The GMAT in Dubai has to be one of the most feared admissions exams out there. Get a bad score on the GMAT and all your MBA hopes could evaporate. Get a good score and, all of a sudden, your low GPA or thin CV doesn’t matter as much.
For MBA applicants hoping to battle the GMAT in Dubai, we’ve outline 5 things you need to know about the GMAT in 2019.
1. There are 4 sections on the GMAT.
The GMAT has changed over the years and there’s lots of old information out there. Just to be clear, there are only 4 sections on the GMAT:
- Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA): This is the essay
- Integrated Reasoning (IR): A mix of math and reading with different types of questions
- Verbal Reasoning: This is the reading and grammar part of the GMAT
- Quantitative Reasoning: The math section
2. Two sections don’t count in your 200 to 800 score.
Many test takers don’t know that the Analytical Writing Assessment and Integrated Reasoning do not count in your 200 to 800 composite score on the GMAT. These 2 sections are scored separately and reported on the side.
What does this mean?
If London Business School says they want a minimum of 650, this score is WITHOUT the AWA and IR.
So couldn’t you just not do those sections?
You still have to do those sections of the test (and have a decent score) because business schools will still see your score. However, it makes preparing for the AWA and IR less important than preparing for the quant and verbal.
3. The GMAT changed (slightly) recently.
In 2018, the GMAT was shortened. The quant and verbal sections used to be 75 minutes long each. The makers of the GMAT reduced the number of questions in each section so that:
- Quant has 31 questions in 62 minutes
- Verbal has 36 questions in 65 minutes
You also know have 2 optional 8 minute breaks.
There was another big change as well:
4. You can choose the order of the GMAT sections.
In the past, everyone had to take the GMAT a certain way. Now, you can choose the order of the sections to help you maximize your score:
- Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative, Verbal (classic way to take the exam, NOT recommended)
- Verbal, Quantitative, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment (recommended for students strong in quant)
- Quantitative, Verbal, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment (recommended for students strong in verbal)
5. GMAT preparation is a part-time job.
We’ve all heard stories of people walking into the GMAT in Dubai, no preparation or thought about the test at all, and scoring a 700. In more than 10 years, we’ve never met one. This is a GMAT urban legend.
Don’t underestimate how long or how much preparation the GMAT takes. Expect to spend at least 10 hours a week for 8 to 12 weeks preparing. Yup, that’s 80 to 120 hours of studying over 3 months.
Welcome to your part-time job!
