The enigma called GMAT

GMAT - FAQs:

What is the GMAT?
The GMAT is an online computer-adaptive competitive test that lakhs of people write all over the world every year, to become eligible to apply for the MBA (or related degrees) of top B-schools in the world.

Who conducts the GMAT?
GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council) - an independent body that is not affiliated to any B-school. They simply conduct the exam and give a report on the candidate's analytical, problem solving, and verbal skills. Any B-school in the world is free to use these scores to judge their applicants.

Which B-schools consider the GMAT for admission?
Most of the B-schools of the world, worth their salt. From Harvard to Kellogg's to the ISB to Great Lakes. Get the entire list at the official website mentioned below.

You said the GMAT is online. What does that mean?
You would have to take the exam on a computer in an authorized testing center. This requires you to know the basics of operating computers (mouse and keyboard handling). Nothing more.

What is tested in the GMAT?
The GMAT tests one's analytical, problem solving (math) and verbal skills.

What are the various sections in the GMAT?
1. Analysis of an issue: This is a subjective section in which you would be asked to submit an essay on your views on a given topic.
2. Analysis of an argument: This is another subjective section in which the question is presented in the form of an argument. You would have to submit an essay on the strength of the argument - say, what more info would make the argument strong, or what weakens it and so on.
3. Quants: This is the arithmetic section having 37 questions totally. Questions would be of the following types:
Problem Solving: Normal math questions. Solving the given problem.
Data Sufficiency: A question statement would be given, along with 2 more supporting statements. You would have to judge how much of that info is needed to answer the question asked.
4. Verbal: This section tests your English skills (41 questions totally). Questions would be of the following types:
Sentence Correction: The question would have an English statement that is afflicted with a grammatical error. Choose the best way of framing that sentence from the choices given.
Critical Reasoning: Questions that test your logical reasoning prowess.
Reading Comprehension: A passage would be given, along with some related questions.

You said the GMAT is computer-adaptive. What does that mean?
This means your answer to each question (in the quants and verbal sections) will decide the next question the computer throws at you. It works like this:
The first question would be something of medium difficulty, which they expect 50% of the candidates to answer.
If you answer the first question right, your next question would be of a slightly higher difficulty.
If you answer the first question wrong, the next question would be slightly easier.
Naturally, if you get very difficult questions in the exam, rest assured that you must have done the exam very well to have reached that level of difficulty.
Some inferential gyan on this:
Most people claim that the first 10 questions in each section are very important. They say that if you do these very well, your final score will be great. But if you make many mistakes in these questions, how-much-ever you try to compensate in the subsequent questions, your final score would not be something to write home about. I dunno how true this is, so take this one with a pinch of salt. But this is a very common piece of advise that everyone gives. So it might do you good to take care of this. You may wish to spend slightly more time on these questions then.

How does the GMAC decide on the difficulty level of questions?
Very important: Every GMAT comes with some dummy questions which wont affect your score (positively or negatively). These questions are included in the test to check how many of the candidates are able to answer these questions. From this info the GMAC would classify questions into different levels of difficulty. Since these questions would not affect your scores, it pays not to spend too much time on them. But is there some means of identifying which of the 37 + 41 questions are dummy questions? NOPE! So the only solution is: do not spend too much of time on ANY question. Spending 5 mins on a dummy question is the last thing one would want to do!

What is the duration of the GMAT?
Just less than 4 hours (inclusive of four 5-minute breaks)

Is the GMAT a multiple-choice test?
Two sections of the GMAT are of the multiple choice type (Quants and Verbal). The other two sections are of the subjective type which requires the answer to be in the form of essays. (This entails that if you can type fast, it is a definite edge!)

What would the score look like?
Your final score for the quant and verbal sections together would be on a scale of 800, while that for the 2 essay questions together would be on a scale of 6.0 (So you would receive two scores eventually, though it is the score on 800 that is valued much more by most B-schools)

What would be a good score in the GMAT?
Roughly:
More than 740: GREAT! Harvard & Kellogg would love to receive applications from you.
680 - 740: Good!
640 - 680: Just above average. If your profile is otherwise good, and you have scored well at college and school, then this score might be sufficient.
Less than 640: Your profile has to be spectacular for you to gain an entry into a good B-school. In most cases, it will do you a world of good to re-take the GMAT.

HOWEVER, this is a blatant case of generalization, and it would differ from case to case on the basis of the following parameters:
- The B-school you are applying to
- Your work-ex
- Your extra-curricular activities and involvement in social causes
- Your academic performance at school and college
- And some specific parameters (For e.g., look at this: The average GMAT score of the 2007-2008 batch of the ISB is 707. But, for Indian Males from the IT industry, the average score is 730+. So if you are an Indian IT Male, then you would need a score that is considerably higher than 730 to be safe, though it is not mandatory)

Compare the GMAT with the CAT.
GMAT is online. CAT is offline (paper test).
GMAT is computer adaptive, but in the CAT all questions are predetermined.
In the GMAT, everyone gets an entirely different set of questions. In that CAT, there are usually four sets of question papers that everyone gets.
In the GMAT, one cannot leave questions unanswered (naturally!). In the CAT, you can skip any number of questions without answering.
The topics covered in the GMAT are quite limited, when compared to those in the CAT.
One can safely say that the GMAT is easier than the CAT for the following reasons: CAT is a test on your strategizing skills as well; and the overall level of difficulty of questions is higher in the CAT.

Can you name some resources that would be of help?
1. The GMAT Official Guide (known as "OG" in GMAT circles) is a must-have. It is the bible for GMAT. It is released by the GMAC council itself, and contains actual GMAT questions. Cost: Rs 1850/- when I bought it in early 2007. Available at leading bookstores like Landmark. You can get it online too. It is in its 11th edition now (might have changed by the time you read this).
2. Kaplan GMAT Premier Program. I am not really happy with the verbal section in this book, but the quants section more than makes up for it. Also, it comes with a CD having some practice tests and 4 full-length GMAT tests WHICH ARE ALL LOW-SCORING. So don't let these tests demoralize you. (I scored 590 - 670 in these four tests; just a week before my actual GMAT where I scored more than a 100 more than the highest of these. Without any substantial preps.) So all I would say is: take these tests for practice. but dont let the scores demoralize you. Cos quants is more difficult in this, and verbal is ridiculous.
3. Loads of online material are available at:
Pagalguy - THE haunt for all MBA-hopefuls in India
www.scoretop.com
(Especially don't miss out on the notes that are available in these locations. There are some people like Spidey and Sahil who have uploaded the notes they made during their preps and many GMAT-takers find them very helpful. Am not placing the links here cos I want you to search for them :) Will help you in getting a clearer picture of the GMAT as you read thru every bit of info on the net. If you are unable to get them, ping me. I'll send them over)
4. GMATPrep software: Contains 2 full-length GMATs. Again, comes from GMAC, so you can treat these as actual GMAT tests. They are extremely accurate in predicting your GMAT scores.
Am sure there are lots more of material. But these are the ones I used.

How should I prepare?
Find my 2 cents on this here.

When can I take the GMAT?
Unlike exams like the CAT, the GMAT does not happen on one specific day of the year. You can schedule a GMAT appointment for any weekday of the year at your convenience! (Akin to the GRE)

Where do I register for the GMAT?
www.mba.com. This is where you get all the official info on GMAT too.

What documents would I need, to register for the GMAT?
A "good" identification doc. A passport is the best thing you can have. And for some countries (which includes India), the passport is the only doc that is accepted. Check www.mba.com for exact info on this.

How much does it cost?
You would be charged 250$ for scheduling a GMAT appointment.
Outside of this you would have to spend some money on books / learning resources (I spent a total of Rs 2800 for 2 books)

Why are you doing this?
I took the GMAT in May 2007 and hence, have some first-hand knowledge about the test. But when I first began to eye the GMAT, I terribly missed the presence of some resource to turn to for some solid initial info. So this is just an attempt to plug that gap and save you some online research!

(If there is something specific that you want to be addressed here, just drop a comment)