Business vocabulary and business concepts may appear in the readings, but GMAT generally tests the skills needed for any graduate level academic program. GMAT is a computer based test which always follows the same pattern. The test begins with two 30-minute essays. Following this comes a 75-minute quantitative section, including problem solving and data sufficiency questions. A 75-minute verbal section, including critical reasoning, reading, and sentence correction, is the final portion.
Question types appear in a random order and have five possible multiple choice answers.
Questions must be answered in order and once an answer choice is confirmed, it cannot be changed. For example, the first question is averaged about 520. If that question is answered correctly, the computer will assign a higher average score and raise the difficulty of the following question. Conversely, if the question is answered incorrectly, the computer lowers the average score and presents an easier question. In CAT, the initial questions are weighted more heavily than later ones.