• Registering to take the computer-adaptive test is very easy, and sometimes you can sign up only days before the test. However, depending upon the time of the year and the availability of testing centers in your area, you may have to register several weeks in advance for a desired test date.
• The computer-adaptive test gives you more time to spend on each question than you got on the paper-based test.
• You can see your scores before you decide which schools you want to send them to.
• Perhaps the computer-adaptive test’s best feature is that it give you your scores immediately and will send them to school just 10 to 15 days later.

Seven Annoying Things about the Computer-Adaptive Test

•You cannot skip around on this test; you must answer the questions one at a time in the order the computer gives them to you.
• If you realize later that you answered a question incorrectly, you can’t go back and change your answer.
• If the person next to you is noisy or distracting, the proctor cannot move you or the person, since your test is on the computer.
• You can’t cross off an answer choice and never look at it again, so you have to be disciplined about not reconsidering choices you’ve already eliminated.
• You have to scroll through Reading Comprehension passages, which means you won’t be able to see the whole thing on the screen at once.
• You can’t write on your computer screen the way you can on the paper test (though some have tried), so you have to use scratch paper they give you, which will be inconveniently located away from the computer screen.
• Lastly, many people find that computer screen tire them and cause eyestrain—especially after four hours.
The following chapters of this book provide an overview of the different sections you’ll encounter on the GMAT exam. But before you move on to them, take note of the GMAT Registration Checklist opposite. This checklist will serve as a useful resource for you when it’s time to sign up for the test.