GMAT eligibility: what GMAC requires, and what schools require

What GMAC does not require

• No degree — you may sit the GMAT before finishing one.
• No percentage or grade threshold.
• No work experience, though most MBA programmes want some.
• No nationality restriction.

GMAC notes that candidates are solely responsible for confirming the test and admissions requirements of the schools they intend to apply to before registering. In other words: the test will sell you a seat; only the school can tell you whether you need it.

Identification, which GMAC treats seriously

GMAC publishes ID requirements separately from the rest of the policies and asks candidates to pay particular attention to them, because they are verified before the exam begins.

• In India, plan on a valid passport.
• The name in your mba.com profile must match it exactly, in the same order.
• You agree to the identification terms before the exam starts — a mismatch found then is not a reschedule.

GMAT or GRE?

Most business schools accept both. GMAC reports that across all GMAT and GRE test takers, more than 70% rely on the GMAT for business school admission.

• Cost — GMAT US$275 at a centre against GRE INR 25,522.
• Validity — both five years.
• Superscore — the GMAT calculates one automatically; the GRE instead lets you choose which dates to send.
• Content — the GMAT has no geometry and no essay; the GRE has geometry, vocabulary in context and one essay.

Retaking

• You may sit the GMAT again after 16 days.
• GMAC sets further limits per rolling period and lifetime in its published policies.
• Scores are valid five years, and a Superscore is calculated automatically from your best section scores across valid attempts.

Superscore makes a targeted retake unusually worthwhile: if Data Insights was the weak section, a second attempt focused on it can lift your Superscore even when the new Total Score is lower than your first.