GMAT Online - What We Know [Master Topic]

Here I go again...

I think you are bringing up a very good question. GMAC has just extended the test by another month, from July 20 to Aug 14th.

First of all, I have no idea why they don't allow retakes. I have theories and my main one is that there were some bad decisions made. I think GMAC got themselves into a corner by creating a test with separate score reports and separate retake rules. Why those were in place, it makes no sense to me, but now that they have those in place, they don't work well with the traditional tests and with the COVID-19 keeping test centers closed (or questionnably open), they will have to make some tough choices.... or risk people going to GRE or elsewhere. I think we will be seeing more changes in the next 2 weeks through mid-July since GMAC was not expecting to keep GMAT Online this long.

I have a feeling they will start allowing retakes at some point if the test continues to be online only. It is technically possible since folks are able to retake that took the Online test pre-June 11. As of right now, the new "version" of the GMAT has only been live since June 11th (everyone else before that time is able to retake the test at least one more time online). My guess is that GMAC will allow retakes after July 20th. Does anyone have a diff opinion?

Just got my scores, some advice to give back to this helpful community:

Online exam test day advice experience:
1. Don't drink too much water you don't get to use the bathroom until after both Q and V.
2. You get a 30 second break between Q and V, if you manage to finish Q early, just let the timer run and submit with ~30 seconds left (or however confident you are in your clicking ability), and also let the timer run for the 30 second break so you can maximize. Fatigue during the verbal section was high.
3. I asked during the 5 min break to use the bathroom, the proctor didn't reply for some reason so I just went. Nothing happened I still got my score and everything, but I would suggest at least asking.
4. Try not to cover your mouth, look away from the screen, or make any noises, the proctor may tell you to stop doing those things and it was super distracting and wasted precious time because the chat window pops up every time and covers half the screen.
5. IR is usually my slowest section but I finished in like 17 minutes somehow, super easy and short questions too. There was some page misalignment in the answer choices which made it hard to read but not a dealbreaker and i provided that feedback after the exam.
6. Took it on 7/6 at 10am and got scores on 7/13 7pm.
7. Came out of it feeling very confused, because there were hard questions but I felt confident I got them right, which was weird because usually when I scored high I felt like it was easy, and when I didn't score high I immediately knew it felt hard. I guess this is the adaptive part of the test working per design?
8. Check in about 15-30 mins early to take pictures of your desk etc. It took a few mins and another few minutes to get matched up to a proctor. I ended up starting the exam about 5 mins earlier than my scheduled time because I signed in 15 minutes early. Finished in about 2hr 25 mins.

Practice exam history:
1. 680 49Q 35V, July 2019, diagnostic cold attempt, Kaplan
2. 680 45Q 39V, Aug 2019, didn't study and took the same diagnostic again
3. 700 48Q 38V, Apr 2020, studied on and off for about 4 months over the course of 8 months and took the same Kaplan diagnostic again haha
4. 640 44Q 33V, May 2020 seriously studied for 1 month about 5 hrs per week on average, took GMAT Club CAT. GMAT club math questions were definitely harder, some were AMC 10 level olympiad type questions and concepts especially in combinatorics and number theory
5. 650 44Q 35V, May 2020 Took GMAT club CAT #2 the next day
6. 640 42 Q 35V, Jul 2020 3 days before GMAT, studied hardcore for 2 months, took official GMAT practice #1. At this point I'm super concerned so I look up some strategies and it was a game changer. First impression was this test was VERY different in content and feel to Kaplan and GMAT club practice tests.
7. 730 48Q 42V, 2 days before GMAT, took GMAT club CAT #3
8. 760 49Q 46V, day before GMAT, Official GMAT practice #2
9. 780 50Q 51V 8IR real GMAT

I'm very happy with my score, it's my first attempt. Minor question shouldn't 50q and 51v be 790 or even 800 territory? Does this mean everyone who took this test scored really high?

General advice:
In total I studied around 100 hours and did around 700 practice verbal questions and got 71% correct, and 200 quant questions 82% correct, but I really think quality>quantity. These were all high difficulty questions, no point doing easy questions. This isn't a lot of reps compared to some crazy numbers I've seen on these forums but I spent only around 30% of my time doing questions, 20% reviewing wrong answers, and around 50% of my time painstakingly analyzing and collecting stats on what types of questions I get wrong, why I get them wrong, any patterns to wrong questions such as how much time I take, what topic the verbal topics are on etc. Anything to find any patterns.

Exam Strategy: Key for me was exam strategy. I was attacking the GMAT like it was my actual job and solving all questions fully, understanding all topics completely, making sure I QC and everything is correct. This was very slow and I usually left around 2-5 questions blank at the end, even though I got almost all questions that I do attempt correct. As you can see it resulted in my low practice scores up until practice #7 when I finally figured this out.
Key priorities when flexing your exam strategies: 1. Definitely prioritize getting all questions done 2. then try to maximize % 3. then try to nail the last few questions, even if at the expense of getting some middle questions wrong in the 10s.

Verbal: I discovered I was weakest in Sentence Correction>Weaken>biology and society related questions. So when I encounter these on the exam I slow down and read very thoroughly and map out the logic, vs passages and sentences about economics for example I trust my first gut and breeze through. I figured out I was good at SC and RC, so I focused my questions on CR and specifically on question types that I was weak in. Also it helps to know which topics you are more comfortable with and interested in and compensate. I'm a consultant and most of the economics/finance related concepts are interesting and pretty basic for me to grasp, but topics like biology and society etc. in which I have little experience and frankly, interest, are harder for me to not only conceptually understand, but also put in the mental effort to understand. So when I encounter these topics, I force myself to slow down and map out the topics and logic.

Quant: I'm weakest at combinatorics, number theory, so if I encounter a difficult problem I allocate more time until I'm on pace (i.e. solve question 5 until I have 52 mins then guess and move on. thankfully I didn't need to guess on any questions during the actual exam) and make inferences and speed through without checking on topics I'm strong in such as rates, algebra, geometry, set theory. I also only picked out the hardest questions for quant, and split them out into 23 topics. If I got 6 questions in a row correctly I moved to the next topic.

IR: honestly didn't study at all. I must have only did IR once in my first ever diagnostic and once on my first practice GMAT. Got 7 in both but left 2/12 questions blank. On the real GMAT I somehow finished the section in 17 minutes, got an 8... weird but i'm not really indexing too much on this section.

Full time professionals: For those of you working, my senior director gave me this advice and it really helped, but I basically took a week off work, and locked myself in for 9 days and just studied my ass off 9am - 6pm. Progress was insane. I think doing 1 hr per night after work is necessary and good in the months leading up, but it takes a bit of intensive focus in the last stretch to really create the muscle memory to do this test. I really don't think this test is about knowledge at all, it's specifically about how good you are at taking the GMAT. Knowledge and intelligence helps but it's primarily how conditioned you are to take this test.

These forums helped me a lot throughout this process so I'm just happy to give back a bit now that I'm done with the GMAT forever.

GMAC has clearly anticipated this work-around, so tread lightly: trying to take the GMAT Online exam under an alternate mba.com account is an offense that sure to get you banned from taking the GMAT, potentially ruining your chances for admission at an elite b-school.

I once tried to create an additional mba.com account as an experiment, and although I was successful, GMAC eventually merged the two accounts, so now I can log in under either account and see all my test-center GMAT scores from the last 5 years, as well as my GMAT Online scores.

That being said, I wouldn't try to take the GMAT Online under an alternate account, even if it worked, since that's unethical and disallowed by the exam rules. Even if no one noticed right away, you would have to be looking over your shoulder constantly.

Considering that all exams are fully recorded, photo IDs are verified and tied to your real identity, and facial recognition software is used, you are highly likely to get caught, so I would strongly advise you to think twice before trying this particular experiment--assuming that you aren't already kidding in the first place.

As others have already noted, just try to stay patient and wait for updates from GMAC in the coming weeks: with the pandemic not going away anytime soon, GMAT Online retakes seem inevitable.

Hey, I got 4 RCs on my GMAT Online test but I don't think it is a mandate.

!

You can Retake GMAT Online Starting Sept 23! Bring your cash with you - the price for GMAT Online is going up and change/cancelation fees are back in style. Also, the GMAT Attempts will count towards lifetime max and yearly max counts Of course GMAC could not just provide anything positive on its own.... any positive tidbit has to be followed with a spoonful of junk.

Hello,

So this is my first post on Gmat Club and I would like to thank everyone, especially the moderators at GC, for building such a helpful community which is so conducive for tackling the GMAT.
Day before yesterday I gave my first GMAT attempt which was on the Enhanced GMAT Online. The information on the new Enhanced GMAT Online is scarce as of now and that is why I wanted to post my experience here.

Starting with my score, which was a 700 (Q50 V35 IR 7 AWA 5), was lower than my expectations and I will definitely give one more attempt as my target is 760. I have not given the in-centre test yet so I cannot compare the difficulty with the in-centre test. But here are some procedural tips which might be helpful to boost your score a bit:

• My order was Verbal Quant IR AWA (which I feel I should have changed). The check-in procedure may or may not take time. In my case it took a lot of time almost 45-50 mins and when the questions start, they just pop up. This 45-50 min break might pose some problems at the start in terms getting in the flow despite of doing warmup before the quiz. So, I would suggest starting with your stronger section as getting the flow might take some time. For me, I should have started with quant as the first few questions of quant were extremely simple (first question as simple as arithmetic addition) and helped me get in the flow more.
• My very first hiccup started at the examity page where I could not see the link despite refreshing the page several times. I then got on chat support and they were reviewing it but by this time it was the time for my appointment so I refreshed the page once again and even lost the chat support. As a last ditch measure, I closed everything, logged back on the GMAT site and there in future appointments I saw the launch exam link which led me to the examity page with the connect to proctor link.
• The proctor was super friendly and helpful and answered all my queries right from the stupidest things.
• A debrief that I had read initially said that his proctor monitored him on zoom so having it installed a priori might be helpful. But for me the software was different. Although as the setup file was very light, the installation didn’t take much time. It has an interface similar to that of any other video calling application, so you won’t face any problems there. However, one big change that I feel with the Enhanced GMAT is that you can talk to your proctor if you want, rather than sending him a text thus making everything faster and clearer. All of the procedure will be orally dictated by the proctor. This includes verifying your identity to showing your room and surroundings.
• You will be asked to take a photo of your PC (both front side and back side) so you might require your phone for that. You don’t have to upload the photo anywhere but just show the phone screen through your webcam to the proctor.
• My check-in process might have taken some time due to the ambiguity of the rules as initially the proctor was okay having my phone in the same room (although in a cupboard), but later asked me to put it outside the room.
• Although the site says that drivers license etc would be okay, I suggest you have your passport with you, as in my case I had to go out of the room and fetch my passport despite of having my driver’s license and aadhar card with me which was already linked.
• But rest assured the proctors are really supportive and will make you feel at ease (this was at least in my case :p)
• The optional breaks are 8 mins each which are inclusive of the time required to show your whiteboard twice (once before getting up and once after coming back) and show your room and area under the desk. This process requires somewhere close to 2 mins so I suggest you plan your break accordingly
• You can have even two water bottles with you on the condition that they must be clear. One of my bottles had a label so he asked me to remove it. In one bottle I had an energy drink so it is not necessary that it must have water only as long as the bottle is clear.
• An important tip is regarding the camera positioning. The proctor will ask you to come back in frame the moment you start swaying away from it (which generally happens as we take notes or lower our head to think). So, keep your camera position such that you will be in frame despite of these movements (the farther the better).
• You can have the air-conditioner remote in the same room but not in an arm’s reach and can use it only in the breaks to change the temperature.
• The score flashes as soon as you are done with the AWA but you cant write it down. My report was up on the official website in around 5-6 hours.
• In case the connection breaks, the secure browser will shut down with your progress saved. You can reconnect to the internet and join back. (This is what at least the proctor told me)
• I suggest no matter what question or action, run it through the proctor by calling out for him. They are very prompt in addressing it.



In terms of prep I would score around a Q50-51 in all tests and V37-45. One major difference that I felt while attempting the GMAT was the level of the questions, especially in quant. After the 15-16th question or so there will barely be any question where you will be able to recover time. Almost all questions will require around 2 mins to solve. Some might even have really big question stems. Hence, time management is extremely critical, especially at the start.

Also I had a question, is it possible for me to order the ESR for the GMAT Online? If yes, how can I do it?

All the information that I shared was my experience, so I would suggest you to cross check, if you have any doubts, with the necessary authorities.

That being said, I wish you all best of luck for your GMAT and your future endeavours and hope you get the dream score that you want!

Thanks and Regards
Kidbeat

Hi Everyone,

Today I took my GMAT Enhanced Online exam that is on 26th May 2021 and wanted to share my experience here.

Process:
The check-in process is simple and fast. The Proctor was very helpful and would always assist you if there is any problem, I gave my exam on Windows 10 laptop and it worked. The proctor will connect to you through zoom. So install it before the exam starts.

Exam Difficulty: The test was really harder than any mocks I have given, Quant was challenging and you need to manage time perfectly to achieve a good score. Coming to Verbal it was lengthy, and I guessed 2 questions at the end because there was no time. The RC's are really difficult.

Score: 740 - Q50,V40.
I was aiming for 760+ as my last mock score was 770 - Q51, V44.

I am going to take another exam in the test centre once the lockdown is over.

Hi everyone! Wanted to share my debrief of the online exam I did on Saturday 5th, hopefully it will be of help:

- I used a Mac with Catalina 10.15. As reported earlier in this thread, a week before the test I was unable to launch the secure browser, since I got an error message saying something similar to 'the developer isn't known', which scared me at the time. After asking here, it was clarified that it was the expected behaviour
- On the day of the exam, the 'Launch Exam' link appears in the mba . com website. I could see it approximately 30 minutes before my scheduled time, but I clicked on it when my exam was due in 15 minutes (which supposedly was when the link would become available)
- In the Examity page, you'll be asked to answer one of your pre-defined questions, as well typing your names (these two steps are the ones you fill in the Examity registration process)
- I don't remember the exact details, but in the Examity page a link will appear where you will be connected to the proctor. In my case, it prompted me to download GoToMeeting (no idea if it was a regular version, or a specific one). The program will ask for some permissions, and then you'll be able to speak to and hear the proctor. Some of the permissions made me restart GoToMeeting, but it was quick and automatic
- The proctor will be able to see and control your screen. My proctor was very helpful and knowledgeable regarding the Mac menus (I'm not), and whenever I was required to do/show something, he would (for example) tell me "click on the XX menu at your top left, then look at the icon at the 2nd row and 3rd column". So he actually guided me when he asked for a specific instruction (like showing active tasks). My computer was in Spanish and he would specify the menus/where to click in English, but ultimately I made the clicks
- The proctor will need to enter a password before launching the exam. In my case it was a bit problematic, because he put a wrong password twice (as he typed, I wouldn't see what he was writing, as it only showed 'dots' instead of characters), which made the situation a bit stressing. I don't recall if he or I suggested it, but he asked me to change my language settings to add 'English (Indian)' as my main computer language (he guided me each step), and then his password worked fine
- I don't remember if it was before or after entering his password, but the proctor will read the exam's instructions, and you can ask him about any doubts. After he told me I couldn't have electronic devices in the room, I asked if I could keep my phone out of reach, as an internet connection backup. He asked me if I could take it out of the room, and in case there were any issues, he/I would just speak aloud and try to troubleshoot it
- When I agreed to the rules and terms, the proctor was ready to launch the exam. However, when he first tried, I had the same error with the Secure Browser as I did before (unknown developer). When I translated the error to the proctor, he guided me to the Settings, where I had to give permissions to the Browser. After doing this, I was able to launch the exam
- Overall, despite a couple of issues, I had the impression that the proctor would be able to troubleshoot most of the problems one would face
- During the test, I didn't experience any lag. During my breaks, if I wanted to leave the room, I let the the proctor know (he answered me immediatly), and I had to show my whiteboard before leaving. When I returned, I had to show my whiteboard again and also show a 360 view of my room (I have a laptop) and a view of below my desk. It's a quick process, but it can take a couple of minutes of your breaks
- In my case, the Quant section was similar in difficulty to the official mocks (perhaps slightly more difficult). However, I also took the former online version during May, and in that occasion I found Quant much, much harder than the official mocks (scores breakdown at the end of this post). In the Examity version, Verbal was similar to the mocks, except for the RC passages, which I found considerably tougher

My scores in the official mocks / tests were:
Mock 1: 680 (Q45/V38)
Mock 2: 710 (Q46/V41)
Mock 3: 710 (Q49/V38) -> Using whiteboard and without a break between Q and V, simulating the Online Pearson Exam
Official Online 1 (Pearson): 660 (Q43/V38) -> Found Quant much, much harder than previous mocks. Perhaps there was a little of nervousness too, but I consider that the exam was harder
Mock 4: 710 (Q46/V42) -> A few days after my Official Exam, without further study
Official Online 2 (Examity): 700 (Q47/V38)

So overall my second online exam was a bit lower than my mocks scores, but within their range. Was expecting to score a bit higher in Verbal to be honest, but I don't think I did too well in RC. I would've preferred to take the test in a Test Center, but there's only one in my country, and it's closed due to lockdowns. I would recommend people in similar situations to take the Online version.

I just completed the enhanced online GMAT (from India)
The overall experience was very good and the proctor was very helpful.

• The process is exactly the same as described in the video interview taken by GMATNinja
• The proctor allowed to keep a clear water bottle although i read that water is not allowed
• I used my mobile hotspot- (the phone was kept outside the room) and faced no connection problem (used Airtel 4G - for fellow Indian test takers)

• Used as below :
- White board : https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08YKB ... UTF8&psc=1
- Dry erase Marker : https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B084G5 ... UTF8&psc=1
- Dry Eraser : https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07LFR ... UTF8&psc=1`
- Laptop and OS : Macbock Pro (16 GB 2Ghz) and MacOs Big Sur (11.2.3) - no issues at any point of the exam.

• Certain things that I did right and would advice everyone to do as well :
- Adjust the room AC at correct temperature few hours prior to exam
- Ensure that you practice with the white board and markers before the actual exam on couple of mocks
- Have a power back up - Day before yesterday I called an electrician and made sure that socket that my laptop charger was connected (inside the room) and the socket that my mobile phone charger was connected were both equipped with back up power (connected to Invertor/UPS as know in India) - It was raining heavily and electricity went off at-least 4-5 times during the exam, luckily I had uninterrupted power supply

• Certain things that I completely screwed :
- Could sleep only 3 hours on the exam day in 24 hours before the exam, although I ensured a fixed schedule for last one week following it strictly, today when I went to sleep (around 12 hours before the exam), the anxiety got better of me and just couldn't sleep till like 4-5 hours before the exam. Luckily got 3 hours of sleep, drank coffee and gave the test - i don't thing it change my score drastically - but I made many (more than I am proud of) silly mistakes in easier quant questions, also on the CR questions had to focus a bit longer than i usually did in mocks. SO PLEASE SLEEP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE EXAM DAY, BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT MIGHT BREAK YOUR WELL PRACTICED DAY SCHEDULE.
- Drank too much water and you know what happens next, had to fight it through the last 10 questions on Quant. SO PLEASE TAKE ONLY SMALL SIPS OF WATER.

• Difficulty of the TEST :
- Verbal was much harder than the GMATPrep Mocks tests (especially RC)
- In SC I expected more meaning based questions but they were not there, although I think i screwed up the initial ones hence only got the more mechanical ones (way too many question with the "WITH" modifier, way too many)
- CR was at the same level, if not relatively easy (may be just felt the same level due to lack of sleep)
- Quant was at the same level as GMATPrep Mocks (although I felt that there was too much of mundane calculations involved in the questions, more chances to make silly mistakes, I was more used to reasoning approach and lagged lagged against the timer almost the entire Quant section multiplying weird numbers most of the time - or may be this was sleeplessness as well)
- Also I felt that despite the harder Verbal section it was still less punishing, because my score didn't change much.

Actual score : 740 (V40, Q50, IR 8) - lower than expected but I don't think that I will retake the exam.

Although I have one doubt : I did not press the next button on the AWA section when it ended (I was reading the essay), is it considered submitted ?
I read in a post that on test centre exams it is recorded (https://gmatclub.com/forum/was-my-awa-e ... 26690.html )
Just want to confirm weather same is the case of for the Online GMAT

And yes, those who struggle with spelling mistakes, as I do, need not worry, the AWA section highlights the spelling mistakes.

I have not given any other GMAT so cannot compare with test centre experience.

Wow. Sounds interesting.. Specially "cheaper" and "No AWA"...

And here's the vague release from GMAC about the GMAT home edition, available in mid-April: https://www.mba.com/articles-and-announ ... oronavirus.

Interesting that they're calling it the "Interim GMAT". Presumably, it won't last long, so cheaters need to hop in there quickly.

I guess AWA section can be easily added in the near future. GMAC is rushed to introduce "Home Edition" to compete with GRE. Sadly, both programs' reputations will take a hit. Whether the damage is irrecoverable is anyone's guess.

No doubt they must have some reservations about test (and test question) security. But in the pursuit for larger market share and test takers' money, they make bad, dumb, near-sighted decisions. So much for critical reasoning they claim to measure. Theirs is pretty pathetic.

I just realized this after reading your Post... I guess it will be a huge advantage... Specially if I recollect my first attempt when Time anxiety got better of me

shameekv1989

Looks like I should prepare myself to take second attempt in April once they make "Test From Home" available..

https://www.reddit.com/r/GMAT/comments/ ... l_took_me/

Quite a few working ideas on how to compromise GMAT home edition.

Why GMAT can allow its cash cow (and highly-guarded questions) to be in jeopardy is beyond comprehension. Whoever made the decision for Home Edition ruined the GMAT as we know it.

In the PPT shared, in the page 4, last point ETS says "The score report does not indicate how the test was delivered. Scores should be treated the same regardless of delivery method"
I infer from this statement of ETS that there will not be any indication whatsoever on the score report that the exam was taken online. Also I can infer that the online test will have same validity (5 years period) and credibility in the eyes of admission committees, as it's difficult to identify that the test is delivered online.
What are your predictions for the GMAT? Will GMAC give the same validity (5 years)? Will the B-schools see it any differently? (since missing AWA and Nomenclature of "Interim GMAT" will make it easier for the B-Schools to distinguish.)

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.