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The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a Standardized test that measures verbal, mathematical and analytical writing skills. It is intended to help the graduate schools of business assess the potentiality of applicants for advanced study in business and management studies.

Nearly 900 management institutes all over the world (almost all of them in the US ) require GMAT scores from each applicant for admission to the MBA program.

The GMAT tests the fundamental skills - Reasoning and Comprehension included - and does not require any subject-specific theoretical study.

The Graduate Management Admission Test is a Standardized test that measures verbal, mathematical and analytical writing skills. It is intended to help the graduate schools of business assess the potential of applicants for advanced study in business and management. Nearly 900 management institutes all over the world (almost all of them in the USss) require GMAT scores from each applicant. The GMAT tests the fundamental skills - 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. All this because the GMAT is now 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 several parameters which the 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 B-school of your choice.

The GMAT is developed and administered by the US-based "Educational Testing Service" (ETS) under the direction of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a non-profit organization of graduate business schools worldwide. This implies that ETS sets the questions, conducts the test, and sends each examinee the score report. For the conduct of the test, ETS has appointed Testing Agencies in various countries, which act as franchisee for ETS. In India, this agency is the "Sylvan Testing Services Pvt Ltd" which administers the test at 9 centres in the country: Ahmedabad, Allahabad , Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Trivendrum.

All-round-the-year. Unlike other exams, you can choose your own date and time for taking the GMAT! The test is administered in the above cities five-days-a-week (Monday through Friday), twice-a-day. September to December is the high season for GMAT, so in case you intend to take the test during this period, you need to register very early (say 90 days in advance) to get a date of your choice. Otherwise, registering at least 15 days in advance is mandatory. The test lasts roughly four hours, and most centres offer two slots : 9 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 GMAT may vary according to the country in which you take the test. In India , this fee is US $225, payable at the time of registration. You can now pay in Indian Rupees. Payment in Indian Rupees must be made at the telegraphic transfer selling (TTS) exchange rate of the U.S. dollar equivalent. The draft should be made out in favour of "ETS - GMAT" payable in the U.S. and should be drawn on a Indian bank.

Alternately, the payment can also be made 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!

What is a Computer-Adaptive Test?

In a computer-adaptive test, the computer screen displays one question at a time, which is chosen from a very large pool of questions categorized by content and difficulty. The first question is always of a 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 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.

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 utilize this break by gearing yourself up for the tougher sections that follow.

The 37 questions in this section comprise two kinds of questions : Problem Solving (PS) and Data Sufficiency (DS). The two kinds do not have a definite break-up, 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, 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 comprises 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 answers options present 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. The break-up of questions among SC, CR, and RC could be 14-14-13 or 15-13-13, or any such combination.

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 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.

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®) is held in over 100 countries. The fee for the GMAT is U.S. $250 worldwide.

The preferred forms of payment are:

credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express)
money order/certified check

U.S. Postal Money Order international money order UNESCO coupons and checks payable in certain currencies

You can register in four ways:

Online Registration: You can now check online for available slots and register online using a credit card. This is available for registration in the United States, U.S. Territories, Puerto Rico, Canada and major international cities. Use the links below for more details.

Registering by Phone: You may call up Prometric center until 12:00 noon to register. Make sure to call at least THREE BUSINESS DAYS before the test date. Use the links below for more details.

Registering by Fax: If registering by fax, you must ideally send your fax at lest SEVEN DAYS prior to your first choice of a test day. Use the links below for more details.

Registering by Mail/Courier: Fill in the form, get your check coupons (if you are not paying by credit card), and send these to GMAT or your Regional Registration Center. Use the links below for more details.

Register Online

Online registration is now available for taking the GMAT in India. To schedule a test appointment online in India, you can complete the required details online on the official GMAT registration website.  Please note that test fee payments for online test appointments can only be made by credit card. So, you need to have a VISA, MasterCard, or American E

To schedule your test appointment by phone in India, please call the Regional Registration Center located in New Delhi:

Prometric 160-A, Senior Plaza, 3rd Floor, Gautam Nagar, Yusuf Sarai, Behind Indian Oil Building, New Delhi-110049, India. Ph : (011) 26511649, 26531442 Fax : (011) 26529741

You must send the documents at least THREE WEEKS before your choice of a test day.

On receipt of your documents, an appointment will be scheduled for you to test at the test Center. Confirmation of the date, time and location of the appointment will be sent to you. 

If you do not receive confirmation at least THREE business days before your first choice of test day, please call the Prometric office to verify your GMAT appointment.
All test takers in India must use valid passports as their ID (Identification documents). Without a Valid Passport you will not be admitted at the Test Center on your test date. However, a passport is not required to register for the GMAT.