GMATGraduate Management Admission Test (GMAT Focus Edition)

The old GMAT had 4 sections and ran 3 hours 7 minutes. The new GMAT Focus Edition has 3 sections and runs 2 hours 15 minutes. Quantitative Reasoning (45 minutes, 21 questions), Verbal Reasoning (45 minutes, 23 questions), and Data Insights (45 minutes, 20 questions, replaces Integrated Reasoning and Analytical Writing).

The biggest change: no more Analytical Writing essay. The score scale changed from 200 to 800 (old) to 205 to 805 (new), with different section weights. A new 645 is roughly equivalent to a 720 on the old scale.

All Focus Edition tests are computer-adaptive within each section. You cannot skip questions, but you can mark up to 3 questions per section to review and edit your answers later. This Question Review and Edit feature is unique to Focus Edition.

Pearson VUE runs GMAT at the Bhrikuti Mandap test centre in Kathmandu (the same centre as PTE). There are typically 4 to 6 GMAT slots per week. Slots fill 4 to 6 weeks in advance during the August to November round-1 deadline rush.

GMAT Online (taken from home with online proctoring) is also widely used. Format and scoring are identical to centre-based. Required: a private room with no other people, no headphones during speaking parts, a stable webcam and microphone setup, and a strong internet connection.

Fee is USD 275 for centre-based and USD 300 for online. Pay by international card. Free 5 score reports to business schools on test day; additional reports are USD 35 each.

Top-7 US MBA programmes (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Columbia) have median GMAT Focus scores around 685 to 705 (equivalent to old GMAT 730 to 740). For competitive admission as a Nepali applicant, aim for 685+; 705+ makes you stand out.

Top European programmes (INSEAD, LBS, IESE, IMD) want 685+ as the median; 705+ is the strong band.

Top Asian programmes (NUS Singapore, HKUST, CEIBS, ISB Hyderabad) want 665 to 705. Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) prefer the CAT (Indian-only exam), so GMAT is mainly for the international one-year programmes.

Rank 25 to 50 MBA programmes in the US accept 625 to 665 median scores. Below rank 100, scores below 600 (old 620 equivalent) may be acceptable but the programmes themselves often have weaker outcomes.

A common mistake: assuming GMAT can be substituted easily by GRE. Most top business schools accept either but report only the converted GMAT-equivalent score in their rankings, and they sometimes prefer GMAT for finance and consulting-heavy programmes. If your goal is investment banking or strategy consulting, GMAT remains the safer default.

Official GMAT materials: the Focus Edition Official Guide 2024 and the GMAT Focus Edition Official Practice Tests (USD 90 for 6 tests) are essential. Real retired questions, real scoring algorithm. Anything else is approximation.

Quant: Nepali engineering and CS graduates usually do well on GMAT Quant with 4 to 6 weeks of targeted prep. The math is high school algebra plus basic combinatorics and statistics. The challenge is question style — Data Sufficiency (a uniquely GMAT format) trips up about 30 percent of candidates on first attempt. Practice 200+ Data Sufficiency questions before test day.

Verbal: this is where most Nepali candidates lose points. Reading Comprehension passages on GMAT are dense and time-pressured. Sentence Correction (old GMAT) is replaced with broader Critical Reasoning + RC in Focus Edition, slightly more manageable. The 3 to 6 month prep timeline for serious candidates is realistic.

Data Insights (the new section) combines old Integrated Reasoning with data analysis. Practice with the Official Guide questions plus Manhattan Prep's Data Insights resources. Most candidates start weak here and improve to mid-range with practice.

Kathmandu prep institutes: Kaplan, Manya Princeton Review (Hattisar), and Edufolks run GMAT classes. Quality varies. Online options (Magoosh GMAT, Target Test Prep, Manhattan Prep) are arguably better and cheaper (USD 250 to 350 for 6 months).

GMAT scores are valid for 5 years from the test date. You can retake GMAT every 16 days, up to 5 times in any 12-month period, up to 8 times lifetime.

Most business schools accept your highest single-test score, not a composite of your best sections across tests. Score Preview (sometimes called Enhanced Score Report) lets you see your unofficial score immediately after the test and choose whether to cancel it before sending to schools. Useful if you bombed — you can cancel and not have schools see the score.

If you cancelled, you can reinstate the score within 4 years and 11 months for a USD 50 fee, but most candidates do not need to.

Sitting GMAT too late in the year. Most top MBA programmes have round-1 deadlines in September or October. Aim to have your GMAT score by August at the latest, ideally July. October test dates are stressful because there is no time for a retake.

Underestimating Verbal. Many Nepali engineering candidates expect to score 90+ percentile on Quant and then are surprised when their overall GMAT is 605 because Verbal is 50th percentile. Top programmes will not admit you on Quant alone.

Ignoring section-specific business school cutoffs. INSEAD wants Quant percentile 70+ AND Verbal percentile 70+, not just an overall good score. A 685 with Q90+/V40 is weaker than a 685 with Q70/V65 for INSEAD admission purposes.

Sending scores too eagerly. You have a 48-hour window after each test to cancel without it appearing on future score reports. Many Nepali candidates accept their first score (which is often the weakest of their attempts) and then have to explain to schools why they cancelled subsequent attempts. Cancel weak first attempts unless you are confident your second will not be better.