The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the non-profit which administers the GMAT exam, is committed to ensuring the accessibility of its product. This means that they will make special accommodations for exam-takers who demonstrate a need, one of these special accommodations is additional time (specifically 50% or 100% additional time). 

Who Qualifies for Additional Exam Time?
There are five disability types (umbrella categories under which many disabilities may fall) which the GMAC considers offering special accommodations for, and they’ve provided a document for each with specific instructions. The types are; Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Learning and Cognitive Disabilities, Physical and Systemic Disabilities, Psychological Disabilities, and Sensory Disabilities (Vision and Hearing). 

GMAC defines individuals with disabilities using the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA states that a disability can be physical or mental, and must substantially limit your ability to perform major life activities (when compared to the general population). Your application will need to document a disability that “substantially limits a major life activity”, how that disability would limit your ability to take the GMAT, and rationalize why additional time is “necessary and appropriate” given your circumstances. 

 It is stated within these instructions that they realize that every individual has a unique experience and needs, and they are committed to being “as flexible as we can” when reviewing your materials. In some cases (for example ADHD) you are able to comment on how it has impacted your life, even if your diagnosis was recent, and why you feel you went undiagnosed until recently. 

How Do I Request More Time?
No matter what your disability, or which specific accommodations you need, there is a five-step process for your request.

**DO NOT register for your exam until you have received a decision about your accommodation request.** 

1. Go to MBA.com and create a GMAT profile, this will give you a GMAT ID number. 
   
2. Read through the GMAT Handbook and the Supplement for Test Takers with Disabilities. 
   
3. Complete the GMAT Exam Accommodation Request Form found in the supplement.
   
4. Provide documentation from a qualified medical professional. The type of documentation needed is specific to your disability, details for each category can be found at MBA.com. 
   
5. You must mail or fax (do not email) your request to Pearson VUE for review (you are able to choose to receive your response via email, which is recommended as it is faster). 
   

    
How Long Will This Process Take?
Once GMAC has received your completed application they will attempt to review it within 25 business days. At that point GMAC may require additional documentation at the end of the 25 days of the initial review, they recommend you prepare for up to an additional month (on top of the original 25 days). In addition, you may also need to wait for an appointment with your medical professional in order to gather all the necessary documentation. 
To summarize: this process cannot be rushed and may take more than two months to complete. Plan ahead!

When you’re ready to begin your extended time GMAT prep class with Test Prep Unlimited, or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. 

Don't lose sleep over it, but a study a at a top ranked MBA program a few years ago showed that people whose natural propensity is to stay up later tend to do better on the GMAT, regardless of gender. They linked it to baseline levels of cortisol.

GMAT scores range from 200 to 800. The highest possible GMAT score is an 800.

About 30 in every 200,000 people get a perfect GMAT score.  It is highly unlikely that they are all students; Several are probably GMAT tutors.

Practically speaking, to get an 800 on the GMAT, you have to score a perfect 51 in Quant and a perfect 51 in Verbal.  That does not mean you can't miss a single question. You may be able to miss a difficult question, but you definitely can't miss any easy questions! The reason: Your score is calculated based on the difficulty level of the questions you get correct and incorrect.  You may even be able to get an 800 with a 50/51 in one of the sections.

You do not need to score 99th percentile in math to get an 800. In fact, it's not even possible to get a 99th percentile score in math!  A perfect 51 is a 97% or a 98% depending on the data. The reason: Many nonnative English speakers who excel in math take the GMAT and get perfect (or at least very high) scores.  This skews the quant and verbal percentiles.  You will however need to score 99th percentile in Verbal to get an 800, since 99th %ile amounts to a Verbal score of about 45/51.

Your Integrated Reasoning and Essay scores are separate scores and do not count toward your 800 score.

Do you need a perfect score to get into a top business school? Definitely not! You don't even need 99th percentile.  You do, however need to have a competitive application profile. Depend on the rest of your profile, that may mean scoring above average for the schools your targeting. For the top 10s, that means scoring 730+. You may not be targeting top 10s and might be fine with a different score.

We will help you set realistic targets and work toward them in a very efficient way.  Contact us if you're ready to get help.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Verbal scores, or to take arms against a sea of of improper GMAT idioms, and by opposing, end them?

"Considered to be"?
Not to be!  Just "Considered".

"Regarded to be"?
Not to be!  Just "Regarded AS"

The Potato Paradox is as follows:

Suppose a potato that is 99% water and 1% “essence of potato” is dehydrated such that it is now 98% water and 2% EOP.  What percent of its original weight does the drier potato now weigh?

(Be very careful to explicitly write out the math. The potato loses more water than you think!)