Where to start with the GMAT? Well let’s start at the beginning, what is the format of the GMAT? We’ll outline the format of the GMAT, give you the exam strategies you need to know and help you develop your plan of attack. The GMAT can seem complicated and unapproachable but with an understanding of what is the format of the GMAT, you can be on your way to your target score.
Let’s start with what you need to know for the GMAT.
GMAT: Forget Pen and Paper, This Test is Taken on the Computer
The GMAT is usually taken on the computer and is what is known as a computer adaptive test. Computer–because it is taken on the computer at an official test taking center. Adaptive–because the exam subsequently gets harder or easier depending on how well the test taker is doing. If the questions get harder, the test taker is doing well, and his or her score will be higher. If the questions get easier, the test taker is getting questions incorrect, and his or her score will be lower. The adaptive portion of the exam is only for the quantitative and the verbal sections, not the integrated reasoning or the analytical writing portions. Make sure you have experienced taking a CAT before attempting your first official GMAT. If you’ve never taken a computer-based test before, this is especially important.
You are given a scratchpad (usually a booklet of long laminated grid paper) and a marker for your work. You are allowed an endless supply of the scratchpad, but you are not allowed to erase anything on the pad.
One of the biggest differences between the GMAT and some of the other standardized tests is that with the GMAT CAT, you receive the score at the end of the exam. So literally minutes after you finish the verbal section, you will get a screen with your total score, your verbal score, your quant score, your integrated reasoning score and their respective percentiles. The only thing you will not receive is your analytical writing score, which will come in due weeks’ time.
What is the Format of the GMAT?
1. Introductory Questionnaire and Introduction Overview
In this section, you’ll confirm your identity and get an overview of the exam. The most important thing to keep in mind during this section is that you get FIVE free schools you can send your score to, for free by declaring them before you take the actual exam. You can send your scores after you know your score, but once that occurs, you will have to pay the standard fee for each school you send your score to. You can save a lot of time and money by opting into the five schools that you want to send your scores to for free.
2. Exam Section: Analytical Writing Assignment: 30 minutes, 1 question
The analytical writing section is one essay section that gives you 30 minutes for reading the prompt, structuring the essay, and writing the essay. You’ll be given an argument and will have to take a position on it. Make sure that you frame your essay before you start writing to make your piece organized and complete. The essay will be scored on grammar, spelling, and content so you should make sure you read through and edit before submission.
You’ll want to have some sort of standard essay structure for your writing assignment. Make sure you have an introduction paragraph and a conclusion, even if the conclusion is a sentence. You want to make sure that your piece is considered complete.
3. Exam Section: Integrated Reasoning: 30 minutes, 12 questions
The IR section is comprised of multi-source reasoning questions, graphics interpretation questions, two-part analysis questions, and table analysis. Answer formats will be in either multiple choice format or drop down format. The unique thing about the integrated reasoning section is that one question can have multiple components (meaning that one question can be comprised of multiple “component” questions). You can tell what these questions are when taking the exam because they will show up on the same screen. There’s no partial credit on these questions so to get the whole question right, you need to get all the answers to the component questions right. See our How Hard is GMAT Integrated Reasoning (IR)? What to Know guide for more tips and strategies on the IR section.
4. Optional eight-minute break
This is the first break you are given. Remember that if you choose to skip this break, you will not have another opportunity for the next hour and fifteen minutes. It would be a mistake to choose to skip the break and then be forced by nature to take one DURING the quantitative section so take this as fair warning. You’re not running a sprint; the GMAT is a marathon.
5. Exam Section: Quantitative: 75 minutes, 37 questions
The quant section is all multiple choice with two main types of questions: problem-solving and data sufficiency. The subject matter is diverse and includes arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and word problems.
6. Optional eight-minute break
This is your second and last chance to take a break on the GMAT. At this point, you’re almost at the finish line but not just yet. There’s an important hour and fifteen-minute leg to start and finish next so you’ll need a clear head and a focused mind to continue the race. A lot of people choose to grab a snack and some beverage during this break.
You’ve been sitting for the exam for two hours and fifteen minutes so far, so you’re probably, at least, a little hungry at that moment. Don’t let hunger, thirst, tiredness, or having to go to the bathroom distract you for the next section of the exam.
7. Exam Section: Verbal: 75 minutes, 41 questions
The verbal section is the last part of the exam. This section is all multiple choice like the quantitative section. There are reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence correction questions.
8. Mandatory demographic and informational questionnaire
The last part of the exam is what some may consider as the longest moment of the test. It’s the multi-page demographic and survey-type questionnaire preceding the notification of your score. Once you finish the questionnaire, the screen with your total score, your quant score, your verbal score, and your integrated reasoning score will show up. The percentiles will be included on the right-hand side. Scores never fluctuate, but percentiles do, depending on the population of test takers (meaning there’s a chance that a 700 total score could pertain to 90% in one year and 92% the next year).
After you are shown your score, you are asked if you want to keep your score or cancel your score. You do not have much time to decide whether to cancel your score or not. We recommend coming into the exam with a minimum threshold in mind that you would cancel your score if scoring below. Remember that no matter if you put the five schools or not, any school you choose to send your GMAT scores to in the future will be able to see all your past scores and if you sat and did not report to score, with their official GMAT report access. So if you didn’t receive your target dream score, don’t cancel the exam score just yet. Think about what you’d rather have: the schools seeing your score as is or the schools seeing that you sat for an exam but canceled the score.
Now you should be able to answer your previous question of, what is the format of the GMAT? The next questions you may have may surround GMAT exam strategies and how to approach each one of these sections. It’s all about structure. Take some time to understand really what the GMAT exam is all about an if it’s the right choice for you.
The thing to remember about the GMAT–a useful tip for developing your GMAT exam strategies, is that the exam requires you to be good at two things: (1) Time management and (2) Getting the right answer. Now that doesn’t mean that you need to know everything and have to be really good at reading, writing, and math. In fact, you don’t have to be exceptional at any of those things – as long as you have a smart, efficient, and effective approach to taking the test, you can align the stars in your favor.
We can help you. Look at some of our other guides on the GMAT to get a good feeling of what your expectations should be and how to exceed them.
Soon you’ll be on your way to hitting that target score.
Let’s put everything into practice. Try this GMAT practice question:
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