How to Register for the GMAT

By Muntasir Jul 17, 2026 9 min read

TL;DR

You register for the GMAT on mba.com: create an account, click the yellow Register button, choose a test center or online delivery, pick a date and time, then pay.

Base fee: $275 at a test center or $300 online in the US.
Test center slots open up to 6 months ahead, with up to 3 preferred locations.
Your ID name must match your mba.com profile exactly, in the Roman alphabet.
Reschedule or cancel online at least 24 hours before your appointment.
Rescheduling costs $55 to $165 at a test center, $60 to $180 online, depending on how close to test day you change it.

You register for the GMAT through mba.com, the official registration site run by GMAC. The process runs through one account: you enter your personal details, choose a delivery format and location, pick a date and time, then pay the exam fee. Both delivery formats are booked from the same Register button on your My Account page. Payment is the last step, and the appointment is confirmed once it clears.

This guide walks through account setup, the test center and online booking flows, ID rules, appointment confirmation, and what happens if you need to reschedule or your preferred slot is full. Every fee and cutoff below comes from GMAC's own pages, linked inline. Prices vary by country and local tax, so check the payment page for your location before you book.

Creating Your mba.com Account

Registration starts with an mba.com account. The steps run in this order, according to GMAC's registration page:

Create an account with your legal name, date of birth, email address and country of citizenship.
Log in and click the yellow Register button on your My Account page.
Complete your candidate profile.
Choose a test center or online delivery, then select a date and time.
Submit payment to confirm the appointment.

Enter your name exactly as it appears on the ID you plan to bring on test day. GMAC requires the name on your ID to match your mba.com profile exactly, in the Roman alphabet, including the order of your names, and your date of birth has to match your account. The match is verified at check-in against the profile you fill in here. Corrections to personal information have to be completed at least 72 hours before your appointment, per GMAC's exam policies, so spotting a problem the night before is too late to fix it. Full ID rules are in the section below.

Booking Your Appointment: Test Center or Online

The choice between a test center seat and online delivery comes down to your schedule, your equipment, and where you are willing to sit the exam. Online delivery is proctored remotely and needs a computer meeting GMAC's system requirements. A test center seat depends on local availability instead. Our test center vs online comparison breaks down the tradeoffs.

Test Center Scheduling

Test center booking follows a set path once you are logged in, according to GMAC's scheduling support page:

Log in to mba.com and select Register for the GMAT - Test Center.
Choose up to 3 preferred test center locations.
Pick an available date and time, up to 6 months in advance.

Booking 6 months out gives you the widest choice of dates and locations. Waiting until closer to your target date narrows the calendar, especially at busy centers in large cities. Listing 3 preferred locations instead of one widens the pool of open seats you are shown. Pick the earliest workable date, then build your study schedule backward from it.

Online Scheduling and System Requirements

GMAT Online runs on your own computer through a remote proctor. Your setup needs to meet GMAC's system requirements before you book:

A desktop or laptop computer, not a tablet or touchscreen device.
Windows 10 or 11, or macOS 11.06 through 26.2.
At least 4GB RAM (6GB recommended on Windows) and 15GB of free disk space.
A minimum display resolution of 1280x1024.
A working webcam, microphone and speakers.
A stable wired internet connection of at least 2 Mbps.
No VPN, corporate firewall or mobile hotspot.
The required secure browser installed, with cookies enabled and pop-ups disabled.

Run through this checklist before you book, not on exam morning. A wired connection is required, so Wi-Fi alone or a mobile hotspot will not do. External monitors have to be unplugged, and the proctor checks for them at check-in. Confirm the secure browser installs and launches on the same machine and user account you plan to test from.

ID and Appointment Confirmation Requirements

Your ID is checked against your mba.com profile at check-in, in both delivery formats. A mismatch causes delays or turns you away, so review the rules on GMAC's ID requirements page well before test day. The rules cover what the document has to show, which documents are refused outright, and what changes when you test abroad. Each of those is broken down below.

What Your ID Must Show

Your primary ID needs every element below.

Requirement	Detail
Name	Roman alphabet, matching your mba.com profile exactly, including order
Date of birth	Matching the date on your account
Photo	Recent and recognizable
Signature	Present on the ID
Validity	Current, not expired

Passport cards, Social Security cards, employee or student IDs, and photocopies are not accepted, and neither are expired documents. If one ID is missing a required element, bring a second acceptable ID covering the missing element, per GMAC. An ID carrying your photo but no signature, for example, has to be paired with a second document showing the signature. Check your documents against the table above weeks ahead, since replacing an expired ID takes time.

Testing Outside Your Country of Citizenship

If you sit the GMAT outside the country of citizenship you entered at registration, a passport is required at check-in, with no exceptions for other ID types. An expired passport is not accepted, even with renewal paperwork in hand, according to GMAC. Check the expiry date against your appointment date the day you book, and start a renewal early if the two dates sit close together.

Confirming Your Appointment

After you pay, GMAC sends a confirmation email. Check the date, time, and for online exams, the time zone, against your mba.com My Account page before test day, as advised on GMAC's exam day guidance. Treat My Account as the record of truth, since it shows the current appointment after any reschedule. If the confirmation email never arrives, look in your spam folder, then verify the booking in My Account. Save the details somewhere you find them fast on test day.

Check-In on Test Day

Check-in differs by delivery format.

Test center: arrive at least 30 minutes before your appointment. Check-in includes photo ID verification, a palm vein scan where legal, a digital signature on the Test Taker Rules and Agreement, and a digital photo, per GMAC.
Online: log in at least 30 minutes before your start time. The proctor verifies your photo ID, runs a 360-degree webcam scan of your workspace, confirms external monitors are unplugged, checks for prohibited items, and allows only a clear water container at your desk, per GMAC.

Both formats want you in place 30 minutes before your appointment time, so plan travel or login around the earlier clock. Prohibited items are caught at this step, so leave them out of the room and off your desk. Our GMAT test day checklist covers what to pack and what to expect minute by minute.

Registration Cost and Payment

The base GMAT fee is $275 at a test center or $300 online in the US, with pricing varying by country and local tax. The fee includes sending your Official Score Report to up to 5 programs, if you select them within 48 hours of your score release. Decide your program list before your score is released, since those 5 sends are tied to the 48-hour window. Full pricing by delivery format and payment options are broken down in our GMAT cost and fees guide.

Rescheduling and Canceling Before Test Day

You are allowed to reschedule or cancel online through your mba.com account, and the fee rises the closer the change lands to your appointment. Start from My Account rather than the phone, since a phone reschedule adds a service fee. Changes stop being possible 24 hours before your start time. The sections below cover the fee tiers, the deadlines, and what a No Show costs.

Rescheduling Fees

Fees depend on delivery format and how far ahead you make the change, per GMAC's support pages for test center appointments and online appointments:

Timing	Test Center Fee	Online Fee
60+ days before	$55	$60
15 to 60 days before	$110	$120
Inside 14 days	$165	$180

Rescheduling by phone adds a $10 service fee on top of the test center rate, per GMAC's exam policies. The online flow carries no surcharge, so use it unless you have lost access to your account. A $165 reschedule inside 14 days becomes $175 when you make the change by phone.

Change Cutoffs and No-Show Policy

A handful of hard deadlines govern changes to your appointment or profile, all set out in GMAC's exam policies:

Reschedule or cancel up to 24 hours before your appointment start time, not closer.
Personal information changes on your account, such as your name or ID details, need to be made at least 72 hours before your appointment.
Missing your appointment without canceling marks you a No Show. You forfeit the full exam fee, with no refund.
After a No Show, you are allowed to book a new appointment after a 24-hour wait, paying the full fee again.

Put the 24-hour and 72-hour cutoffs in your calendar the day you book. A No Show costs the full exam fee with no refund, and rebooking means paying it again after a 24-hour wait. Deciding a week out costs far less than deciding the night before.

What to Do When a Slot Is Unavailable

A full test center or a fully booked date does not leave you stuck. GMAC's scheduling tool gives you room to work around it. Try these options, in order, per GMAC's scheduling guide:

Widen your search to nearby cities. You are allowed to select up to 3 preferred test center locations during booking.
Check dates further out. Appointments open up to 6 months in advance, so a later date at your first-choice center might still be open.
Switch to GMAT Online. Remote proctoring runs around the clock, so it is not limited by a physical center's calendar.

Check the calendar again over the following days, since canceled appointments sometimes reappear. Rechecking by hand is the practical route here. Do not build your application deadlines around a slot opening, though. Book the best available date first, then reschedule if a better one appears, weighing the reschedule fee against the gain.

Our GMAT test dates guide covers how far ahead to book and how demand shifts across the year. While you wait for a slot, keep your prep moving with our free GMAT practice tests and drills, and check your target score with our GMAT score calculator. All of it is free, with no signup required.