Pearson VUE has not affected GMAT test-takers who took the GMAT test during the transition period. Pearson VUE conducts the test in the countries in which the GMAT is held, including Greece, and sends each examinee the score report.
All year round. Unlike other exams offered at set dates and times, the GMAT can be taken at the date and time of your choice. The test is administered twice a day, five days a week (from Monday to Friday), and on certain Saturdays. September to December is the high season for the GMAT, so in case that you intend to take the test during this period you need to register at least 2-3 weeks in advance to make certain that you will be tested on the date you prefer. Otherwise, registering at least 5 days in advance is highly recommended. The test lasts four hours approximately and the test centres offer two time slots: 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Anyone and everyone is eligible for taking
the GMAT - there are no restrictions based on age or qualifications.
The test scores are valid for five years, i.e., most universities
accept scores up to five years old. But it is always better
if your scores are recent (not older than 2 years).
Test fees for the GMAT may vary according
to the country in which you take the test and are payable at
the time of registration. The current charge to Greek examinees stands at $297.50.
The payment can be made by US$ check mail
or through a credit card which has global acceptance. The
credit card need not necessarily be yours - you can get your
father to sign for you.
You may register for the test online, by phone, by mail, or by fax.
Available time slots change continuously based on capacity and ongoing registration. When you register you will find out which times are available at your chosen test centre.
Online
If you choose to schedule a test appointment online, you must sign up as a registered user of the www.mba.com website. Be sure to enter your name and birth date exactly as they appear on the identification you will present at the test centre. Fee payments can only be made by credit card (Visa, MC, American Express)
Phone
To schedule your test appointment by phone, please use the following telephone number for Europe:
Telephone: 0044 161 855 7219, 11:00 am to 8:00 pm, Greek time
Mail
To register for the GMAT exam by mail, you must complete the GMAT appointment scheduling form. To complete it, you will also need the Country Code List (for Greece the code is GRC) and the Test Centre List for Site ID numbers (for Athens the number is 50492 and for Thessaloniki 49042). The completed form must be sent to:
Pearson VUE
Attention: GMAT Program
PO Box 581907
Minneapolis, MN 55458-1907
USA
Please keep in mind that the form, including the proper payment, must reach its destination at least three (3) weeks before your earliest requested test date.
Fax
If you wish to fax your form, please use the following fax number for Customer Service in Greece (Europe):
Fax: 0044 161 855 7301
GMAT Customer Service must receive this form at least seven (7) business days before your earliest requested test date.
Identify Yourself Correctly
When registering for the GMAT, be sure the spelling of your name and your birth date exactly match the name and birth date printed on the identification you will present at the test centre. If this information does not match, you will not be permitted to take the test and your test fee will be forfeited.
Request Non-standard Testing Accommodations
If you have a documented disability and would like to request non-standard testing accommodations, follow the registration procedures described in Register as a Test Taker with Disabilities.
In a computer-adaptive test, the computer
screen displays one question at a time, which is chosen from
a very large pool of questions categorised by content and
difficulty. The first question is always of medium difficulty,
and each subsequent question is determined by your responses
to all the previous questions. In other words, the CAT adjusts
itself to your ability level - you'll get few questions that
are either too easy or too difficult for you.
Each question in the GMAT CAT has five
answer options, and you are required to select one of these
five as the correct answer by clicking on it. A subsequent
question is displayed on the screen only after you have answered
the previous question, so you cannot skip a question. You
cannot also go back to a previously answered question to change
your answer. Thus, if you guess a correct answer or answer
a question incorrectly by mistake, your answers to subsequent
questions will lead you back to questions that are at the
appropriate level of difficulty for you.
The test has three distinct sections:
Analytical Writing Ability (AWA), Quantitative, and Verbal.
The Quantitative section has two types of questions, Problem
Solving and Data Sufficiency, mingled throughout the section.
The Verbal Section has three types: Sentence Correction, Critical
Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension; here too, the questions
of each type appear in no set sequence. There are a total
of 78 questions, 37 in Quantitative and 41 in Verbal. These
have to be done in 75 minutes each. The following table gives
out the format of the GMAT-CAT:
The Analytical Writing Assessment section
requires you to write - or rather type - two short essays
in thirty minutes each. The first is the Analysis of an Issue,
in which you need to analyse the issue presented and explain
your views on it. The second essay is Analysis of an Argument,
in which a given argument has to be critically analysed and
evaluated.
For both the essays, the emphasis is on
the "Analytical" part, and not on the "Writing" part. This
implies that a concise essay with well-reasoned points written
in simple English will be looked upon more favourably than
an essay which falls short on the analytical aspects even
though it is high on writing skills.
A five-minute break follows the two essays.
The computer gives you the option to take this break, or to
move directly to the subsequent section. Even if you finish
the essays before the stipulated sixty minutes, the break
will still be of five minutes. It is advisable to utilise
this break by gearing yourself up for the tougher sections
that follow.
There are 37 questions in this section
comprising two kinds of questions: Problem Solving (PS) and
Data Sufficiency (DS). The two kinds do not subsume to a definitive
proportionality; usually there are around 20 PS and 17 DS questions.
The section tests you on a level of Maths that is comparable
to the level of Class 10 exams (equivalent to between 1st and 2nd class of Lyceum in Greece), with questions on Number Systems,
Percentages, Fractions & Decimals, Algebra (including
Quadratic Equations), Geometry (including Basic Coordinate
Geometry), Ratio & Proportion, Area & Volume of 2-D
and 3-D figures, and Probability. This list is not exhaustive;
questions from beyond these topics may also be asked.
While the Problem Solving questions require
you to solve a mathematical problem directly and choose the
right answer, the Data Sufficiency is of a trickier variety.
Each problem consists of a question followed by two statements,
which may or may not lead to the answer to the given question.
This is what you need to ascertain - whether the given statements
can be used to answer the question or not, and if so, whether
the statements can be used independently or in conjunction.
Each of the five answer options presents the five possibilities
that arise in this case, and you have to apply the basic principles
of mathematics with a strong dose of logic to get these right.
The Verbal section in GMAT requires
the basic skills of correct English coupled with reasoning and
analysis. The 41 questions, to be attempted in 75 minutes, consist
of three types: Sentence Correction (SC), Critical Reasoning
(CR), and Reading Comprehension (RC). The three types are intermingled,
with no fixed number for each type. SC, CR, and RC can be broken down to 14-14-13 or 15-13-13, or any such
combination.
Pearson VUE makes provision for reporting your GMAT scores to a maximum of five universities of your choice, the cost of which is built into the GMAT fee you pay. But the catch is that you have to select these five universities/business-schools that will receive copies of your score report BEFORE you begin to take the test. This implies that even before taking the GMAT you need to do some homework on selecting the universities to which you are finally going to apply, based on the score that you expect to attain. For reporting to each additional university Pearson VUE charges you $28, payable by an international credit card or a dollar denominated draft.
At the time of registration, you will be asked to choose whether to receive your score reports online or by mail. If you select to receive your scores online, you will be notified via e-mail when your scores are available, about 20 days after testing. Scores sent by mail will be delivered by Pearson VUE about 20 days after testing.
The GMAT results include four different
scores: a total score (which is the combined verbal and quantitative
scores), a separate Verbal score, a separate Quantitative
score, and an Analytical Writing score. The total score is
reported on a scale from 200 to 800. The Verbal and Quantitative
scores are reported on a scale of 0 to 60. For the AWA score,
the scale is from 0 to 6. Note that your AWA performance is
not reflected in your total GMAT score (on 800). You get to
know your total, verbal, and quantitative scores immediately
after taking the test. Official GMAT score reports, which
include the AWA scores, are mailed approximately two weeks
after you take the test and take another ten days or so to
reach your address.
In addition to these scores, the score
report also contains percents (%) below. These "% below" indicate
the percentage of examinees that scored below you based on
the scores of the entire GMAT testing population for the most
recent three-year period. These percentages are important
in considering how an applicant for admission to a particular
management school compares with everyone in the specified
period, with all other applicants to the same school, and
with students already enrolled at the school.
The following table indicates the percentage
of examinees tested from Jan 2001 to Dec 2003 who scored
below specified total scores:
Even though an "I could have done better"
feeling is inevitable after any test, taking the GMAT again
may not be helpful. Sometimes it is necessary to take the GMAT
more than once, like when a management school asks you for more
recent scores than what you have. However, unless your scores
seem unusually low compared to your performance in the practice
tests, or if you have not been able to perform well because
of a sudden illness or similar exceptional circumstances, it's
advisable not to succumb to the temptation of repeating the
test. This is because, given the nature of the test, it is unlikely
that your scores can improve substantially. If you repeat the
test, your scores from the latest test date and the two most
recent test administrations in the last five years will be reported
to the institutions you designate as recipients. In any case,
you cannot take the test more than once in the same calendar
month, even if you have taken the test and cancelled your scores.
| Test Center |
Address |
|
| Athens |
Tower B Building, 2-4 Mesogion Ave.,
Ampelokipi Athens |
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| Thessaloniki |
Infolab, Papanastasiou 66, Thessaloniki |
|
To register to take the GMAT,
candidates can go to www.mba.com
or call +44 (0) 161 855 7219 (11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) |
