Gmat guide

GMAT® Guide Gradestack Learning

This guide provides comprehensive information pertaining to GMAT® exam. It also offers

important tips for GMAT® exam. This guide is prepared by GMAT® expert having more than 5

years of experience in mentoring GMAT® students.

6/23/2014

GMAT® Guide 2014

Gradestack Learning Page 1 Download Gradestack GMAT App

Table of content Page

1. About GMAT® 2

2. Why should you take GMAT®? 4

3. What does the GMAT® Measure? 5

4. Format of the GMAT® 6

5. GMAT® Test – Computer & Paper based 7

a. Pacing

b. Scoring the GMAT®

c. Guessing

d. The “2 out of 5” Rule

e. Computer Screen Option

f. Order of Difficulty

g. Questions and Answers

h. Test Day

6. Get Started with your GMAT® Prep 14

a. 3 questions you need to ask yourself before starting your GMAT® Prep

b. What's a Good GMAT® Score?

c. GMAT® Exam Success Tips for You

7. Gradestack GMAT® Mobile App 20

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GMAT® Guide 2014


About GMAT®

The Graduate Management Aptitude Test is a standardized Computer Adaptive Exam taken for

admissions into graduate management programs around the globe and majorly in United

States. GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council.

More than 5,900 programs offered by more than 2,100 universities and institutions use the

GMAT® exam as part of the selection criteria for their programs site. It tests your quantitative,

verbal, analytical and writing skills. Several prospective students from various backgrounds aim

to get admission in top business schools around the world. GMAT® Test offers a good method

of choosing the best applicants among several students based on the scores, making the system

of selection for management course more transparent. Listed down are the GMAT® test

sections:

Verbal Reasoning: If you can identify relationships between words and concepts, understand

the different parts of a sentence and put together an answer from a passage you will not find it

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GMAT® Guide 2014


extremely difficult to solve questions from this section. However, you definitely need practice

as the level of GMAT® verbal question is quite difficult and thus practice and guidance is

important.

Quantitative Reasoning: How is your 8 – 10th grade maths? GMAT® tests your Algebra,

geometry, quantitative skill etc. You may be good or bad in maths, however, it is very important

to practice lot of math problem by timing yourself for the test. Time management is very

important.

Analytical Writing: How good you at creatively writing an idea into a well-composed, correctly

spelled, and grammatically correct manner? This part of the GMAT® exam is for one hour and

tests your writing skills. It is very important to do lot of practice for this section even if you are

very good at writing. Also it is important to check the writing parameters which are tested for

this section.

However, all the Sections GMAT® does not test your knowledge on following:

Business

Undergraduate course

Creative, Motivation and Work ethics

GMAT® Guide 2014


Why should you take GMAT®?

The Big question is why you should take GMAT® exam? The GMAT® test score is required for

admission to most of the business school across the globe and thus there are many reasons

why you should take the GMAT®.

If you are planning to pursue MBA in US, then the GMAT® scores is the requirement for

admission. Also for good job, higher salary, good education is a must and thus aspiring to study

in a good college requires good GMAT® scores. Statistics shows better education offers better

salaries.

If you don’t do well in your studies, you can prepare well for your GMAT® exam. Relatively

high GMAT® ® score balances you average school performance and increase your chances to

get into good grad school.

In case, if you want to pursue higher studies in later stage of your career. You can still take

GMAT® as early as you can, depending on your preparation level. GMAT® score is valid for 5

years. In case, you want to work for some time and save money for future studies. Also, it

makes your profile better.


GMAT® Guide 2014


Taking the GMAT® exam when you are in school and when you are in touch with studies aids

good mindset for exam preparation in comparison to when you are working. GMAT® scores are

valid for five years, and are available for reporting for up to 10 years. Scores over 10 years old

are not available. Score Reports for tests taken from five to 10 years ago are available for a fee,

but they are sent to schools with the caveat that they should be interpreted with caution.

Check with the school before requesting an old score report, because many do not accept

them. You can cancel your score, but you can do so before you see it. Once you see it, it has to

be reported; you do not have the option of withholding it. You should not cancel your score

even If you do poorly and still report your score. An improvement between two test scores is

highly regarded by the business schools. There is technically no limit but it is recommended not

to take the test more than three times. Taking the test many times looks bad. You should plan

to take the test twice and report both scores unless of course you do very well the first time.

The admissions committee takes the best score of all your tests, however, they also look at the

history of all the tests taken by you. In addition to your academic record and a good GMAT®

scores, letters of recommendations from your seniors or supervisors from your workplace or

educational institute also plays a huge role in balancing the selection in your favour.

What Does the GMAT® Measure?

The GMAT® is an aptitude test. Like all aptitude tests, it must choose a medium in which to

measure intellectual ability. The GMAT® has chosen math, English, and logic. The question is—

does it measure aptitude for business school? The GMAT®’s ability to predict performance in

school is as poor as the SAT's. This is to be expected since the problems on the tests are quite

similar (though the formats are different). However, the GMAT® also includes two types of

questions—Arguments and Data Sufficiency—that the SAT does not. Many students struggle

with these questions because they are unlike any material they have studied in school.

However, the argument and data sufficiency questions are not inherently hard, and with

sufficient study you can raise your performance on these questions significantly.



GMAT® Guide 2014


No test can measure all aspects of intelligence. Thus any admission test, no matter how well

written, is inherently inadequate. Nevertheless, some form of admission testing is necessary. It

would be unfair to base acceptance to business school solely on grades; they can be

misleading.. So until a better system is proposed, the admission test is here to stay.

Format of the GMAT®

The GMAT® is a three-and-one-half hour computer adaptive test (CAT). There are four sections

in the test.

Section Type Questions Time

1 Writing - 30 minutes

2 Math 37 75 minutes

3 Verbal 41 75 minutes

4 Integrated Reasoning 12 30 minutes

The writing section begins the test. You will type your essay on the computer, using a very basic

word processor. Each question must be answered before you can go to the next question.

Further, you cannot return to a question once you go to the next question.

The GMAT® is a standardized test. Each time it is offered, the test has, as close as possible, the

same level of difficulty as every previous test. Maintaining this consistency is very difficult—

hence the experimental questions (questions that are not scored). The effectiveness of each

question must be assessed before it can be used on the GMAT®. A problem that one person

finds easy another person may find hard, and vice versa. The experimental questions measure

the relative difficulty of potential questions; if responses to a question do not perform to strict

specifications, the question is rejected. About one quarter of the questions are experimental.

The experimental questions can be standard math, data sufficiency, reading comprehension,

GMAT® Guide 2014


arguments, or sentence correction. You won’t know which questions are experimental.

Knowing that the experimental questions can be disproportionately difficult, if you do poorly on

a particular question you can take some solace in the hope that it may have been experimental.

In other words, do not allow a few difficult questions to discourage your performance on the

rest of the test.

The GMAT® Test – Computer & Paper

Based

The computer based GMAT® test uses the same type of questions as the paper-&-pencil test.

The only difference is the medium that is the way the questions are presented.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the CAT. Probably the biggest advantages are that

you can take the CAT just about any time and you can take it in a small room with just a few

other people—instead of in a large auditorium with hundreds of other stressed people. On the

other hand, it is easier to misread a computer screen than it is to misread printed material, and

it can be distracting looking back and forth from the computer screen to your scratch paper.

Pacing

Although time is limited on the GMAT®, working too quickly can damage your score. Many

problems hinge on subtle points, and most require careful reading of the setup. Because

undergraduate school puts such heavy reading loads on students, many will follow their

academic conditioning and read the questions quickly, looking only for the gist of what the

question is asking. Once they have found it, they mark their answer and move on, confident

they have answered it correctly. Later, many are startled to discover that they missed questions

because they either misread the problems or overlooked subtle points.

GMAT® Guide 2014


To do well in your undergraduate classes, you had to attempt to solve every, or nearly every,

problem on a test. Not so with the GMAT®. For the vast majority of people, the key to

performing well on the GMAT® is not the number of questions they solve, within reason, but

the percentage they solve correctly.

Scoring the GMAT®

The three parts of the test are scored independently. You will receive a reading score, a writing

score, and a math score. Each score ranges from 200 to 800, with a total test score of 600–

2400. The average score of each section is about 500. Thus, the total average score is about

1500.

In addition to the scaled score, you will be assigned a percentile ranking, which gives the

percentage of students with scores below yours. For instance, if you score in the 80th

percentile, then you will have scored better than 80 out of every 100 test takers.

Guessing

On the CAT, you cannot skip questions; each question must be answered before moving on to

the next question. However, if you can eliminate even one of the answer-choices, guessing can

be advantageous. We’ll talk more about this later. Unfortunately, you cannot return to

previously answered questions.

On the test, your first question will be of medium difficulty. If you answer it correctly, the next

question will be a little harder. If you again answer it correctly, the next question will be harder

still, and so on. If your GMAT® skills are strong and you are not making any mistakes, you

should reach the medium-hard or hard problems by about the fifth problem. Although this is

not very precise, it can be quite helpful. Once you have passed the fifth question, you should be

alert to subtleties in any seemingly simple problems.

GMAT® Guide 2014


Often students become obsessed with a particular problem and waste time trying to solve it. To

get a top score, learn to cut your losses and move on. The exception to this rule is the first five

questions of each section. Because of the importance of the first five questions to your score,

you should read and solve these questions slowly and carefully.

Because the total number of questions answered contributes to the calculation of your score,

you should answer ALL the questions—even if this means guessing randomly before time runs

out.

The “2 out of 5” Rule

It is significantly harder to create a good but incorrect answer-choice than it is to produce the

correct answer. For this reason usually only two attractive answer-choices are offered. One

correct; the other either intentionally misleading or only partially correct. The other three

answer-choices are usually fluff. This makes educated guessing on the GMAT® immensely

effective. If you can dismiss the three fluff choices, your probability of answering the question

successfully will increase from 20% to 50%.

Example: “2 out of 5” rule

During the late seventies when Japan was rapidly expanding its share of the American auto

market, GM surveyed owners of GM cars and asked, “Would you be more willing to buy a large,

powerful car or a small, economical car?” Seventy percent of those who responded said that

they would prefer a large car. On the basis of this survey, GM decided to continue building large

cars. Yet during the ‘80s, GM lost even more of the market to the Japanese.

Which one of the following, if it were determined to be true, would best explain this

discrepancy?

A. Only 10 percent of those who were polled replied.

GMAT® Guide 2014


B. Ford which conducted a similar survey with similar results continued to build large cars and

also lost more of their market to the Japanese.

C. The surveyed owners who preferred big cars also preferred big homes.

D. GM determined that it would be more profitable to make big cars.

E. Eighty percent of the owners who wanted big cars and only 40 percent of the owners who

wanted small cars replied to the survey.

Solution

Only two answer-choices have any real merit—(A) and (E). The argument generalizes from the

survey to the general car-buying population, so the reliability of the projection depends on how

representative the sample is. At first glance choice (A) seems rather good, because 10 percent

does not seem large enough. However, political opinion polls typically are based on only .001

percent of the population. More importantly, we don’t know what percentage of GM car

owners received the survey. Choice (E), on the other hand, points out that the survey did not

represent the entire public, so it is the answer.

The other choices can be quickly dismissed. Choice (B) simply states that Ford made the same

mistake that GM did. Choice (C) is irrelevant. Finally, choice (D), rather than explaining the

discrepancy, would give even more reason for GM to continue making large cars.

GMAT® Guide 2014


Computer Screen Options

When taking the test, you will have six on-screen options/buttons:

Quit

Section

Time

Help

Next

Confirm

Unless you just cannot stand it any longer, never select Quit or Section. If you finish a section

early, just relax while the time runs out. If you’re not pleased with your performance on the

test, you can always cancel it at the end.

The Time button allows you to display or hide the time. During the last five minutes, the time

display cannot be hidden and it will also display the seconds remaining.

The Help button will present a short tutorial showing how to use the program.

You select an answer-choice by clicking the small oval next to it.

To go to the next question, click the Next button. You will then be asked to confirm your answer

by clicking the Confirm button. Then the next question will be presented.

GMAT® Guide 2014


Order of Difficulty

Most standardized paper-&-pencil tests list problems in ascending order of difficulty. However,

on a CAT, the first question will be of medium difficulty. If you answer it correctly, the next

question will be a little harder. If you answer it incorrectly, the next question will be a little

easier. Because the GMAT® “adapts” to your performance, early questions are more important

than later ones.

Questions and Answers

When is the GMAT® given?

The test is given year round during normal business hours. There is often one week during each

month in which the test is not offered.

How important is the GMAT® and how is it used?

It is crucial! Although business schools may consider other factors, the vast majority of

admission decisions are based on only two criteria: your GMAT® score and your GPA.

How many times should I take the GMAT®?

Most people are better off preparing thoroughly for the test, taking it once and getting their

top score. You can take the test at most once a month and at most five times in any one year

period, but some business schools will average your scores. You should call the schools to which

you are applying to find out their policy. Then plan your strategy accordingly.

Can I cancel my score?

Yes. When you finish the test, the computer will offer the option of canceling the test or

accepting it. If you cancel the test, neither you nor any school will see your score. If you accept

the test, the computer will display your score and it will be available to all schools.

GMAT® Guide 2014


Where can I get the registration forms?

Most colleges and universities have the forms. You can also get them directly from the

Graduate Management Admission Council by writing to:

Pearson VUE

Attention: GMAT® Program

PO Box 581907

Minneapolis, MN 55458-1907

Or calling, 1-800-717-4628

Or online: www.mba.com

Test Day

Bring a photo ID.

Bring a list of schools that you wish to send your scores to.

Arrive at the test center 30 minutes before your test appointment. If you arrive late,

you might not be admitted and your fee will be forfeited.

You will be provided with scratch paper. Do not bring your own, and do not remove

scratch paper from the testing room.

You cannot bring testing aids in to the testing room. This includes pens, calculators,

watch calculators, books, rulers, cellular phones, watch alarms, and any electronic or

photographic devices.

You may be photographed and videotaped at the test center.

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GMAT® Guide 2014


Getting started with your GMAT® Prep

Here are few must read articles to get you started with your GMAT® prep

3 questions you need to ask yourself before starting your GMAT® Prep

Your score in the GMAT® is one of the chief conditions for getting admittance in business

schools in English speaking countries. However before even starting off on your exam

preparation, you need to ask yourself the following 3 questions -

What are the business schools you are applying to? : One of the most critical facets of

your GMAT® preparation is to zero in on the list of schools you are targeting. With

nearly all business schools in the United States requiring a GMAT® score for admission,

it becomes vital to know the minimum test scores your target schools consider as their

cut offs. That way, you can streamline your preparation on various specific areas and

identify beforehand what you need to focus on.

With ever increasing competition to top MBA colleges, GMAT® score might not

promise acceptance to a college but a below par score would undeniably guarantee

elimination. In addition to a good GMAT® score, a GMAT® at academic record and a

holistic approach to student life play a role in admissions. Letters of recommendation

from your seniors or supervisors in your previous workplace or educational institution or

even from renowned professionals play a huge role in balancing the selection in your

favour. These act as a means of verification and validation of your profile and skills.

Lastly your detailed personal statement would feature amongst the application

documents. This is an important document which give you a chance to introduce


GMAT® Guide 2014


yourself and says a lot about your passion for the field of study, goals and the skills you

possess to meet them.

What are your weak and strong areas? : GMAT® requires you to have impeccable

quantitative skills, immaculate reasoning ability and polished writing skills all of which

do not come naturally to many. You have to diagnose and understand the areas in which

you are solid in and those which require improvement. Focusing your preparation in in

your weak areas is critical. It is natural to spend more time in the areas we are most

comfortable in and end up neglecting areas that really need work. This invariably leads

to a skewed level of preparation and below standard performance in the final exam

even after putting in hours and hours of effort.

Lastly, what is your preparation plan? : Having a clear plan with the goal in place is

critical to success in all aspects of your life, nowhere is it more applicable than in GMAT®.

With a clear view on time available and a good understanding of your weak and strong

areas it should be relatively easy to have a plan in place. The hard part is following it till

your exam day, but preparing in a structures manner will help you get the most out of

your time.

Business Schools mix, match and weigh all the factors before picking the candidate and

you might definitely want to put your best foot forward always.

What's a Good GMAT® Score?

The scores in the Graduate Record Examinations (GMAT®) is one of the chief gauges for getting

admittance in business schools. However, the question is what is a good GMAT® score? What

score should you target to get admission in top business School?

After you are done with GMAT® exam and you get your official GMAT® score report on your

registered email id, you will see section wise scores for Analytical writing, Integrated reasoning,

quantitative and Verbal section. In case you are too eager to know your score right after the

test, you can note down your scores once you are done with the test. You will receive an

unofficial Verbal, Quantitative and Total scores, however you will not receive the scores for

Analytical Writing and Integrated Reasoning sections as they are scored independently. Now

GMAT® Guide 2014


the question is how good your section wise score is? Listed down below is the section wise

scoring scale along with the score which you should target for it to be a good score.

Analytical Writing: You are scored on a 0 to 6 scale with half-point increments. This is not

considered in your overall score. The average score is around 4.4 and you should aim for 4.8

and above.

Integrated Reasoning: You can score on 1 to 8 in single-digit intervals. This is also not

considered in your overall score. However, it comes as a separate entity on your score

report. The average score is around 4.26 and you must score closer to 6 for it to be a good

score.

Quantitative: You can score between 0 and 60 points. Getting less than 7 and above 50 is

rare. The average score is around 37 and you must score closer to 50 and above for it to be a

good score.

Verbal: You can score between 0 and 60 points. Getting less than 9 and above 45 is rare. The

average score is around 28 and you must score closer to 45 and above for it to be a good

score.

Total Score: You can earn between 200 and 800 points. Average score is between 400 and

600, but your score needs to more than 700 if you are aiming for good business school.

Good GMAT® Scores

Business schools do not have a specific cut-off score for admission as apart from GMAT® score

they look at the overall profile of yours including interview, recommendations, admissions

essay, work experience and GPA. If you are targeting top-tier business school, you have to make

sure that you're scoring quite well. With majority of the student admitted based on their

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GMAT® Guide 2014


GMAT® score, here’s look at the scores required by top 10 business school in US. You have to

make sure you are scoring closer to these scores if you are targeting anyone of them.

Business School Average Scores

Stanford University 728

Harvard University 724

Yale University 722

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 718

University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 718

Northwestern University (Kellogg) 715

University of Chicago (Booth) 715

Dartmouth College (Tuck) 716

UC Berkeley (Haas) 718

New York University (Stern) 715

GMAT® Guide 2014


GMAT® Exam Success Tips for You

Your scores in the Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT®) is one of the chief gauges for

getting admittance in business schools in English speaking countries. Here are key tips that you

must consider while preparing for the GMAT® exam.

Plan your schedule: It is important for you to prepare your schedule and the way in

which you go about preparation. Various training institutes provide software packages

and tools that provide awareness on the test-taking strategies, simulated tests on all

areas and much needed insight on the parameters governing the way a GMAT® test is

scored. In addition to your exam preparation, you have to include adequate sleeping

hours during the prep days, so that you do not reach a zombie state bereft of sleep.

Know the exam: The GMAT® test has 3 sections which have to be given equal

weightage. You would really do well, if you are aware of the exam format and the

interface

Practice simulated tests: Apart from getting a real life experience of taking a simulated

GMAT® test, it also helps you budget your time, and to pace and strategize the way you

should take the exam. You may have your own way of taking exam and should stick to it,


GMAT® Guide 2014


but you should also apply small tricks of elimination, backward answer taking etc. that

goes a long way in ensuring a strong performance.

You have to realize that a relatively high or an above average GMAT® score

might not promise acceptance to a college but a below par score would undeniably

guarantee elimination from most schools. Hence in addition to a GMAT® at academic

record and a good GMAT® score you have to have a holistic approach to your student

life apart from the academic front, which includes involvement in extracurricular and

sport related activities. Apart from that, letters of recommendations from your seniors

or supervisors in your previous workplace or educational institution or even from

renowned professionals play a huge role in balancing the selection in your favour.

GMAT® Guide 2014


Gradestack GMAT® Mobile App

The GMAT® Prep app provides you an exhaustive course for GMAT® exam turning your phone

into a mobile tutor. The GMAT® prep course has been built based on the new GMAT® syllabus

and is designed especially for studying and testing yourself on mobile. The Free GMAT® Prep

app cover all aspects of the Graduate Management Admission Test, which includes study

guides, designed in a modular format, large set of GMAT® questions along with detailed

answers and GMAT® flashcards to enhance your vocabulary and improve your GMAT® score

GMAT® prep content covers

• GMAT® Verbal

• Math

• Integrated Reasoning and Analytical Reasoning

Each section is divided into study notes and GMAT® practice tests having short tests with

detailed questions and answers.

Features of the Free GMAT® prep course

Word Pack: Over 3500 flashcards to help you improve your vocabulary on the go

Study Notes: Complete GMAT® syllabus of Verbal, Integrated reasoning and Math in a concise

format for you to learn quickly

GMAT® Practice Tests: Exhaustive library of GMAT® questions for you to practice

You can study this GMAT® tutor course on any Android device and on the web

(www.gradestack.com)

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Gmat guide

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