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GMAT Eligibility 2023: Educational Qualification, Documents Required, Age Criteria

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Sayantani Barman

Experta en el extranjero | Updated On - Apr 5, 2023

Candidates must know GMAT eligibility criteria before registering for the exam. GMAT eligibility criteria include the number of attempts, age, educational qualification, score, and undergraduate program of study. GMAC conducts GMAT through Pearson VUE centers. Here we answered few common questions that raise in mind before GMAT registration

  • Candidates should graduate from a recognized university
  • Candidates of any nationality can appear for GMAT
  • One should be a minimum of 18 years of age

GMAT Documents Required

Candidates who are planning to appear for GMAT need to have documents beforehand for filling up the registration form

  • Applicant’s name with proper spelling as written on passport
  • Contact details (email id and telephone)
  • Demographic information- gender, ethnicity, DOB, Citizenship
  • Payment details
  • Identify data verified or collected at the GMAT test center such as government-issued identification, digital photograph, signature, palm vein pattern

Candidates can appear for GMAT anytime in the year and can book the slot as per convenience.

GMAT Eligibility Criteria

Nationality

People across the nations can appear for the GMAT. Guidelines, as written by GMAC, are implemented equally to everyone despite being the country they belong to. Different GMAT test centers have specific rules regarding identity proof to be produced at the time of GMAT. Suppose a test taker from India has to produce a passport as ID proof at the time of GMAT. Now Aadhar Card is also considered as prominent ID proof. 

Educational Qualification

It is advisable that the test takers appearing for GMAT should have graduated from a recognized university. There are a lot of GMAT test takers who are working professionals.

Age Limit

GMAC has not mentioned any upper limit of age for the candidate. Mostly it is preferred to have the age of 18 years. If a test taker appears for GMAT between 13 and 17 years then one needs a permission letter on behalf of parents.

Minimum Cutoff

To appear for GMAT, there are no cut-off marks to appear for GMAT. In all the top business schools in the USA or UK, a GMAT score is considered an admission requirement. 

Work Experience

Every year there are many test-takers who appear for GMAT with a minimum of 3-4 years of work experience. Top business schools prefer those candidates who have experience in the industry. After initiating the application process, the admission committee always evaluates the work experience of the applicant and how it will be related to the future business world.

Attempting limit for GMAT

There are few requirements in attempting the GMAT.

  • One can appear for GMAT again only 16 days after the scheduled date
  • In a period of 1 year, the candidate can only appear GMAT for 5 times
  • In a lifetime, the test taker can attempt the exam only 8 times
  • If an applicant has scored a perfect GMAT score which is the possible highest score, must wait for 5 years to retake the exam
  • For each GMAT attempt, the test taker has to register for it

Medium of Instruction

If a candidate who belongs to any other nation which has a native language other than English can also appear for the GMAT. Most of these test takers have to take IELTS or TOEFL for English language proficiency. Through proper preparation, one can ace the exam perfectly.

Palm Vein Identification in GMAT 

This measure is taken by GMAC to prevent forgery during exams. At the time of check-in, candidates need to provide a palm vein impression as identity proof. The palm vein reader biometric prevents anyone to take GMAT on behalf of others. This initiative is taken to maintain the fairness of the exam.

GMAT Reservation Criteria

Special reservation criteria are provided for students with disabilities. There are the following measures that a candidate needs to fulfill to acclaim this provision-

GMAT test taker, you are responsible for documenting all of the following with your application-

  • The existence of an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity as compared with most people.
  • The current impact of your impairment and how it limits your ability to take the computer- Adaptive GMAT exam under standard conditions.
  • A rationale for why the accommodation is/are necessary and appropriate relative to your impairment

The following categories are considered under the disability criteria-

  • Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
  • Learning and Cognitive disorder
  • Physical and systematic disabilities
  • Psychological Disabilities
  • Sensory Disabilities (Hearing or Vision)

You can visit the following websites for more information on different disorders-

Name of the Disability Reference Website
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder mba.com/GMATsupplementADHA
Learning and Cognitive Disease mba.com/GMATsupplementLD
Physical and Systematic Disease mba.com/GMATsupplementphysical
Psychological Disease mba.com/GMATsupplemetpsy
Sensor Disability mba.com/GMATSensory

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

Ask your question

Answered Questions

BS

Bhavya Singh

18 Mar 21ISB Hyderabad

Several factors affect the chance of a candidate getting a seat in ISB Hyderabad. Not only the GMAT score, but also the application profile, essays, and performance in the interview combined together decides whether a candidate should get a seat or not in such an elite institute. The points listed below are some important aspects to consider for admission to such institutes.

  • There is no fixed cut-off for ISB Hyderabad, as declared by the institute. There are examples of people with a GMAT score of 720 not getting a seat from the interviews. On the other hand, there are candidates with a score of 700-710 but are successful in getting a seat in ISB Hyderabad.
  • GMAT score is not the only criteria for getting a seat, but the door to get an interview call. The quality of essays written by the candidate, his/her application/ profile, and the performance in the interviews are also considered.
  • For candidates with an average profile, a GMAT score of 720+, along with a complete application and a good essay can be considered to have high chances to receive an interview call. After having a call, the rest depends on how the candidate will perform in his/her interview.

This is the overall scenario for admission in ISB Hyderabad, for a student with an average profile.


MN

Mahak Nigam

30 Jun 22Master of Business Administration Degrees & Finance, Aditya Institute of Management Studies and Research

More than 140 Business Schools in India accept GMAT scores. Here is a list of popular B-School that accept GMAT scores.

IIM Ahmedabad (PGPX) IIM Bangalore (EPGP) IIM Calcutta (PGPEx)
IIM Indore (EPGP) IIM Kozhikode (EPGP) IIM Lucknow (IPMAX)
XLRI Jamshedpur MDI Gurgaon IMT Ghaziabad
IIFT Delhi FMS Deli ISB Hyderabad/Mohali

Many other reputed B-School across the country also accept GMAT scores.


AV

Arvind Verma

30 Jun 22Studied at Indian School of Business

ISB Hyderabad accepts both examination scores. So, you can opt for either of GMAT or GRE. Your chances of selection or rejection will remain the same. Go through the examination pattern and syllabus and choose the one in which you feel that you will be able to score better. Ultimately having a good score is what matters during admission. As per the recent trends, ISB Hyderabad cutoff for GMAT is 600, while for GRE it is 311. 


AS

Aditi Sen

12 May 21PGDM from Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad (2019)

There are many business schools in India that require GMAT scores at the time of admission.

Some of the top business schools with requiring GMAT scores in India are:

Institute Name

GMAT Score

ISB, Hyderabad & Mohali

730 or higher

S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai

550

IIM Ahmedabad

711

School of Management, NMIMS Mumbai

600

IIM Bangalore

710

Great Lakes Institute of Management

600

IIM Calcutta

701

XLRI Jamshedpur

710

IIM Lucknow

680

IMT (All campuses)

720

IIM Indore

700

ICFAI Business School (Hyderabad & Mumbai)

700

IIM Kozhikode

700

A few other institutes include - MDI Gurgaon, FMS Delhi, Sunstone Business School Noida, ISB Indore, and more.


NM

Nishad JK Makol

10 Mar 23PGDM Marketing & Consulting, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (2017)

I see that you already have more than 50 months of work experience. My suggestion for anyone with such work experience is to opt for the 1-year PGPM Program rather than the 2-year PGDM Program. Keep working for another year and earn your fee for the 1-year program. This way you will save time. Money and even be spared from investing additional efforts when the same could be done in lesser time. The cutoff for both the programs is

Program

Cutoff

PGPM

660

PGDM

85 Percentile