When Are The GMAT Test Dates 2018-2019? | EDUopinions

When Are The GMAT Test Dates 2018-2019

17/05/2018

If you’re planning on taking the GMAT in 2018 or 2019, it will be worth your time to properly prepare not only your skills and knowledge but your schedule for taking the test. The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT, is a “computer adaptive test” (CAT), accepted by 2,300 business schools, nearly 7,000 individual degree programs around the world, and is administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), based in the United States. The exam is aimed primarily at students interested in Business Schools in order to earn their MBA. The test is also offered at around 600 test centres in 114 countries around the world.

 

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What is the best time to take the GMAT?

The GMAT is, fortunately, offered at any time of year and on no fixed timetable. Technically, you can register for the GMAT from anywhere between six months to 24 hours before your test date. The only limitations you have when taking the GMAT are:

  • You can only take it 5 times per year
  • Each attempt must be 16 days apart from the last

In short, the best time to take the GMAT is when you feel prepared to take it. However, you also need to consider when you will be applying to schools in order to give yourself the chance at getting the best score you can. Your test scores are valid for 5 years, so you have a wide berth of time in which to consider how to use those 5 annual attempts.

Since the first round of business school applications begins around September and the second round of applications begins in January, you want to give yourself enough time to take the GMAT at least twice before your application is due.Since test takers have to wait 16 days in between taking successive tests, giving yourself two months before your application is due should be sufficient, but consider that the absolute minimum amount of time before your application is due. The key here is strategically taking the test, given your limitations, for your best shot at the best score. Three months is a good amount of time to not only prepare yourself, giving yourself a set date to study for, but also to get your preferred testing location. Seats fill up fast, and you want to make sure you get your best choice.

How often can you take the GMAT?

As stated above, one of the only limitations of the GMAT is that you can only take it 5 times per year. During that year, you also have to wait 16 days for each test attempt. Surprisingly, the GMAT preparation materials don’t stress the importance of the test itself or the score, as is the case with the GRE. The GMAT is, very plainly, about logical reasoning skills and practicality: traits that programs looking at these scores value more openly than graduate schools in general. So, while you may be able to take all 5 GMAT attempts within the course of a few months, your strategy in taking the test will be reflected in your score.

 

 

How do you find and book GMAT tests?

Since there is no set date, all you have to do is create an account on the official GMAT site. However, before you even begin to think about setting a test date, you will want to find your nearest testing center. Of course, if you live in a large city, especially in the United States, you will find a center much easier. However, if you are taking the test outside of the United States, and/or maybe live in a more rural area, it will be prudent to factor this into your preparation.

You can book the GMAT 3 ways: by phone, by mail, and online. However, if you’re reading this, your best option is to register and book your seat online. Once you’ve found a testing center closest to you, you can begin the registration process:

  • Create your account on MBA.com
  • Register by clicking the “Register Today” button on your home page
  • Complete your personal profile
  • Fill in optional information, such as potential business schools and your alma mater
  • Verify that your name, date of birth, and citizenship match your ID exactly
  • Choose your test center that you’ve researched beforehand
  • Pick your test date
  • Pay your registration fee of $250 by Visa, MasterCard, JCB, or American Express

Once you’ve completed your registration, now it’s time to study! Remember: the GMAT is a measure of your ability to interpret information, manage and simplify complex problems, and ultimately put that information to good use in the business world. Part of that is how you study

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William
My name's Will Shrout, and I'm currently working in Hanoi, Vietnam as a private English consultant and content editor for a Southeast Asian travel company. As a former graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin and course instructor in the Classical Studies department, I've found that I can transfer and apply my teaching skills to almost any job I land in, which is why I choose to leave academia and write about it instead. I still love teaching, and I learn something new every day, but I aim to show the world that there is so much teaching and learning to be done outside of the traditional ideas of classrooms and academic boundaries.

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