GMAT™ Official Guide 2022 - 1.0 What Is the GMAT™ Exam?

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel

The GMAT™ exam is a standardized admissions test used by more than 7,000 graduate management programs and about 2,300 business schools worldwide. It evaluates analytical writing, integrated reasoning, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning through higher-order thinking such as critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving. GMAT scores are designed to be standardized, statistically valid, and reliable, and the exam is delivered online or at a test center entirely in English on a computer. The GMAT is not a test of business knowledge, subject mastery, vocabulary, or advanced computational skills, and it is one criterion among other admissions factors like essays and interviews. The guide also introduces exam format and computer-adaptive behavior.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

1.0 What Is the GMAT™ Exam?

1.1 Why Take the GMAT™ Exam?

1.2 GMAT™ Exam Format

GMAT™ Official Guide 2022 1.0 What Is the GMAT™ Exam? 1.0 What Is the GMAT™ Exam? 1.0 What Is the GMAT™ Exam? The Graduate Management Admission Test™ (GMAT™) exam is a standardized exam used in admissions decisions by more than 7,000 graduate management programs, at approximately 2,300 graduate business schools worldwide. It helps you gauge, and demonstrate to schools, your academic potential for success in graduate-level management studies. The four-part exam measures your Analytical Writing, Integrated Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning skills—higher-order reasoning skills that management faculty, admissions professionals, and employers worldwide have identified as important for incoming students to have. “Higher-order” reasoning skills involve complex judgments, and include critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving. Unlike undergraduate grades and curricula, which vary in their meaning across regions and institutions, your GMAT scores provide a standardized, statistically valid, and reliable measure of how you are likely to perform academically in the core curriculum of a graduate management program. The GMAT exam’s validity, fairness, and value in admissions have been well established through numerous academic studies. The GMAT exam is delivered online or at a test center, entirely in English, and solely on a computer. It is not a test of business knowledge, subject-matter mastery, English vocabulary, or advanced computational skills. The GMAT exam also does not measure other factors related to success in graduate management study, such as job experience, leadership ability, motivation, and interpersonal skills. Your GMAT score is intended to be used as one admissions criterion among other, more subjective, criteria, such as admissions essays and interviews. 1.1 Why Take the GMAT™ Exam? Taking the GMAT exam helps you stand out in the admissions process and demonstrate your readiness and commitment to pursuing graduate management education. Schools use GMAT scores to help them select the most qualified applicants—because they know that candidates who take the GMAT exam are serious about earning a graduate business degree, and it’s a proven predictor ofastudent’s ability to succeed in his or her chosen program. When you consider which programs to apply to, you can look at a school’s use of the GMAT exam as one indicator of quality. Schools that use the GMAT exam typically list score ranges or average scores in their class profiles, so you may also find these profiles helpful in gauging the academic competitiveness ofa program you are considering and how well your performance on the exam compares with that of the students enrolled in the program. No matter how you perform on the GMAT exam, you should contact the schools that interest you to learn more and to ask how they use GMAT scores and other criteria (such as your undergraduate grades, essays, and letters of recommendation) in their admissions processes. School | Myth -vs- FACT | | --- | |
M– If I don’t achieve a high score on the GMAT exam, I won’t get into my top choice schools.
F – There are great schools available for candidates at any GMAT score range.
Fewer than 50 of the ∼200,000 people taking the GMAT exam each year get a perfect score of 800; and many more get into top business school programs around the world each year. Admissions Officers use GMAT scores as one component in their admissions decisions, in conjunction with undergraduate records, application essays, interviews, letters of recommendation, and other information when deciding whom to accept into their programs. Visit School Finder on [mba.com](mba.com) to learn about schools that are the best fit for you. | admissions offices, websites, and materials published by schools are the key sources of information when you are doing research about where you might want to go to business school. GMAT™ Official Guide 2022 For more information on

FAQs

What does the GMAT™ exam measure in admissions?

It measures Analytical Writing, Integrated Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning skills that reflect higher-order thinking needed for graduate management study.

Is the GMAT™ a test of business knowledge or English vocabulary?

No. The GMAT does not test business knowledge, subject-matter mastery, English vocabulary, or advanced computational skills, and it does not measure factors like leadership or motivation.

How does the GMAT™ computer-adaptive format work for Quantitative and Verbal?

The test adapts to ability level by selecting questions from a large bank. It starts with a medium-difficulty question and uses your answers and earlier responses to determine the next question, adjusting difficulty as you answer correctly.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel