Structure of the GMAT Exam

Want to take the GMAT examination in 2021? Dreaming of studying in the best business schools in India? More than two lakhs students sit for the GMAT exam with the exact expectations. 

However, there are certain conditions you need to keep in mind while appearing for the GMAT examination. Keep reading below to understand everything you need to know before taking the GMAT examination.

How Are You Ranked in The GMAT Exam?

The GMAT exam consists of mainly four sections, including Analytical Writing Assessment, Quantitative Test, Verbal Test, and Integrated Reasoning Test. You will be marked for each of the sections. However, the total score of the GMAT is calculated based on quant and verbal sections only.

Here is a chart below to help you understand the break up of GMAT ranking in a better way. 

Section	How the Section is Scored	Scoring
Analytical Writing Assessment	Professional essay raters and a computer algorithm are used to rank essays. The score is given in 0.5-point increments.	0.0-6.0
Quantitative and Verbal	Your ranking is determined by three variables in the Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning categories, which are item-level adaptive: 1. The number of questions you respond to 2. Whether or not the comments are correct 3. Difficulty of the questions you asked, as well as other factors If you answer a more significant number of questions, correctly answer more of them, and apply for questions of more incredible difficulty, you will receive a higher score. The standard error of calculation is 3 points, and the scores are recorded in 1 point intervals.	6-51
Integrated Reasoning	The number of questions you answered correctly determines your Integrated Reasoning ranking. Some questions have several parts; to earn credit for a question, you must correctly answer all parts of it. Scores are recorded in 1-point increments.	1-8
TOTAL	Your Integrated Reasoning score is determined by the number of questions you correctly answered. Several questions have several parts; in order to get credit for a question, you must answer all of the parts correctly. The scores are held in one-point intervals.	200-800

The aspiring GMAT candidates need to remember that there is a penalty for not completing each of the sections. If you cannot finish the allotted sections within the mentioned time, your scores will be calculated only based on the questions you have attempted. Although there is no negative marking, your scores can still significantly decrease for every unanswered question. 

Very rarely people ace the perfect GMAT score that is 800. Only 30 students among a hundred countries and 200000 test takers achieve a perfect GMAT score as per the data by prepscholar.com. 

How Are Students Evaluated in The GMAT Exam?

The verbal reasoning and quantitative section of the GMAT examination at computer-adaptive means the test’s difficulty level is itself tailor in real-time according to your ability. This is the best feature of the exam because it understands your potential within less time and with a higher degree of precision and helps deliver the business schools’ scores. 

You won’t be able to skip any answer until you answer the question in hand; you can’t move on to the next one. 

As mentioned above, there are four sections in the GMAT examination. Refer to the chart below to understand all the sections more precisely. 

Analytical Writing Assessment	Your ability to think critically and naturally communicate your ideas is tested in this section.
Quantitative Reasoning	It measures your ability to analyse the data and conclude reasonable skills.
Integrated Reasoning	This section evaluates how you present the data in different formats.
Verbal Reasoning	It measures your capability to understand and read the written material, and also, you evaluate the arguments and present correct written material using standard written English.

It takes a total of three and half hours to complete the GMAT examination. There are also two optional breaks. 

After reaching the GMAT exam centre, you have the flexibility to choose three preferred sections from the total four sections. For example, you can either choose analytical writing assessment quantity, verbal and integrated reasoning, or you can choose verbal, quantitative, integrated reasoning, and analytical writing assessment or the other. 

This feature allows you the flexibility to take the GMAT exam more comfortably as you can choose three exam sets based on your preference. 

Know The New GMAT format in Detail and Pave Your Way to Good Grades!

The GMAT is basically an adaptive computer test to assess every applicant’s potential by using various parameters and determining their expertise in different areas employing the following four sections of the new exam pattern.

• Analytical Writing Assessment
• Integrated Reasoning Section
• Quantitative Section
• Verbal Section

If you are a GMAT exam candidate, then you will get three and a half hours to complete all these four sections. The total score out of 800 is only for two sections: quantitative and verbal sections. The remaining two sections are marked independently.

Section 1: Analytical Writing Assessment

It consists of a 30-minute essay where you have to analyse an argument.

How to Analyse an Argument?

Here are the following things that you should do. 

• First of all, you have to read and examine the given argument. 
• Think critically and understand the reasoning behind the argument and write a critic of the same. 
• Methodological approach to writing your answer. 
• Don’t forget to consider different viewpoints before writing one.
• Put the proper explanation and example to support your answer. 
• Lastly, it is very essential to check grammar and spelling usage while presenting your answer. 

The school of this section is on a 6 point scale. There are two independent ratings than average is considered. 

An automated essay scoring engine is boring. If the difference between both ratings is more than one point, then a third party rating is considered for the final score; the third party rating is provided by a very expert reader.

Section 2: Integrated Reasoning

The section is replaced by one of the AWA essays and introduced in June 2012. Does the section consist of 12 questions that you need to complete within 30 minutes?

In this section, you are charged based on your analytical thinking skills and how you use them to solve a complicated problem. Provided with information or data in various forms and your performance depends on how you handle the data and pick out the information and then if that is relevant to find the correct answer. You have to provide the right answer from the multiple-choice provided, and this section has four types: follows menu options. 

Table analysis

Information will be provided in a table format. You have to answer the questions in yes/no for true/false with multiple by choosing from the month multiple statements provided.

Multi-source reasoning

You need to collect data by clicking on the two to three options that are provided. Data provided may be in the form of table charts or text. What your answer should be in True/ false or Yes/No format. 

Graphical interpretation

You are given a graph for a graphical image in the sky where you are expected to interpret the graphical image and complete the statement while choosing one of the options provided in the menu. 

Two-part analysis

Choose the question and answer from the multiple-choice provided. The two elements occupy the first two columns of the table, while the answer alternatives occupy the third column. To complete one answer, you must select only one choice under each part from the available options.

Section 3: Quantitative Section

You have to answer 31 questions within 62 minutes in this section. There are mainly two types of multiple-choice questions that fall under this category which are as follows. 

Problem-solving questions

This section is intended to assess your theoretical abilities and your ability to solve a problem using a variety of mathematical principles.

Data sufficiency questions

This segment is structured to test the ability to interpret data in a comprehensive manner. You’d be given a question, two comments, and five response options. These response possibilities are usually the same.

As a result, it’s a brilliant idea to memorise all of them, including their order. Then, using your logical and analytical capabilities, as well as your quantitative abilities, determine whether or not data is needed.

Section 4: Verbal Section

The students have two answers in 35 multiple choice questions within 65 minutes, which fall under one of the following categories: critical reasoning, reading comprehension, and sentence correction.

Reading Comprehension

You have to understand this passage, grab the key Idea and the relationship between different entities involved.

Critical Reasoning

In sections, the students will get 14 reasoning questions, and there will be 5 answer choice choices from an argument.

Sentence Correction

You will be given a sentence with an underlined question and five answer choices. You need to be familiar with basic English grammar rules to find the correct answers. 

Now that you have a better understanding of the GMAT exam structure and how the students are evaluated, you can prepare better for the upcoming exams.