science

Graduate Management Admission Test

Graduate Management Admission Test is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Graduate Management Admission Test rather than just read about it. In short: The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( (JEE-mat))) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, quantitative, verbal, and data literacy skills for use in admission to a graduate management program, such as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Answering the test questions requires reading comprehension, and mathematical skills such as arithmetic, and algebra.

Key takeaways

Graduate Management Admission Test belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Graduate Management Admission Test to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Graduate Management Admission Test from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( (JEE-mat))) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, quantitative, verbal, and data literacy skills for use in admission to a graduate management program, such as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Answering the test questions requires reading comprehension, and mathematical skills such as arithmetic, and algebra. The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) owns and operates the test, and states that the GMAT assesses critical thinking and problem-solving abilities while also addressing data analysis skills that are vital to real-world business and management success. It can be taken up to five times a year and attempts must be at least 16 days apart. GMAT is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council. More than 7,700 programs at approximately 2,400+ graduate business schools around the world accept the GMAT as part of the selection criteria for their programs. Business schools use the test as a criterion for admission into a wide range of graduate management programs, including MBA, Master of Accountancy, Master of Finance programs and others. The GMAT is administered online and in standardized test centers in 114 countries around the world. According to a survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep, the GMAT is still the number one choice for MBA aspirants. According to GMAC, it has continually performed validity studies to statistically verify that the exam predicts success in business school programs. The number of test-takers of GMAT plummeted from 2012 to 2021 as more students opted for an MBA program that didn't require the GMAT.

History In 1953, the organization now called the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) began as an association of nine business schools, whose goal was to develop a standardized test to help business schools select qualified applicants. In the first year it was offered, the assessment (now known as the Graduate Management Admission Test), was taken just over 2,000 times; in recent years, it has been taken more than 230,000 times annually. Initially used in admissions by 54 schools, the test is now used by more than 7,700 programs at approximately 2,400 graduate business schools around the world. On June 5, 2012, GMAC introduced an integrated reasoning section to the exam that aims to measure a test taker's ability to evaluate information presented in multiple formats from multiple sources. In April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closing of in-person testing centers around the world, GMAC quickly moved to launch an online format of the GMAT exam. Starting from January 31, 2024, the previous edition of the GMAT was replaced by the GMAT Exam (Focus Edition). It now consists of three sections: Verbal, Quantitative, and Data Insights, and is graded between 205 and 805 in 10-point intervals.

Criticism In 2013, an independent research study evaluated student performance at three full-time MBA programs and reported that the GMAT total score had a 0.29 statistical correlation with the first-year GPA (Grade Point Average) of the MBA programs while undergraduate GPA had a 0.35 correlation, suggesting that undergraduate performance was a stronger predictor of graduate school performance than GMAT scores. The AACSB score (a combination of GMAT total score and undergraduate GPA) provided the best predictive power (0.45 correlation) for the first-year performance on MBA core courses. In 2017, GMAC conducted a large-scale validity study involving 28 graduate business programs, and the results showed that the median correlation between the GMAT Total score and graduate GPA was 0.38, the median correlation between the GMAT IR score and graduate GPA was 0.27, and the median correlation between undergraduate GPA and graduate GPA was 0.32. The results also showed that undergraduate GPA and GMAT scores (i.e., Verbal, Quant, IR, and AWA) jointly had a 0.51 correlation with graduate GPA.

Format and timing The GMAT exam consists of three sections: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights. The total testing time is two hours and 15 minutes to answer 64 questions, and test takers have 45 minutes for each section.

All three sections of the GMAT exam are multiple-choice and are administered in a computer-adaptive format that adjusts to a test taker's ability level. At the start of each section, test takers are presented with a question of average difficulty. As questions are answered correctly, the computer presents increasingly difficult questions; conversely, as questions are answered incorrectly, it presents questions of decreasing difficulty. This process continues until test takers complete each section, at which point the computer has an accurate assessment of their ability level in that subject area and generates a raw score for each section. On July 11, 2017, GMAC announced that from now on the order in which the different parts of the GMAT are taken can be chosen at the beginning of the exam. The three options were:

Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative, Verbal (original order) Verbal, Quantitative, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment Quantitative, Verbal, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment In April 2018, the GMAC officially shortened the test by half an hour, shortening the verbal and quantitative sections from 75 minutes each to 65 and 62 minutes, respectively, and shortening some of the instruction screens. In October 2023, with the launched of the GMAT Exam (Focus Edition), GMAC further shortened the exam and removed the Analytical Writing Assessment section, as well as sentence correction and geometry questions. Additionally, section order selection was expanded, giving test takers the opportunity to take the exam in any order they choose. A Question Review & Edit feature was also introduced, giving test takers the ability to review all answers at the end of each section and edit up to three answers per section.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Graduate Management Admission Test

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Graduate Management Admission Test claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Graduate Management Admission Test before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Graduate Management Admission Test ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Graduate Management Admission Test

In research: Graduate Management Admission Test appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Graduate Management Admission Test in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Graduate Management Admission Test is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 establishments in the United States, Business education, Standardized tests, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Graduate Management Admission Test outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Graduate Management Admission Test in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Graduate Management Admission Test means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Graduate Management Admission Test in simple terms?

Why does Graduate Management Admission Test matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Graduate Management Admission Test?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Graduate Management Admission Test.