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Understanding the System at GMAT

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC hereafter) is designed to help graduate schools of business assess the qualifications of applicants for advanced study in business and management. GMAT scores are used by nearly 1,900 graduate management programs throughout the world. Students from numerous countries aspire for admissions to institutions that consider scores at the GMAT for granting admissions. The idea is to have a test that measures skills acquired in (A) Verbal Reasoning and (B) Quantitative Ability, over a period of time.


There are some really laudable aspects of the GMAT that makes it such a transparent examination. In the words of the GMAC:
(A) GMAT does not presuppose any specific knowledge of business or of other specific content areas.
(B) GMAT does not measure achievement in any particular subject area.
(C) It is spelt out in the POWERPREP CD, what the GMAC wants to test really in the GMAT and what topics should the test takers be familiar with when they take the GMAT.
We shall see what the GMAT aims to test and what the GMAC expects the test-taker to be familiar with in each of the three main sections of the GMAT as under:
(I) The Analytical Writing Assessment Section
The Analytical Writing Assessment Section is the first section in the GMAT. This section presently has two components as under:
1 A 30-minute session in which you are required to analyse an issue. For each task you will be presented with a topic chosen at random from a larger pool of topics. You will respond to each topic on screen using the word processing functions of the GMAT software. For the Analysis of an Issue task, you will need to analyse a given issue or opinion and then explain your point of view on the subject by citing relevant reasons and/or examples drawn from your experience, observations, or reading. The Analysis of an Issue task tests your ability to explore the complexities of an issue or opinion and, if appropriate, to take a position informed by your understanding of those complexities.
2 A 30-minute session in which you are required to analyse an argument. The computer will present to you an argument to analyse. This task would present a different challenge from that of the Issue task. You will be required to make a critical assessment of a given argument by discussing how well reasoned you find it.  You will need to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than to agree or disagree with the position it presents. You may, for example, consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking, what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion, what sort of evidence could help strengthen or refute the argument and so on.
The Official Source gives the precise criteria for determining the scores of these tasks on a scale of 1 to 6 (with the score of 6 being the best score that one can get). Nothing could be more transparent. This is the first landmark of this Section.

To illustrate this point, the table below gives these criteria in relation to the Analysing an Issue Task.
If your analysis of the issue is Your presentation is rated You get a score of
A cogent, well-articulated analysis of the complexities of the issue and demonstrates mastery of the elements of effective writing Outstanding 6
A well-developed analysis of the complexities of the issue and demonstrates a strong control of the elements of effective writing Strong 5
A competent analysis of the issue and demonstrates adequate control of the elements of writing Adequate 4
The second landmark of this Section is the fact that like the other sections of the GMAT, this section too is designed to test reasoning and logical skills more than anything else.

The third landmark of this task is that what you write has got to be entirely original. You are asked to present your perspective and therefore this insistence on originality is very easily understandable.
(II) The Verbal Section
The verbal section of the test measures the ability to understand and evaluate what is read and to recognize basic conventions of standard written English. It is extremely important to note from the Test Taking Tips in the POWERPREP CD that none of the questions in the Verbal Section are vocabulary questions. The GMAC can only tell the aspirant for the GMAT that the test is not of vocabulary. This is the best that the GMAC can do. The GMAC cannot snatch away irrelevant material, which the student is using for the GMAT.

The Verbal Section contains the following question types intermingled throughout the section:
(A) Sentence Correction questions that ask you which of the five choices would best express an idea or relationship. The questions will require you to be familiar with the stylistic conventions and grammatical rules of standard written English and to demonstrate your ability to improve incorrect or ineffective expressions.
(B) Reading Comprehension questions in which there are passages accompanied by several questions based on their content. The questions may be interpretive, applicative, and inferential questions about each passage. The passages are up to 350 words long, and they discuss topics from a wide range of topics such as the social sciences, the physical or biological sciences, and business-related fields, such as marketing, economics, and human resource management. It is not assumed that the student has detailed knowledge of the topics discussed.
(C) Critical Reasoning where questions are designed to test the reasoning skills involved in making arguments, evaluating arguments, formulating or evaluating a plan of action. The materials on which the questions are based are drawn from a variety of sources. No familiarity with the subject matter of those materials is presupposed.
(III) The Quantitative Section
There are two types of multiple-choice questions used in the quantitative section of the GMAT:
(A) Problem Solving questions that test your ability to understand verbal descriptions of situations and to solve problems. The Problem Solving questions are designed to test basic mathematical skills, understanding of elementary mathematical concepts, and the ability to reason quantitatively and to solve quantitative problems.
(B) Data Sufficiency questions that are designed to measure your ability to analyse a quantitative problem, to recognize which information is relevant, and to determine at what point there is sufficient information to solve the problem. Each Data Sufficiency question consists of a question, often accompanied by some initial information, and two statements, labelled (1) and (2), containing additional information. You must decide whether sufficient information to answer the question is given by either (1) or (2) individually or (if not) by both combined.
Problem Solving and Data Sufficiency questions are intermingled throughout the section. Both types of questions require knowledge of (I) arithmetic (II) elementary algebra and (III) commonly known concepts of geometry.

There are some clear-cut conventions followed at the GMAT. These conventions are as follows:
(I) All numbers used are real numbers
(III) A figure accompanying a problem-solving question is meant to provide information useful in solving the problem. Figures are drawn as accurately as possible EXCEPT when it is stated in a specific problem that its figure is not drawn to scale. Straight lines may sometimes appear jagged. All figures lie in a plane unless otherwise indicated.
(III) A figure accompanying a data sufficiency problem will conform to the information given in the question, but will not necessarily conform to the additional information given in statements (1) and (2). Lines shown as straight can be assumed to be straight and lines that appear jagged can also be assumed to be straight. One may assume that the positions of points, angles, regions (and so on) exist in the order in which they are shown and that measures of angles are greater than zero.
(IIII) In data sufficiency problems that ask for the value of a quantity, the data given in the statements are sufficient only when it is possible to determine exactly one numerical value for the quantity. A word of caution becomes necessary here: most books (on the GMAT) in the market tell you that there is no need to calculate anything at all in the Data Sufficiency Section but all that you have to do is to see whether the information provided is sufficient to be able to answer the question. We may make it clear that since the GMAC yells from the rooftops that statements are sufficient only when it is possible to determine exactly one numerical value for the quantity, you should actually calculate whether the two statements give EXACTLY ONE numerical value for the quantity. Ignoring this advice is fraught with the risk of the score plunging southwards.
Problems in the Quantitative Section call for no further inputs than what one acquires at school as may be seen from the fact that in the words of the POWERPREP CD provided by the GMAC, such questions usually cover the following topics:

Arithmetic: Properties of integers, Fractions, Decimals, Real numbers, Ratio and proportion, Percents, Powers and roots of numbers, Descriptive statistics, Sets, Counting methods, and Discrete probability.

Algebra: Variables and algebraic expressions, Manipulating algebraic expressions, Equations, Solving linear equations with one unknown, Solving two linear equations with two unknowns, Solving equations by factoring, Solving quadratic equations, Exponents, Inequalities, Absolute value, and Functions.

Geometry: Lines and angles, Polygons (convex), Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Circles, Rectangular solids and cylinders, Coordinate geometry. The geometry section is limited mainly to measurement and intuitive geometry or spatial visualization.  Extensive knowledge of theorems and the ability to construct proofs are not tested. The idea therefore is to test elementary skills at geometry that one acquires at school level. When the GMAC writes words such as intuitive geometry, what more can we expect from them? Should they actually tell us that they are looking for logic here as well? Should they swear affidavits?

GMAT and the school-level examination, what distinguishes one from the other is just the breadth of perception that the GMAT calls for.

We can almost hear some of you asking the meaning of breadth of perception. We shall have to necessarily use illustrations to drive home what we mean by breadth of perception.

Illustration 1
Imagine that you are told that Liquid D is an admixture of Liquids A, B and C in the ratio of 3:4:11 and the ratio of the prices of Liquids A, B and C is 13: 11: 7. You are then asked as to how much would 2 litres of Liquid D cost as a percentage of the price of 5 litres of Liquid D.

Now see what is meant by breadth of perception. The fellow learning mathematics at school will leap and get hold of pen and paper and then add 3, 4 and 11 and arrive at the fact that Liquid A, B and C respectively constitute 1/6th, 2/9th and 11/18th of Liquid D. He then gazes blankly at the figures that he has before him. He does not know how to proceed. The graduate student knows that whatever be the price of a litre of Liquid D, the price of 2 litres of Liquid D will fundamentally be 2/5th of the price of 5 litres of Liquid D and therefore the crux of the question is expressing 2/5th in percentage terms; 2/5th is 40%. The answer to the question is that 2 litres of Liquid D will cost 40% of the price of 5 litres of Liquid D. The ratios of the three liquids have nothing to do whatsoever with this question. Nor have the ratios of the prices got to do anything with the question. This realisation is what determines breadth of perception. 

Illustration 2
Imagine that you are asked as to what will be the remainder when 8 divides 963. The person skilled at mathematics may be able to answer this question in a few days time since multiplying 9 with itself 63 times is a Herculean task and then dividing the result with 8 will be another huge task. The person with breadth of perception realises that 963 is essentially (8+1)63. Just as in the expansion of (8+1)2 [which is 82+(2×8×1)+12] and (8+1)3 [which is 83+(3×82×1)+ (3×8×12)+13]:
(A) In the expansion of 963 there will be 863 and 862 and 861 and so on till 81 with integral co-efficient (all of which are essentially multiples of 8 and therefore eminently divisible by 8)
(B) There will be one and only one term at the end that will have nothing to do with 8. This last term will be 1.
Thus when one divides 963 with 8, the remainder is 1. This is what the graduate student who has seen a lot more of the world after finishing school will say in a minute. He has been putting shine on the skills that he has acquired at school. This shine is what is being tested at the GMAT.

The Important Aspects of the GMAT
The following are the most important aspects of the GMAT:
  In the computer-based test, the verbal and quantitative sections are adaptive. The Analytical Writing Assessment Section is not computer adaptive.
  At the start of each section, you will be presented with a test question of medium difficulty. What is medium and what is difficult is never defined by the GMAC. It is not written alongside the question whether it is of medium difficulty or easy or tough. When the GMAC have not defined what they call medium difficulty and what is not, we are not to depend on anyone else’s judgement about the level of difficulty of a particular question. Ignore anyone who professes to present to you questions for example with Difficulty Level 1 as the easiest and Difficulty Level 10 as the toughest. These so-called difficulty levels are all homemade. They have no basis. It would be logical to make an assessment whether a question is easy or medium or tough from the actual questions in the POWERPREP CD (which we shall hereafter refer to as the Official Source.)
  The GMAC has a marvellous system whereby the student community judges whether a question is easy, or moderately easy or moderately tough or tough. Even the paper setter at the GMAT does not determine whether a question is tough or easy. Students the world over who have written the GMAT in the last three years decide which question is easy and which is tough. If you will see in the official publications of the GMAC, they clearly lay down the scoring methodology. The GMAC has carried out a survey of what percentage of students was able to answer each particular question in the past three years. The findings of this survey are available for the world to see in their official publications. If the GMAC finds that, for example, less than 20 percentage of all the students who wrote the GMAT the world over have answered Question A correctly, that question would be classified as tough whereas a question where over 80% of the students have answered it correctly is classified as easy and so on. When this finding is in the official publications of the GMAC, relying on any CD other than the POWERPREP CD is fraught with the risk of being led astray. Who except the GMAC can tell you how many percent of the students who wrote the GMAT the world over found Question A easy and how many found Question B tough?
  If you answer the first question correctly in each section, the next question typically will be one of greater difficulty. This is why it is of paramount importance to be solid on concepts.
  If you answer the first question incorrectly, the next question typically will be one of lesser difficulty. This is why if you guess and fall flat, you may find it difficult to register a decent score at the GMAT.
  Anyone who tells you that the level of difficulty keeps rising with each question that you answer correctly at the GMAT (or the GRE for that matter), knows nothing about either of these tests. As you answer each question, the computer scores that question and makes use of that information, as well as your responses to any preceding questions and information about the test design, to determine which question will be presented next.
  The computer does not always select a tougher question when you answer a question correctly or an easier question when you answer incorrectly.  This is because the test design includes several factors in addition to the difficulty level of the questions. Therefore to say that the level of difficulty rises constantly with each question correctly answered is not correct. Look at the GMAT Official Guide and you will see ample proof for this assertion. The GMAT takes an overall picture of the examinee.
  The computer-adaptive GMAT is designed such that the questions you see are influenced by three factors: (A) Difficulty level of the questions already answered (correctly and incorrectly) (B) Required variety of question types and (C) Coverage of specific content.
  The next question posed to you will be the one that best reflects both your previous performance and the requirements of the test design.  This means that different test takers will be given different questions.
  Because each question that the computer selects for you is determined by your answers to previous questions, you cannot move on to the next question before you answer the question that appears on your screen.  This is why one must be solid on concepts.
  Once you answer a question and confirm your response, you cannot return to that question and change your answer. The computer has already scored that answer and used it as a factor in selecting succeeding questions.
  Your score in each section will be based on the number of questions you answer as well as on the difficulty levels of the questions you answer correctly and incorrectly.  Typically, a correct answer to a difficult question has a greater positive effect on your score than does a correct answer to a relatively easy question. It is also possible to earn a very high score even if you answer several questions incorrectly.
As to questions such as the following, we shall request you to look up the POWERPREP CD that you will get from the GMAC in the year in which you register for the GMAT. We see no need for reinventing the wheel.
(I) At what periodicity is the GMAT held?
(III) How much time do you have for writing the GMAT?
(III) How many questions are generally asked in each of the three sections (Verbal, Quantitative Ability and Analytical Writing Sections)?
The GMAT has, in all, three sections including (1) the Analytical Writing Section that has writing assignments on two topics each of 30 minutes duration, (2) the Quantitative Section of 75 minutes duration that has in all 37 questions involving data sufficiency and problem solving and (3) the Verbal Section of 75 minutes duration that has 41 questions involving sentence correction, reading comprehension and critical reasoning.
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