by GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test. It is a systematic examination organised for the graduates who wish to be a part of the Post-Graduate Management Program, i.e., an MBA from a well-recognized and established government or private institution. It is like an entry-level acceptance examination that helps you secure your seat in various colleges according to the rank you achieve after going through this examination process.
This examination is organised by GMAC, the Graduate Management Admission Council, throughout the year. This examination is often conducted online only; the only exception could be for the users who face network issues in their area. The time for which the GMAT examination score is valid is five years. Keeping the requirements of the examinee in mind, the GMAC recently announced the Select Selection Order, in which the examinee could select the order of the sections according to their preference of which section they want to attempt first.
Understanding GMAT Syllabus
GMAT, i.e., Graduate Management Admission Test, comprises a detailed syllabus that helps in checking the aspirant’s aptitude in mathematical, verbal, and analytical skills. The time given to the examinee is three- and one-half hours, and the total marks achievable by the examinee is 800.
The GMAT exam mainly checks the examinee in four areas: verbal reasoning, analytical writing, quantitative reasoning, and analytical reasoning. Each of the mentioned GMAT Syllabus areas requires different strategies and methods to tackle them with full potential and achieve the required level of marks.
GMAT Syllabus – Analytical skills
One of the critical portions of the GMAT Syllabus is Analytical skills, in which the student’s ability to think critically is measured. It also measures the ability of the examinee to communicate ideas. The questions related to analytical skills consist of two types: –
Analysis of an Argument and Analysis of an issue.
On the day of test conduction, one essay is presented to the examinees for analysis, and the time given to do the same is 30 minutes.
GMAT Syllabus – Type.1 Question – Analysis of an argument
In this type of question, an essay presented to the examinee is used by them to analyse the argument. The main task of the students is to find out how strong the logic behind the argument is and need to find the related reason behind it, whether in favour of the same or against it.
The examinee should go through the given essay thoroughly. They could either agree with the explanation given or find the counter-argument with the proper evidence to support their explanation. The students could also support the given argument by adding further information to the given statement or by doing the required revision in the given argument to make it more convincing. The time given for the same is 30 minutes. The majority of the essays given for analysis to the examinee are related to business systems only. The examinee is not required to have any prior knowledge about the topic.
GMAT Syllabus – Type 2 Question – Analysis of an issue
A short statement related to a prevailing issue is presented to the examinee in this type of question. The students must analyse it and state their opinion about the same. They could either support the statement and add their opinions to it to make it a more robust argument or present their opinions against it. The examinee must present their opinion with proper reasons and examples in both cases. They could also present their real-life examples to support their statement. The topics for the same could be from different areas like business, politics, social, or ethical matters.
GMAT Syllabus – Answering the Analytical skills questions: –
The structure of the answer for the analytical skill questions comprises three parts – Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.
Introduction – An introduction is that part of the answer that should be clear and crisp enough to grab the reader’s attention. It establishes the base and tone of the answer.
Body – The Body is that part of the answer that comprises the answer’s primary paragraph. The examinee should mention all the leading and valid points related to their answer in the body portion of their answer, and they must not forget about using transitions between paragraphs, essential words, keywords, and binding terms which validate their answer and make it a strong point for the reader to understand.
Conclusion – The conclusion should be such that it makes the reader remember your words even in the long run. It could contain a firm quote or a question for the reader, or a prediction based on the current actions of the general audience. Making the reader emotional at the end makes a strong impact, and also your idea remains memorable among the readers.
GMAT Syllabus – Quantitative Reasoning:-
Quantitative reasoning is the second most crucial part of the GMAT syllabus, which comprises the questions based on mathematical concepts such as algebra, number theory, and geometrical applications. The majority of the questions are solvable with the help of arithmetical concepts.
The central portion of the questions appears in the exam in word problem format only. An examinee may see graph-related questions, logical problems, and other types of questions in the exam paper that are solved by applying different mathematical concepts.
The syllabus of quantitative reasoning varies as it covers different types of mathematical concepts, such as geometry which contains polygons, angles, quadrilaterals, triangles, and their properties, circles, and geometry measurement.
It also includes algebra comprising linear equations, polynomials, exponents, quadratic equations, ratio problems, distance problems, etc.
The examinee must have a deep understanding of the aforementioned topics, as questions from these concepts form a large part of the quantitative reasoning portion.
GMAT Syllabus – Verbal Reasoning:-
The verbal reasoning portion consists of three questions based on Comprehension, critical reasoning, and sentence completion. Sixty-five minutes are given to the examinee to complete this portion of the exam, and around 11 to 13 questions are asked based on verbal reasoning. The verbal reasoning portion of the exam generally tests the student’s ability to comprehend the meaningful statements and how strong their communication skills are. It checks the communication ability of the students, which requires a strong foundation in the various areas of the grammar portion of the English language.
The examinee must have a good hold on the grammatical area of the English to tackle the questions from this portion of the exam. Good knowledge of tenses, synonyms, punctuations, idioms, and other parts of the language is beneficial while solving the questions from this part. It could be significantly scoring for the examinee if they hold a good knowledge of English grammar.
GMAT Syllabus – Reasoning:-
The reasoning area of the exam is designed to check the examinee’s ability to tackle different types of problems based on the given information about different types of scenarios. Questions related to graphs and tables are the most common form of questions presented to the students to check their understanding and critical thinking ability to solve the problem. There is another variety of questions, including numeric, verbal, text passages, sources, and types. These types of questions could be solved by implementing verbal and quantitative reasoning.
These questions require the examinee to carefully analyse the multiple forms of data to find the best possible solution.
The four main types of questions included in this portion of the exam are – table analysis, graph interpretation, two-part analysis, and multi-source reasoning.
The best way to solve these questions is to integrate the given information and find the best possible solution.
Conclusion
The examinee must thoroughly go through the prescribed syllabus to secure the highest possible rank, which leads them to the most prestigious institution. All the details mentioned above are helpful and may help the students get a strong foundation for achieving their required goals.
The excellent hold on the knowledge about the topics included in the syllabus and regular practice of the questions based upon the topics will surely help the students acquire the required result and secure a seat in the prestigious institution for pursuing a higher degree in Management.
