ICON+

Registration can be done online at www.mba.com. Before you are able to register for the GMAT Test, you have to sign up as a registered user on mba.com. It will usually take about 48 hours for the registration as a new user to be approved. Registration for the test date is on first-come-first-served basis. Tests are available daily. There are 6 available seats for each seating.

You may take the GMAT exam once every 31 calendar days and no more than five (5) times in a rolling 12-month period. If you score an 800 (full score) on the exam, you will be prohibited from testing for five (5) years from your exam date.

GMAT is Graduate Management Admissions Test. It is a computer-adaptive standardized test in mathematics and the English language for measuring aptitude to succeed academically in graduate business studies. 

Business schools use the test as a criterion for admission into graduate business administration programs (e.g. MBA, Master of Accountancy, etc.) principally in the United States, but also in other English-speaking countries (Singapore included).

It will be best for students to check with the relevant universities whether or not a GMAT test score is required as part of the admission procedure.

The GMAT or Graduate Management Admission Test, as its name suggests, is for admission to management or business school while the GRE or Graduate Record Exam is for graduate school. In other means, GRE is for general graduate school other than business school.

In general, nearly all MBA program requires GMAT score. The PhD program in business school also accepts GRE score for admission though all of them also accept GMAT scores.

If you are applying to top 50 business schools, you need to have a score of at least 600 or above. For top 10 MBA programs, an average score of 700 is required.

The maximum score that can be achieved on the exam is 800. The Analytical Writing part of the test is graded on a scale of 0 (the minimum) to 6 (the maximum).

0 An essay that is totally illegible or obviously not written on the assigned topic.

1 An essay that is fundamentally deficient.

2 An essay that is seriously flawed.

3 An essay that is seriously limited.

4 An essay that is merely adequate.

5 An essay that is strong.

6 An essay that is outstanding.

The GMAT score is valid for 5 years.

GMAT Test is a Computer Adaptive Test. Questions in the Quantitative and Verbal sections are dynamically selected as you take the test; the multiple-choice questions will adjust to your ability level, and your test will be unique.

For each multiple-choice section of the GMAT exam, there is a large pool of potential questions ranging from a low to high level of difficulty. Each section of the test starts with a question of moderate difficulty. If you answer the first question correctly, the computer will usually give you a harder question. If you answer the first question incorrectly, your next question will be easier. This process will continue until you complete the section, at which point the computer will have an accurate assessment of your ability level in that subject area.

In a computer-adaptive test, only one question at a time is presented. Because the computer scores each question before selecting the next one, you may not skip, return to, or change your responses to previous questions.

There are 3 sections. 

The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) is the first section of the test. This is followed by the Quantitative section, and the test concludes with the Verbal Ability section.

 Analytical Writing Assessment

The GMAT exam begins with the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA). The AWA consists of two separate writing tasks—Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument. You are allowed 30 minutes to complete each one.

Quantitative Section
Following an optional break, you then begin with the Quantitative Section of the GMAT exam. This section contains 37 multiple-choice questions of two question types—Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving. You are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete the entire section.

Verbal Section
After completion of the Quantitative Section (following an optional break), you begin the Verbal Section of the GMAT exam. This section contains 41 multiple choice questions of three question types—Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. You are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete the entire section.

You have three and a half hours in which to take the GMAT exam, but plan for a total time of approximately four hours.

The test fee is US$250 worldwide.

There is a US$50 fee to reschedule the date, time, or location of a GMAT exam appointment if you reschedule your appointment at least seven full calendar days before the date and time of your original appointment. If you reschedule within seven calendar days of the date and time of your original appointment, you will be charged the full registration amount. The rescheduling fee is subject to change without notice.

Pacing is critical, as there is a severe penalty for not completing. Both the time and number of questions that remain in the section are displayed on the screen during the exam. There are 37 Quantitative questions and 41 Verbal questions. If a question is too time-consuming or if you don’t know the answer, make an educated guess by first eliminating the answers you know to be wrong.

On the day you take the GMAT®, before you begin the exam, you may select up to five (5) GMAT Programs to receive your Official Score Report.

These recipients will receive the Official Score Report within 20 calendar days of your test. This service is covered by your registration fee. Once you have made your selections, you will not be able to change or delete them. The cost to send an Additional Score Report is US$28.

The only opportunity that you will have to cancel your scores is at the test center. Immediately after you complete the test—but before you view your scores—you will have the option to cancel your scores. You cannot cancel your scores after they are displayed or reported to you.

You can come to our centre personally or do the registration online. Registration is confirmed when payment is received. You can choose to pay by cash, NETS, Visa/Mastercard or cheque.

As the duration of our programs is short, a student pass is not necessary. Our international students have comfortably completed our programs using a tourist visa. If required, we will provide you with the necessary documentation needed for an extension of your visa.

Yes. We are so confident of the quality of our courses that we offer the highest score improvement guarantee in the market. If you do not see a significant improvement of at least 90 points, you can prepare again with us for free. We also do not burden you with tons of conditions, a norm in other schools. Our guarantee is simple and reasonable.

ICON+ offers up to four options to registered Full Prep, Marathon or Personal Training students who are unable to attend one or more days of class.

1. Students can assess complete presentations through prerecorded video lessons.
2. Discounted private tutoring is offered to current students. Students find that one hour of private tutoring is equivalent to approximately one full class session.
3. Students can repeat the missed classes in a concurrent class.
4. Students may choose to review the missed lesson on their own using the instructor-manned email support.

ICON+’s international team of instructors are dedicated to your success.

• They have completed a grueling Master Trainer Program that lasts over 200 hours; only one in five trainees will successfully do so.
• They have at least 5 years of instructional experience
• They have achieved minimum 95th percentile in the test they are teaching
• They have a proven record of producing high-scoring students.

• We are not a franchise which may have differing standards or an inexperienced start up company with no track record. Our corporate partners and students believe that we are a serious company because we have the experience and resources to back any project, big or small. SMU, as well as other reputable universities, has appointed ICON+ as its official test prep centre.
• We offer the widest range of prep solutions in the market: from small group coaching to highly customized courses.
• We have a team of full time, highly experienced and trained test prep specialists with a proven track record of producing top-scoring students.
• We provide students with exclusive, up-to-date and proprietary study materials.
• Students will have 24/7 access to their personalized online learning space on GMAT2go.com, our cutting edge e-learning program. GMAT2go.com is packed with thousands of GMAT questions, adaptive mock tests and detailed progress reports.
• ICON+ provides a full suite of value added services such as test registration, admissions consulting and many more!
   

Over the years, we have crafted a proven methodology that produces top-scoring students. 30% of our students score 700 or more, and 60% score between 600 and 690, which are well over the worldwide averages of 10% and 30% respectively.

Signing up for the GMAT is the easiest part of your process. Here is a web URL: www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT.

Popular testing days fill up in advance, so if your schedule requires you to take the test on a certain day, be on top of it and sign up early. You need to pay the fee with a major credit card.

You can cancel your score, but you must do so before you see it. Once you see it, it must be reported; you do not have the option of withholding it. We do not recommend canceling a score unless you were tested under adverse circumstances, like illness. If you do poorly and still report your score, it is not the end of the world. An improvement between two test scores may be highly regarded by your school of choice. If you cancel, the cancellation is still reported to the schools.

There is technically no limit but we do not recommend taking the test more than three times. Taking the test many times may look bad. Plan on taking the test twice and reporting both scores (unless of course you do very well the first time). The admissions committee will take the best score of all your tests but will take a look at the history of the tests as well.

You can take the GMAT five times every year (12-month period). Within that year, you must wait 31 days between tests, regardless of score cancellations.

It is less common than you might think. Studies show that approximately 21% of the exams are taken by those who are retesting. Of those re-testers, it is uncommon that they take the test more than 3 times in a given year. Regarding results, the average increase between tests is 30 points on the total score. It is not unheard of that scores can go down with repeat testing. Your increase will depend on how much preparation you do in between. If you prepare well enough, odds are you won’t be compelled to retest!

If you don’t feel well, you should not take the test. You should be healthy and prepared when you take the GMAT. It will be an ordeal to sit through a 4-hour test while you are not at your best. You may end up canceling the score anyway. So do not get hung up on the rescheduling fee (US$50 if you reschedule before 7 calendar days of the test date or you will lose the entire US$250 test fee). Your bad score might become an anchoring point later on hindering your progress and hurting your self-confidence. Meantime, a bad score gets reported to schools as all your scores in the last five years will be shown.

However, if you are sure that you can achieve a high score based on your prior practice tests, you should take the test even when you don’t feel well. That way you don’t waste the test fee and have a chance to experience the real test while having the option to cancel it at the end.

Yes. Make sure you find out in advance where the test center is, and get there at least 30 minutes early because there is a check-in procedure. If you are more than 15 minutes late, the test administrators may not let you take your test and your US$250 test fee could be forfeited.

You do not need to bring much to the test center. In fact, you will not be allowed to bring any of your personal belongings such as cell phones, backpacks, purses, or handbags into the testing room. If you do bring your belongings with you, you will be required to put them in a storage area such as a small locker. So just bring the essential items (including clothes) you need before, during and after the test in a bag with flexible surface. The test administrator will provide you with everything you need to take the test, including a pencil and scratch paper/erasable booklets.

The test centers are typically very small. Depending on their locations and relationships with Pearson Vue, they might be owned by Pearson VUE or just an affiliated one in the network. If they are the latter, they may administer other tests for non-Pearson VUE entities. Therefore the condition of the test center and your test center experience may vary.

There is a waiting area. Depending on the number of staff members on duty at the test center and the number of test takers waiting, your wait time may vary. Feel free to relax. If you want to continue to read notes or books while waiting, lock your belongings away in the locker first except for a book or some notes. When you get called, you can quickly go to your locker and lock the last item before proceeding. But please be quick, otherwise the staff may become impatient.

Your family or friends will not be permitted to wait for you at the test center while you are taking your test. They will also not be able to contact you while you are being tested.

You will take your GMAT at an individual computer workstation next to many other computer workstations in a testing room. Your computer workstation is similar to a basic small office cubicle. Please note that there will be audio/visual monitoring during the test.

There is no dress code. You should dress comfortably and possibly bring extra layers in case the room gets cold.

You will need to show the test administrator valid ID. Please prepare two to three valid IDs such as a passport, driver’s license, or a major credit card with your photo. That way in case one expires or somehow cannot be found at the test center, you are still good to go.

The administrator will also take your photograph, signature, and take your fingerprint digitally. You will be asked to agree to the GMAT Examination Testing Rules & Agreement. When you sign for the paperwork, please slow down and make your signature very legible and correspond to the full name on your ID. Otherwise you may be asked to re-sign your name multiple times which might affect your mood for the test later on. If you refuse to comply with any of these procedures, you may be asked to leave and forfeit your fee.

The test takes around 4 hours. You are given two 5-minute breaks at scheduled intervals. It is important to not take more than 5 minutes during these breaks because you will be docked the amount of time you go over.

Not besides the scheduled breaks. If there is an emergency, raise your hand and the test administrator should let you leave; however the timer on your test will not stop. Be careful about leaving, because if you are gone too long or leave too many times, your test administrator may report you to Pearson VUE or GMAC. Note that you will need to provide your fingerprint at re-entry.

Yes, but not into the testing room. You can only eat, drink, or use tobacco during the scheduled breaks. If you need to smoke or go outside for any reason, be sure to alert the test administrator. Note that rules about leaving vary from center to center, so you should clearly understand those rules before making any decisions in order to avoid any problems. We recommend you bring some chocolates, power bars and water for two short five-minute breaks in order to maintain your momentum through the test.

You cannot use your cell phone or PDA during the test or on your break. We recommend you turn off any electronic devices stored in the locker. Please do not check your voicemail or emails during your break. You will be violating the test center rules and may be asked to leave immediately.

Usually, the start of the test will be delayed or will be rescheduled. If such action is not possible, you can choose either a full refund or to sign up for a different test date free of charge.

You will have to begin your test as soon as possible, but first you will have to agree to the GMAT Nondisclosure Agreement and General Terms of Use statement including that you will not use any non-permitted devices. You must agree to this statement, or risk not being allowed to complete the test and forfeiting your test fee.

You should raise your hand and tell the test administrator. You should not try and fix it yourself.

Based on the policies listed on the websites of GMAC®, Pearson VUE and ACT, if anything happens during the test that serves as an interruption or causes a mistiming, or if anything is out of the ordinary or deviates from normal testing procedure, GMAC and/or Pearson VUE will conduct an examination of the situation. One of those organizations will then decide if they should pursue disciplinary action including score cancellation. If any organization decides to take any action against an examinee or on behalf of one, the affected parties will have the option of A) take their test again at no additional charge, or receive a refund UNLESS that person is found to be the cause or source of the disruption. If you should opt to take the test again, you must take it in its entirety.

No, you cannot use a calculator or any other type of aid including laptops, PDA’s, translators, dictionaries etc.

Yes. There are many reasons for dismissal. These include providing false information or not providing it at all, bringing a test aid, not complying with an administrator’s reasonable requests, helping another test taker or letting them help you, tampering with the operation of the computer, and not following any rules or procedures.

You must write two essays for the Analytical Writing Section of the GMAT. If there is evidence of plagiarism, your scores can and will be cancelled. Please note that your essays become the property of GMAC.

After the test you will answer some questions about yourself and your plans for graduate school, and whether you would like to take part in various surveys or receive further information. Your answer choices to these questions may reflect information that you previously provided, earlier in the registration process.

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mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">On the day you take the GMAT®, before you begin the exam, you may select up to five (5) GMAT Programs to receive your Official Score Report.
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These recipients will receive the Official Score Report within 20 calendar days of your test. This service is covered by your registration fee. Once you have made your selections, you will not be able to change or delete them. The cost to send an Additional Score Report is US$28.

If you are applying to top 50 business schools, you need to have a score of at least 600 or above. For top 10 MBA programs, an average score of 700 is required.