GMAT Cafe

Now that we know . We will go forward with the format of the exam.

There are 3 parts of the GMAT exam.

• Analytical Writing Assessment (60 minutes, 2 essays)
• Quantitative Ability ( 75 minutes, 37 questions )
• Verbal Ability (75 minutes, 41 questions)

Analytical Writing Assessment: The GMAT begins with Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). The test-taker is required to write 2 short essays. The GMAT provides a simple word-processing program for this purpose. Each essay has to be completed in exactly 30 minutes.

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.

Quantitative Section: As the name suggests, this section contains questions on mathematics. This section begins after an optional (in my opinion,recommended) 10-minute break.  The 37 questions in this section comprise two kinds of questions : Problem Solving (PS) and Data Sufficiency (DS). These two types are intermingled, with no fixed number for each type.

Verbal Section: After another optional (again, recommended) 10-minute break, the verbal section begins. The verbal section in GMAT tests basic English skills coupled with reasoning and analysis. The 41 questions 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.

Computer-Adaptive format

The GMAT is a Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). The essays are not adaptive. The quantitative and verbal sections, however, are adaptive. By adaptive it means the difficulty level of every question (barring a few experimental questions) apart from the first question depends on whether you got the previous question right or wrong. In other words, if you answer a question right, the next question presented will be of higher difficulty and if you get a question wrong, the next question will be from easier levels.

Few points to remember (in no particular order):

• Reading from a book and paper is different from reading from a computer screen. Get used to reading questions from a computer screen.
• Pacing is extrememly important. There is heavy penalty for questions left unanswered.
• Due to the adaptive format of GMAT, your score will reduce drastically if you have a string of wrong answers.
• Practice at least one full length test from the two free GMATPrep tests provided by www.mba.com. Of course, the more you practice, the more equipped you are to sit through the four hour grueling session.
• Time is the most expensive resource even on GMAT. If I say every second counts, I am not exaggerating.

Related Resources:

• Official writeup on the Test Structure and Overview.
• Free GMATPrep Software