How to Prepare for the GMAT Online Exam?

The GMAT exam is your gateway into top B-schools in the world. It opens up wide career opportunities and leads you to managerial positions faster. It is therefore necessary that you are well prepared while attempting the GMAT, to attain that coveted business degree. You can take the exam at a test-centre or online as well.  

In this article, we will give you a brief of the online exam, but before that, let’s acquaint you with some basic information about the GMAT.

About GMAT  

The GMAT (Graduate Management Test) is a graded entrance exam which is administered by the GMAC. It is designed to evaluate your critical thinking and reasoning skills.  Moreover, it is 3 hours and 30 minutes long, including two optional 8-minute breaks. The maximum score you can achieve in this exam is 800. Besides, there is no specific eligibility criteria for attempting the exam. You can attempt the exam upto five times in a year with a gap of sixteen days between each attempt. 

The GMAT has has four main sections and each section has a certain number of questions as mentioned below: 

• Quantitative Reasoning —  ( Problem Solving, Data Sufficiency)
• Verbal Reasoning — (Reading Comprehension, Sentence correction, Critical Reasoning)
• Analytical Writing  — ( Analyze an Issue and Analyze an Argument) 
• Integrated Reasoning — (Table Analysis, Two part analysis, Multi source reasoning, Graphics interpretation)

The registration process for the GMAT exam is fairly simple. You have to go to the official website (mba.com), create an account and enter your basic information (name, address, work experience, academic qualifications). Schedule your exam (you now have the option to choose between GMAT exam in centre or GMAT online). Select your preferred exam time and slot. Complete the payment for the exam that costs US $250 (INR 18,400 approximately).

As mentioned earlier due to the current pandemic situation there is now an option to attempt your GMAT online (remote version of the exam). Let us now see more details about the GMAT online mode of exam.

GMAT Online 

Owing to the current pandemic situation across the world, GMAT has introduced an online option for you to attempt the examination from the comfort of your  home. Many GMAT centres have closed around the world which has forced many to reschedule their exam dates to a later time. This is where the online option works best due to the unpredictability of the situation. 

The online exam is available 24hours a day and 7 days a week. You are allowed to schedule your exam upto 24 hours before your preferred time slot.  This option is available in almost all countries with the exception of Cuba, Slovenia, Iran, Sudan, North Korea and Mainland China. The GMAT online has the same structure and scoring pattern as the standard GMAT exam. All the sections —Quantitative, Verbal, Analytical Writing and Integrated Reasoning — have the same timing and same number of questions.

The registration fee is 250$ and you are allowed to reschedule or cancel your appointment upto 24 hours before the scheduled time of your exam. However you will be charged a small fee for rescheduling and cancellation.

The GMAT online is to be taken through the VUE online proctoring mode, where you will be monitored live by a proctor online. Moreover, there are several system requirements which need to be met while attempting the GMAT online, they are as follows:

• Operating System: Windows 10 , Windows 8.1 (32 bit and 64 bit), MAC OS 10.14 and above 
• Internet Browser: The latest versions of Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge.
• Camera: The webcam can be internal or external and connected to the computer. It needs to have a resolution of 640*480 @ 10 fps.
• Sound and Microphone: You will need to verify if the microphone and audio are not on mute so that you can speak to and listen to the proctor online. Mac users will need to go to ‘System preferences’ and then to ‘Security and privacy’ to enable Microphone, automation and input monitoring and camera.
• Surroundings: Further to the above technical requirements you will also need to ensure that you have an appropriate test taking environment. Prior to the start of the exam you should take photos of your work area (it needs to be free of all study materials, books, papers, pens, pencils etc) which will be examined by the proctor. You must not be interrupted during the test so you must attend the exam in a private space.
• Notes:  You are allowed to take notes on a single erasable whiteboard. It has to be plain white with no grids.

You can register for the GMAT online on the mba.com website. You are allowed to attempt the GMAT online twice. The GMAT online scores are immediately visible after you complete the exam. The official scores are sent by email within 7 business days. 

So now you know, if you cannot make it to a test-centre, the online option is your best bet.