GMAT Online - What We Know [Master Topic]

nyc20 - Expect it to be in the third week of April (April 22 onwards, will update when we get the official word). I just received an invite from the GMAC to attend an info session on April 17th to know more about the mechanics of the Interim GMAT (designed for test prep companies). We will definitely field all these questions and more there.


-Rajat

Please do remind them to tag those questions used in Home Edition so that they won't use the same questions in the future test administrations after the pandemic / HomeEdition is over. They should release those HomeEdition questions in another publication as we love official questions.

zhanbo - I will definitely pass the message, though I doubt they would oblige. We are talking about releasing hundreds of questions and the most (to my recollection) that the GMAC has released in a single year in the recent past is about ~200 for OG2020.

-Rajat

Got a mail from mba.com today where it says:
"We all recognize this is a challenging time for testing with test center closures around the world. To help, GMAC is offering GMAT™ Online. This will be an interim, proctored GMAT™ exam so that you can meet the current application cycle deadlines.
GMAT Online is primarily for those of you who have had your GMAT appointment cancelled due to COVID-19 and have immediate b-school application deadlines. The interim exam will provide an alternative option so that you can meet those deadlines and continue your goals. .

GMAT Online has a comparable structure and identical scoring algorithm and methodology as the test center GMAT™ exam. The interim exam will have the same number of items and time for completion across the Quant, Verbal and IR sections (no AWA section).

Also, we want to make the exam as flexible as possible for you. GMAT Online will be accessible on either a MAC or PC. Plus, we are working on adding accommodations to assist those with special needs. "

Here is my take : since we know that this is an interim exam option , so probably the at home exam is going to be only for candidates who have upcoming deadlines only and on case to case basis GMAC may extend this option for all students as well.
There is a possibility that people who would be registering for this exam would probably have to select the schools in advance at the of exam registration.
Given the condition of system requirement ,the question of using bootcamp on mac is ruled out for now.

Archit3110 I think you're overinferring a bit from what they said. Yes, they said that the exam will be "primarily" for those who are trying to meet the upcoming deadlines, but they are not concluding that it won't be valid for other people who are taking the exam with the hopes of it being valid for a longer timeline.

I really just do not see why GMAC would only render these tests valid for perhaps the next year or so (rather than keep them valid for the next 5 years per usual). As I believe an instructor stated somewhere, the "At-Home" score will likely be comparable to what you would get at a test center on average, simply because people will have other distractions at home that are not prevalent at test centers (e.g., roommates, less robust of an exam setup, no noise cancelling headphones, etc.) Also, I'd argue some might score higher at a test center, because that psychological feeling of being in such a high-stakes environment could propel one to be more laser-focused than usual on gameday (take me as an example: I scored 60 pts higher a month ago on the actual test than any practice test I had ever taken).

I think GMAC has to understand that performance on the GMAT can be a very momentum-based test. A lot of people peak through excessive amounts of reps and practice - a simple example of this is the mental math one gains from memorizing calculations such as what 6^3 is or what the 45-45-90 degree triangles' dimensions are. If you delay a certain subset of test takers the ability to take the exam (e.g., people applying to MBAs in 2+ years, such as myself), you are actually really screwing them over. Because if we have to wait another two to three months before we can take an exam that we are ready to take right now, there is a high probability that we will not be at our peak areas. Or, something at work could come up and result in people like us having to revert away from the test, and then those key advantages I just described to you from doing mass amounts of practice are lost, thus lowering the score.

It's a murky situation for sure because people on the outside looking in could say "that's so unfair that they get to take it at home - I bet they score better!" or perhaps they may just not like that someone scores their GMAT score in a way that appears 'nontraditional' to what has been typically done-yet, these are unprecedented times, so audibles have to be called. I am extremely interested in what GMAC will say to us in the coming days, to say the least.

Roonsta
What I posted is just my point of view on the mail I had got from mba.com , as its too early to comment or assume on what may or may not happen with the at home exam option as nothing as such is official yet and I do hope that GMAC does allow and make this test available for everyone and does not put any special condition.

Did everyone get an email for an invitation to the webinar on April 17?

[Webinar] Introducing the Online GMAT™ for Test Takers on April 17


PS. April 17 is the date of the webinar, I don’t think that’s the date of the home test opening. My guess GMAT at home will start the following Monday, April 20.

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I think the registration will start on 30th April.

There was an update on mba.com on 10th April.

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[quote="jbatra"]I think the registration will start on 30th April.

There was an update on mba.com on 10th April.

Yes. They said end of April... and I think your prediction is likely more accurate than mine

I am guessing we will know by the 17th what date it will be.

I did not. My GMAT scheduled for mid-April was cancelled, so I am not sure who the target recipients of the email were.

Weird.... you would think you would be the target audience. It it does not seem like this is for a special audience. Sometimes GMAT runs webinars for test prep companies only and sometimes we get invited to those but this just seems like a webinar for everyone....

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I had a Gmat scheduled for the end of March and didn't get the email.
Why do you guys think that they will go as far as opening registrations only at the end of the month?

I just got an email from GMAC about the webinar on April 17th. I did not have any scheduled test. I guess everyone who took the test last year should have received an email.

Also, I took the "at home" GRE test for the sake of experiment. Will share my thoughts in the dedicated thread.

Happy Easter everyone!

--

UPDATE: I wrote a debrief about my GRE "at home" experience. Happy reading. Let me know if you have questions.

I stand corrected. I think this is the second time I got tricked by the “wonderful” page that combines GMAT and EA timelines. The official page https://www.mba.com/articles-and-announ ... oronavirus still says that the NEW gmat will be available mid-April. (I wonder if my April 20th prediction is on target as the result).

EA is still end of April.
https://www.mba.com/articles-and-announ ... oronavirus

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bb, I opine that GMAC might be making the interim test available as early as April 20th (the Monday after the webinar). I apply common sense to their statement that "interim GMAT without AWA and at lower price point will be available mid-April".

To recap what we know as of right now: on Friday 4/17/20 at 12 noon EST, GMAC will be holding a webinar about the online, at-home, Online GMAT (formerly “Interim GMAT") that was already promised (“mid-April release”) weeks ago, of which we know little to nothing yet, other than the fact that there will be no AMA.

We are witnessing in real time the usual foot dragging and general corporate incompetence that I have come to expect from GMAC.

Meanwhile, the At-Home GRE has been successfully operating for the last 3 weeks.

Well said and summarized. Thank you.


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