How do I prepare for GMAT?

       Be familiar with the mechanics of the test and the kinds of questions that are asked. You must  look at the sample questions along with your test material. While practicing pay attention to where you are in the test, the number of questions that remain in a section, and the amount of time you have left. On average, you have about 1 3/4 minutes for each verbal question and 2 minutes for each quantitative question. You’ll have 75 minutes for 37 quantitative questions and 75 minutes for 41 verbal questions. If you don’t know the answer to a question, or it’s too time-consuming, guess. You can’t skip a question and go back to it, or change your answer once you have moved on to the next question. To prepare for the Analytical Writing Assessment, practice on the sample writing topics. You will have 30 minutes to compose each of two essays.

Analytical Writing Assessment

The analytical writing 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 analyze 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 analyzed and evaluated.
 

Reporting the Scores

ETS has the provision of 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 : you have to select these five universities/business-schools which 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 which universities you’re finally going to apply, based on the score that you expect to attain. For reporting to each additional university, the ETS charges you $25, payable by an international credit card or a dollar denominated draft.

The Scoring Pattern in GMAT CAT

The GMAT results comprise 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 score 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 who 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.

Retaking the GMAT

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 substantially improve.

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.
 

The Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) examination yields four scores—

      Verbal, Quantitative, Total, and Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). Each of these scores is reported on a fixed scale and will appear on the official GMAT® score reports that your school receives. In addition to the scaled score, the score report also contains "percentages below." The "percentage below" indicates the percentage of test takers who scored less than the specific test taker; this percentage is based on the scores of the entire GMAT® testing population for the most recent three-year period.

The Score Report

Paper score reports include the three most recent test results achieved in the last five years, a copy of the most recent AWA essay responses, and the following background information that the test taker may have provided during GMAT® exam registration or on the day of the test:

* country of citizenship
* gender
* date of birth
* Social Security number
* telephone number
* undergraduate institution, grade point average (GPA), major, and date of graduation
* intended graduate study
* highest level of education attained

A score report printed with "Delayed or Absent" may mean that the test taker registered for but did not take the test or that there is a delay in reporting scores (at the time of printing, the exact case is not always known).

A “+++” symbol in place of a score means there is no reportable score. This may be because the test taker canceled his or her score, Educational Testing Service® (ETS®) canceled the score after a security investigation, or no valid score could be obtained because of significant mistimings or because the test taker did not respond to the questions. Test takers are informed of the specific reason the “+++” symbol appears.

NEXT