The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a requirement of most accredited graduate business schools in the United States. The exam measures your verbal and mathematical reasoning skills.
The GMAT is an approximately three hour long Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). It is probably unlike any other test that you have ever taken. Unlike paper based tests, you cannot go back and change your answers. And the difficulty level of each question is based on whether you got the previous question right or wrong.
GMAT Structure
The GMAT is divided into three sections: the Analytical Writing Assessment, one Verbal section, and one Quantitative section. The Analytical Writing Assessment always comes first, followed by the Quantitative section and then the Verbal section.
Your combined performance on the Verbal and Quantitative sections results in a single scaled score ranging from 200-800 points. Your performance on the Analytical Writing Assessment results in a separate scaled score ranging from 0.0-6.0 points.
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)
| Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) | |
| Length | 60 minutes |
| Format | Typed Essay |
| # Questions | 2 (30 minutes each) |
| Question Types |
Issue Task Argument Task |
| Topics Tested |
Analysis of an Issue Analysis of an Argument |
Quantitative Section
| Quantitative Section | |
| Length | 75 minutes |
| Format | Multiple Choice |
| # Questions | 37 |
| Question Types |
Problem Solving Data Sufficiency |
| Topics Tested |
Arithmetic and number properties Algebra Geometry Word problems Probability and statistics |
Verbal Section
| Verbal Section | |
| Length | 75 minutes |
| Format | Multiple Choice |
| # Questions | 41 |
| Question Types |
Reading Comprehension Sentence Correction Critical Reasoning |
| Topics Tested |
Analytical reasoning Grammar Reading |