Students who aspire to attend business school have to take the GMAT. GMAT, which stands for Graduate Management Admission Test, is administered by GMAC and is meant to gauge your aptitude for business-related programs.

There are many misconceptions regarding the test for those who are new to it. If you are deciding whether or not you want to take the test or just want to clear doubts, then below are the 14 things that every student should know.

1. Does GMAT allow Calculators?

As you may know, the GMAT is a quant-heavy test that is designed to determine your readiness for business school. To achieve this, the test has two quant sections, namely, quantitative reasoning and integrated reasoning.

An on-screen calculator will be present only during the integrated reasoning section of the test. You cannot bring your own calculator to the test centre, nor will you be able to use the on-screen calculator on any other section besides integrated reasoning.

However, you will be provided note boards and markers to carry out calculations for the quantitative section of the test.

2. Can you Superscore the GMAT?

Superscore means when schools only consider the best section-specific scores from different tests. For example, if you have taken the GMAT twice and your first score is 42Q and 42V with a total of 690. And your second score is 49Q and 35V, with a total of 680. Superscore, in this case, would be your 42V from the first test and 49Q from the second.

Hence, if a school considers your best section scores across multiple attempts, it is called a superscore.

Does this apply to GMAT?

Sadly, there is no definitive answer to this question. Each business school has its own admissions policy, and no school officially states that they only consider super scores. These things usually happen in an informal capacity by the admissions committee.

3. Do GMAT scores expire?

Yes. GMAT Scores expire 5 years after the date on which you have taken the test. However, scores are available for reporting for up to 10 years. But Scores that are older than 10 years are not available.

4. Does GMAT have calculus and trigonometry?

No. Thankfully, GMAT doesn’t test students on calculus or trigonometry, which are often considered challenging topics. GMAT’s math is not difficult in the traditional sense because it only tests high school level arithmetic, algebra and geometry. However, the questions are purposefully designed to be tricky, which is where the difficulty lies.

5. Does GMAT Test Vocabulary?

No, not at all. Vocabulary is tested on the GRE exam and not on the GMAT. GMAT’s verbal section is easier than GRE because It doesn’t test you on vocabulary words. GMAT verbal only tests you on grammar, logic, and reading ability. 

At best, you need to have a grasp of high-school level vocabulary to be able to do well on the test.

6. Does GMAT have negative marking?

No. There is no penalty for getting a question wrong on the GMAT. In fact, students can’t never leave a question unanswered even if they have no idea about the correct answer. You have to answer a question in order to move to the next question.

However, leaving the end question unanswered is more detrimental to your total score than answering incorrectly. This usually happens when you are left with some questions and your time runs out. So, if that happens and you have unanswered questions at the end then that will have a negative impact on your GMAT score. Hence, never leave a question unanswered at the end of a section.

7. Does the GMAT essay score affect your overall score out of 800?

No. the analytical writing section of the test, which requires you to write an essay, is scored separately from your verbal and quant scores. Your essay is scored on a 0-6 scale, while your total GMAT score (Quant and Verbal) is scored on a 200-800 scale. Even the integrated reasoning section is scored separately on a 1-8 scale.

Moreover, many people in the field believe that your essay score has little to no significance when it comes to business schools admissions. Unlike humanities, business studies typically don’t require elevated prose. It never hurts to do your best and achieve the best possible essay score.

8. Do you need any work experience before taking the GMAT?

No. There is no such requirement by the test-makers, nor would it help your score in any way. The concepts that are tested on the GMAT are strictly academic. You won’t be asked any questions pertaining to business or commercial practices. Even undergraduate students can take the GMAT exam whenever they want. Morevoer, there is no minimum or maximum age threshold for taking the GMAT. You can take the GMAT even if you are a teenager or a retired (60+) individual.

9. Does the GMAT IR affect your overall score out of 800?

No. Similar to the essay score, your IR score doesn’t count towards your total GMAT score. Instead, the IR score is calculated on a separate 1-8 scale.

When your scores are sent off to a business school, they will see your IR and essay scores separately from your total score, which comprises of verbal and quant.

10. Does GMAT provide scores immediately after the exam?

Yes. After test completion, you will see an “unofficial” score displayed on the screen whether you take the GMAT at home or at the test center. It will include 4 out of 5 of the scores – the Quantitative (out of 51), Verbal (out of 51), Integrated Reasoning (out of 8) and Total Score (out of 800). However, for the official report card, you typically have to wait 7-10 days.

11. Does each question carry the same points on the GMAT? 

The verbal and quant sections of the test are computer-adaptive. This means that the difficulty of a question is determined by how you answered the previous questions. If you get a question wrong, the next question would be easier. However, if you get a question right, the next question jumps higher in difficulty.

The harder questions normally have more points. If you solve a harder question correctly, then you will get more points for it than getting an easier question right. Harder questions normally carry three times as many points as an easier question. On the other hand, if you get an easier question wrong, it will have a more negative impact than getting a harder question wrong. In short, you should strive not to get an easy question wrong and you should make your best effort to get a harder question right.

All questions on the integrated reasoning section carry the same points. Moreover, the integrated reasoning section is not adaptive and the difficulty level of the questions will not vary according to your performance.

12. Does GMAT give you a formulae sheet on the exam day?

No. GMAT doesn’t provide any formulae sheets. Any formulas you need to use will come from your mind. Here is a list of all the 64 formulas that might be required on the GMAT.

13. Is the GMAT an IQ test?

No. GMAT has nothing to do with testing your intelligence. Like any standardized test, GMAT can be cracked by learning the concepts that are tested and by solving practice questions. All the test is designed for is to measure your aptitude for business school.

Anyone who thinks that they can infer intelligence level from a GMAT score is wrong. Besides, even IQ tests themselves aren’t what they are made up to be. IQ tests are a controversial subject for a reason. The jury is still out on whether they are accurate predictors of intelligence.

14. Does the GMAT essay have spell check and word count?

No. the GMAT essay doesn’t have any word limit. Instead, you have 30 minutes to complete it. However, it is generally advised to write at least 500 words and follow a 4-5 paragraph structure. Your essay should be well articulated and provide cogent arguments in favour of your position.

As for the spell check, again, no. You will not receive any sort of grammatical or spelling help. Generally, a typo here and there won’t affect your score, but if you keep making mistakes throughout the essay, then your score can suffer.