Some applicants to online MBA programs may have to take the GMAT, while others may qualify for GMAT waivers. Applicants are offered waivers for various reasons. Some of those reasons include certain work experience, GPAs or other master’s degrees. For example, UT Tyler offers GMAT waivers to students who had a 60-hour GPA of 3.25 and higher and for those who have extensive healthcare or managerial experience. If you don’t qualify for a GMAT waiver, you will likely have to take the GMAT. Some schools accept the GRE as well, but many require the GMAT.
If you do have to take the GMAT, it is nothing to fear. If you prepare strategically and wisely, you can do well. The first step is to understand the test. The GMAT has four sections: Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), Integrated Reasoning (IR), Quantitative and Verbal. It takes about four hours, including breaks. You will be scored separately for each section, and your overall score will consist of a combination of your quant and verbal scores.
The first two sections, AWA and IR, are both 30 minutes long. The AWA is often known as the essay section, since you will be required to write an essay that analyzes an argument. The essay will be scored on a scale of 0-6. The IR section tests your ability to analyze information form a variety of different sources. There will be 12 questions in total and you will be scored on a scale of 1-8.
The majority of your studying should be focused on the quant and verbal sections, which each take 75 minutes and have 37 and 41 questions respectively. The quant section asks students to both solve math problems and figure out if problems can be solved with the information provided. This is through the problem solving and data sufficiency question types. The verbal section tests sentence correction, reading comprehension and critical reasoning.
GMAT preparation should consist of several essential components, the first being a practice test to assess your needs. Then, you should start learning content and strategy through a course or a set of books. You should also practice that strategy with practice questions. Finally, you should build your mental endurance by taking full-length practice tests.
Studying for the GMAT is excellent practice for entering business schools, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t qualify for a GMAT waiver. Taking the test will help you do better in your desired MBA program.
Learn more about the UT Tyler online MBA program.
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