And you walk towards the podium, smartly dressed in your robe to collect your MBA degree from the University of Harvard or Stanford or Wharton or Chicago or…. and *puff* Such a beautiful dream, isn’t it? What do you think is the biggest barrier between you and this dream? Yes! That holier-than-thou 700+ GMAT score.
Read on to understand how tough is the GMAT and if that 700+ mark is achievable! The Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) is the standardized test, available to anyone, from any background who wishes to appear for it. Also, it is the standardized gateway for candidates willing to pursue the rigorous MBA/Master’s program and take up management of businesses as a career.
Why GMAT is hard?
The GMAT is taken by 200,000+ candidates worldwide every year, and the average GMAT score at the top business schools is 700+, where only 8% percent of the test takers score 700 or above. The structure of GMAT is set in such a manner that it assesses the analytical prowess, managerial capabilities and decision-making power through its mix of verbal and quantitative reasoning questions. The various sections of the GMAT comprising of Quantitative section, Verbal section, Integrated Reasoning and the Analytical Writing Assessment tests the candidate’s ability to live through the rigour of the MBA program and perform in the competitive business world outside. Business Schools know that if you take the GMAT exam, you are serious about earning a graduate business degree as it’s a proven predictor of your ability to succeed in your chosen program. In order to further assess the specific reasons, as what makes the GMAT seems to be hard, let’s bite into it piece by piece.
Nature of Test
GMAT is computer adaptive that is the test adapts itself as per your performance. Thus, if you answer a question correctly, the next question is having higher difficulty level but, if you answer a question wrong, then the next question is of a lower or similar difficulty level. So, your exam will start becoming harder, if more questions you are answering correctly and, if you have answered more questions incorrectly, you will start seeing the easier questions. Thus, your final score depends not only on the number of questions you have answered correctly but also the difficulty level of the questions. Moreover, due to adaptive nature of the test you cannot go back and change your response to the previous questions.
Difficulty of Questions
The questions asked in the GMAT are what someone would study in high school! Including arithmetic, basic geometry, algebra, number properties and statistics in the quantitative section and basic grammar, inference and reading comprehension in the verbal section. Hence, it is not the questions that are tough, but it’s a test of higher order reasoning skills that measures your ability to reason with these skills. Thus, each section on GMAT require a different strategy to tackle the problems in the best way. In addition, the traps laid by GMAC which messes with our brains! If you fall into those traps, you use of losing the most precious resource in the world, no not Oil but, TIME! So, a thorough preparation is really the only way you can rescue yourself from unpleasant surprises on the test day.
Timing and Accuracy
If you were to take a stroll outside a GMAT test centre after the test, “Man! I screwed up, I just didn’t have enough time”, or “I became impatient during the test” These remarks would be the most common thing you would hear. Timing is the maker or breaker!
GMAT is approximately over 3 hours long test, which in itself requires a certain level of endurance and stamina. And then adding timing pressure is the other way to make the test difficult wherein you have 2 mins/question in the Quantitative section and ~ 1.8 mins/question for the verbal section. And now comes the real devil, adaptive nature of the test due to which, students spend more time in solving first few questions, or investing more time on supposedly difficult questions. While answering a rather unanswerable question may seem lucrative, but we often forget to look at the bigger picture which is lack of time towards the end. Thus, either, we end up guessing the answers towards the last questions or we just leave them. And fun fact, getting consecutive questions wrong or leaving questions unanswered towards the end is very expensive and penalized heavily. So, it’s important to focus both on pacing and accuracy.
Is the GMAT really hard to crack?
The GMAT is not hard if you are well prepared!! Scoring on the GMAT require focus, commitment, dedication and determination, and your score depends a lot on how disciplined and how thorough you are with your preparation. The first key to being properly prepared is to set a realistic and strategic study plan over several months. Once you’ve the study plan, the next step is to make time in your busy schedule, and please do remember there is only time for the things we make time for. If you plan your schedule well and make your GMAT preparation a top priority, you can definitely find the good number of study hours. Hard work and devoted study are the norms, not the exception!
Good Luck!!