You need to know all about the GMAT syllabus and the type of questions the exam typically asks to ace it and get into your preferred B-school across the world. The 3.5-hour GMAT has a maximum score of 800 points and tests you in four sections. Before trying to understand the GMAT exam pattern, you should know what these four sections include. Verbal Reasoning, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing Assessment are the sections you will need to tackle to showcase your readiness for B-schools. The GMAT exam pattern gives you the flexibility to select the order in which you want to attempt the exam. The number of questions varies across these sections. You will need to answer a solitary question under Analytical Writing Assessment and 36 under Verbal Reasoning. There are 31 and 12 questions under the sections marked as Quantitative Reasoning and Integrated Reasoning, respectively.
What the GMAT Syllabus Examines
Verbal Reasoning
This section gives you 65 minutes to answer 36 questions. It tests you for reading comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence correction. The section on reading comprehension gives you a passage of about 350 words on a specific topic, followed by multiple-choice questions. The topic could be from the domain of humanities, social sciences, business-related fields, or physical and biological sciences. You will need to grasp the fundamental concept of the passage, the core idea, and how the various entities that the passage talks about are related to each other.
Critical reasoning questions are based on a short passage, which is in the form of an argument and gives you five answer choices. You should be able to sort out the useful information from the irrelevant matter and identify which answer choices weaken or strengthen the argument or why the argument is supportive or flawed. Thus, this section tests your ability to logically analyze arguments and craft an action plan under specific circumstances.
In the GMAT syllabus, the sentence correction sub-section under verbal reasoning tests your language proficiency. To solve the questions in this section, you will need to analyze the choice of words, grammar, sentence construction, and certain other aspects.
Integrated Reasoning
The GMAT exam pattern for this section evaluates your ability to comprehend data and use it to make meaningful and sound decisions. Questions in this section include the following:
- Multi-Source Reasoning: From the given numbers, infographics, and/or text passages, you will need to scrutinize the information, spot the relevant data, notice any discrepancies in the data sources, and draw conclusions to answer the multiple-choice questions.
- Table Analysis: This section evaluates your skills in understanding and arranging the data given in a spreadsheet or table and finding out the relevant part.
- Two-Part Analysis: In this versatile sub-section of the GMAT syllabus, you will be assessed for your ability to solve multifaceted problems and equations, discern relationships, etc.
- Graphics Interpretation: This section tests how confident you are in interpreting the information presented through a graph or graphical image (pie chart, x/y graph, scatter plot, statistical curve distribution, or bar chart) to detect relationships and make deductions.
Quantitative Reasoning
This part of the GMAT syllabus tests your skills related to the complex problem-solving, graphical interpretation, and mathematical reasoning. If you analyze the GMAT exam pattern while training with a leading GMAT provider like Jamboree Education Pvt Ltd, you will notice that the questions in this section are divided into two types – Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving. You should be ready to deal with questions related to time and distance, inequality, probability, and percentage.
Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA)
This 30-minute essay section expects you to
- study and analyze the given argument
- decipher the reasoning behind the argument and write down a critique
- display a systematic approach to present your answer
- take into account diverse points of view
- back your answer with suitable explanations and examples
- use accurate grammar in your answer
This section is designed to evaluate your written communication and critical thinking skills through argument analysis. The GMAT syllabus for analytical writing can cover a wide range of topics, from general awareness to business-related ones.
Wrapping Up
To prepare well for your GMAT, you should ideally train with a leading GMAT sample test provider that knows the GMAT syllabus thoroughly and helps you get familiar with the GMAT exam pattern. Click here to learn more about how Jamboree’s GMAT practice tests focusing on the current GMAT syllabus can get you test-ready.
