Almost three years since they introduced the NMAT, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has been adding a slew of student-friendly features to help aspiring management students score better. Gaurav Srivastava, Regional Director, South Asia was in Bengaluru and he spoke about how NMAT is a game-changer. "The main advantage of NMAT exam is that the students have a 75-day window and one can retake the test three times in an admission cycle. This will give students the confidence to perform better every time. Around 22 B-Schools in India, 7 in South Africa and 3 in Phillippines accept the exam," he says.

Srivastava further adds that the diversity factor has increased year-on-year, "Every year, most entrance exams are male-dominated and full of engineering graduates. But in NMAT, over 40 percent are women test takers and 47 percent are non-engineering students which again shows its high diversity. The NMAT exams are open to students from the arts and humanities streams. In 2017, there was 7 percent growth in its test registration. The total registration closed at 88,454 in 2017 compared to 82,928 last year."

Students also have the option to cancel their accepted scores online within 72 hours of the completion of their exam. GMAC had acquired the ownership of the exam from NMIMS in March 2015 and rebranded it as NMAT by GMAC.

Meanwhile, GMAC has launched some new features to enhance the test-taking experience of the candidates. "We now have 20 test centres in India for NMAT, with a specific focus on Tier-II towns. With an intent to provide MBA exams in their own country, we have also launched four international centres in countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,"informs Srivastava

He also explains that for the first time, they will be conducting an 'official' mock test NMAT by GMAC, "This year for the first time, GMAC will be conducting an online mock test for students. The date for the all-India mock test is September 23, 2018. A URL will be shared for the same during the online registration or few days before the exams are conducted," he said. "You can choose any date, time and location to give your exams. It is usually from October to December. Depending on the results you have obtained, you can decide to apply to top business schools. The marks will remain confidential with GMAC and they will not be given to any of the institutions," he adds