dMAT General Academic Module: Format, Topics and Sample Questions
The General Academic Module is the second half of the dMAT. In 90 minutes you answer about 60 single-choice questions on short academic texts from fields such as mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, business, economics and the social sciences. It tests whether you can apply what a text explains, not what you have memorised.
How the module works
After the Core Module and a 30-minute break, you get a series of tasks. Each one has the same shape:
- A text that explains a topic. It can include figures, tables and formulas.
- Several questions on that text. In the four official sample exercises there are between six and eight questions per text.
- Four options for every question, with exactly one correct answer.
You have 90 minutes for the whole module. There is no separate time limit for each text, so pacing is up to you.
If the real texts are similar to the official samples, about 60 questions means roughly eight to ten texts. That figure is our estimate, not an official number.
Topics it can draw on
| Area named by g.a.s.t. | Official sample exercise |
|---|---|
| Mathematics | Vector calculations |
| Natural sciences, engineering | Hydrostatics |
| Business administration, economics | Optimal order quantity |
| Social sciences, humanities | Research strategies in the social sciences |
| Computational sciences | No official sample published |
Every APS candidate gets the same tasks. An engineer will meet a social science text, and a commerce graduate will meet a physics text. Most candidates therefore find at least part of the module unfamiliar, and that is intended.
What the questions ask you to do
Looking at the official samples, the questions fall into four kinds.
| Kind of question | What it asks | Example from our practice passages |
|---|---|---|
| Find and apply a formula | Put numbers from the question into a formula given in the text | Break-even quantity from fixed costs, price and variable cost |
| Reason about a change | Say what happens when one quantity changes | What a 10% price cut does to the break-even quantity |
| Check a statement against the text | Decide which of four statements the text supports | Which statement about half-life follows from the text |
| Transfer to a new case | Apply the idea to a situation the text did not mention | Which search method suits a list that is searched only once |
How to pace 60 questions in 90 minutes
Ninety minutes for about 60 questions is roughly 90 seconds per question, including reading time. A workable plan for one text with six questions:
| Step | Time |
|---|---|
| Read the text once, carefully, and note where the formulas and definitions are | 2 to 3 minutes |
| Answer the questions, looking back at the text for each one | About 1 minute each |
| Total for the text | 8 to 9 minutes |
- Do not skim the text. Almost every question depends on a definition or an assumption stated in it.
- Answer from the text, not from memory. If you studied the topic, your own knowledge may be broader than the simplified model in the text. The question is about the text.
- Estimate before you calculate. The options are often far apart, so a rough calculation is enough.
- Do not let one text take 15 minutes. If a topic is hard for you, answer what you can, guess the rest and move on. The next text may suit you better.
Sample passages
These three passages are original Yastudy material in the format of the official samples. Work without a calculator and without notes. Allow about eight minutes for each.
Practice passage 1: Break-even analysis (business administration)
Break-even analysis
A company that makes one product has two kinds of cost. Fixed costs (F), such as rent and salaries, stay the same whether it produces a lot or nothing. Variable costs arise for each unit produced, for example materials. The variable cost per unit is v, and the selling price per unit is p.
The difference p − v is called the contribution margin per unit. Each unit sold contributes this amount, first towards covering the fixed costs and then towards profit. The break-even quantity is the number of units at which the company makes neither a profit nor a loss:
Break-even quantity = F ÷ (p − v)
For any quantity Q sold in a period, the profit is:
Profit = (p − v) × Q − F
The model rests on three assumptions. The price per unit is the same for every unit sold. The variable cost per unit is the same for every unit produced. Everything that is produced is also sold.
A workshop builds wooden desks. Its fixed costs are €12,000 per month. Each desk is sold for €50 and causes variable costs of €30.
How many desks does the workshop have to sell per month to break even?
- A) 240
- B) 400
- C) 600
- D) 800
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
The contribution margin per desk is 50 − 30 = 20 euros. Break-even quantity = 12,000 ÷ 20 = 600 desks.
What is the workshop's profit in a month in which it sells 900 desks?
- A) €6,000
- B) €15,000
- C) €18,000
- D) €33,000
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
Profit = 20 × 900 − 12,000 = 18,000 − 12,000 = 6,000 euros. €18,000 is only the total contribution margin before fixed costs are deducted.
Which statement is true at the break-even quantity?
- A) Total variable costs are equal to the fixed costs.
- B) The total contribution margin is equal to the fixed costs.
- C) Revenue is equal to the fixed costs.
- D) The contribution margin per unit is zero.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
At break-even, profit is zero, so (p − v) × Q = F. The contribution margin of all units together exactly covers the fixed costs.
The workshop cuts the price of a desk by 10%. Costs do not change. How does the break-even quantity change?
- A) It rises by 10%.
- B) It rises by one quarter.
- C) It rises by one third.
- D) It rises by one half.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
The new price is €45, so the contribution margin falls to 15 euros. Break-even quantity = 12,000 ÷ 15 = 800 desks. That is 200 more than 600, an increase of one third.
Which situation contradicts one of the assumptions of the model?
- A) The rent for the workshop is the same every month.
- B) The workshop sells every desk it builds.
- C) Every customer pays the same price for a desk.
- D) The timber supplier gives a discount per desk once more than 500 desks are built.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
With a supplier discount, the variable cost per unit is no longer the same for every unit. The other three statements match the assumptions in the text.
Practice passage 2: Searching a list (computational sciences)
Searching a list
A program has to find out whether a certain value is contained in a list of n entries. Two methods are common.
Linear search compares the value with the first entry, then the second, and so on. In the worst case, when the value is the last entry or is missing, it needs n comparisons. It works on any list.
Binary search works only on a sorted list. It compares the value with the entry in the middle. If they are equal, the search ends. If the value is smaller, only the left half can still contain it. If it is larger, only the right half can. The method is then repeated on that half. Each comparison therefore removes at least half of the remaining entries.
In the worst case, binary search needs
⌊log₂ n⌋ + 1 comparisons
where ⌊x⌋ means x rounded down to a whole number. For example, log₂ 8 = 3, so a list of 8 entries needs at most 4 comparisons. A list of 1,000,000 entries needs at most 20.
Sorting has a cost of its own. Sorting a list of n entries takes roughly n × log₂ n comparisons.
A sorted list has 16 entries. How many comparisons does binary search need in the worst case?
- A) 4
- B) 5
- C) 8
- D) 16
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
log₂ 16 = 4, so the worst case is 4 + 1 = 5 comparisons.
A sorted list grows from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 entries. How does the worst-case number of comparisons for binary search change?
- A) It stays the same.
- B) It rises by 1.
- C) It rises by 2.
- D) It doubles.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Doubling n adds exactly 1 to log₂ n. The worst case goes from 20 to 21 comparisons.
Binary search is applied to the sorted list 3, 8, 12, 17, 21, 26, 30 to find the value 26. With which entries is 26 compared, in order?
- A) 17, 26
- B) 17, 21, 26
- C) 12, 21, 26
- D) 3, 8, 12, 17, 21, 26
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The middle of the seven entries is 17. Since 26 is larger, only 21, 26, 30 remain. Their middle entry is 26, so the value is found after two comparisons.
An unsorted list of about 1,000 entries has to be searched exactly once. Based on the text, which approach needs fewer comparisons?
- A) Sorting the list and then using binary search, because binary search needs at most 10 comparisons.
- B) Linear search, because sorting alone takes about 10,000 comparisons.
- C) Binary search without sorting, because it removes half of the entries each time.
- D) Both approaches need the same number of comparisons.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Linear search needs at most 1,000 comparisons. Sorting first costs roughly 1,000 × log₂ 1,000, which is about 1,000 × 10 = 10,000 comparisons, before the search has even started. Binary search on an unsorted list does not work.
Why does binary search require a sorted list?
- A) Because the middle entry can only be located in a sorted list.
- B) Because a sorted list contains no duplicate entries.
- C) Because only then does one comparison show which half can be ruled out.
- D) Because sorting reduces the number of entries.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
The method concludes from one comparison that the value cannot be in one half. That conclusion is valid only if all entries on one side are smaller and all on the other side are larger.
Practice passage 3: Radioactive decay (natural sciences)
Radioactive decay
The nuclei of a radioactive isotope decay at random, but for a large number of nuclei the decay follows a simple rule. In each period of length T, called the half-life, half of the nuclei that are still present decay. The half-life is a fixed property of the isotope. It does not depend on how much of the substance there is or on how old the sample is.
If a sample starts with N₀ undecayed nuclei, the number remaining after the time t is:
N(t) = N₀ × (1/2)t ÷ T
After one half-life 1/2 of the nuclei remain, after two half-lives 1/4, after three half-lives 1/8, and so on.
This rule is used to date organic material. Living plants take up carbon from the air, so the share of the isotope carbon-14 in their tissue stays constant. When a plant dies, it takes up no more carbon, and the carbon-14 it contains decays with a half-life of about 5,730 years. The remaining share of carbon-14 in a sample therefore shows how long ago the plant died.
A sample contains 800 mg of an isotope with a half-life of 6 hours. How much of the isotope is left after 18 hours?
- A) 100 mg
- B) 200 mg
- C) 267 mg
- D) 400 mg
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
18 hours are three half-lives. 800 → 400 → 200 → 100 mg.
A piece of wood contains 25% of the carbon-14 found in living wood. About how long ago did the tree die?
- A) 2,865 years
- B) 5,730 years
- C) 11,460 years
- D) 22,920 years
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
25% is 1/4, which is reached after two half-lives. 2 × 5,730 = 11,460 years.
After how many complete half-lives is less than 1% of the original nuclei left for the first time?
- A) 5
- B) 6
- C) 7
- D) 10
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
After six half-lives 1/64 remains, which is about 1.6%. After seven half-lives 1/128 remains, which is about 0.8%.
Samples X and Y start with the same number of nuclei. Isotope X has a half-life of 2 days, isotope Y of 4 days. After 8 days, the number of nuclei left in Y is how many times the number left in X?
- A) 2 times
- B) 4 times
- C) 8 times
- D) 16 times
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
X has gone through four half-lives, so 1/16 remains. Y has gone through two, so 1/4 remains. 1/4 divided by 1/16 is 4.
Which statement follows from the text?
- A) After two half-lives, no undecayed nuclei are left.
- B) A larger sample of the same isotope has a longer half-life.
- C) A sample takes as long to fall from 50% to 25% as it took to fall from 100% to 50%.
- D) The half-life of an isotope becomes shorter as the sample gets older.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Each half-life halves whatever is still present, and the half-life does not depend on the amount or the age of the sample. So every halving takes the same time.
How to prepare
- Do the four official sample exercises first. They are in the g.a.s.t. preparation booklet and show the standard to expect.
- Practise outside your own subject. Read short explanatory texts from fields you did not study and summarise the main rule in one sentence.
- Refresh school mathematics. Percentages, ratios, powers, square roots, simple equations and reading graphs appear across all topic areas.
- Train mental arithmetic. With no calculator and no paper, speed in your head decides how many questions you finish.
- Do full 90-minute sets. Concentration after the break is part of the test.
What to practise next
- The timed dMAT sample test, with two more passages on economics and social science
- The three Core subtests: Figure Sequences, Mathematical Equations and Latin Squares
More passages, with a teacher to explain them
Yastudy's dMAT preparation includes General Academic Module practice alongside the three Core subtests.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the dMAT General Academic Module?
Approximately 60 individual questions in 90 minutes. g.a.s.t. says this is an average and the actual number may be higher or lower.
Which subjects does the General Academic Module cover?
g.a.s.t. says the tasks can cover mathematics, computational sciences, natural sciences, engineering, business administration, economics, social sciences and humanities.
Is the General Academic Module different for engineering and commerce graduates?
No. For the APS process all participants receive the same tasks.
Do I need to study all these subjects?
The official material says the module requires developed transfer and application skills rather than memorised factual knowledge, and each task explains its topic in a text. Basic school-level maths and science help you read those texts faster, but you are not expected to revise eight degree subjects.
Can I use a calculator in the General Academic Module?
No. Calculators and note-taking are not allowed anywhere in the dMAT. The calculations in the official sample tasks can be done in your head.
What are the official sample topics?
The preparation booklet contains four sample exercises: vector calculations, hydrostatics, optimal order quantity and research strategies in the social sciences. g.a.s.t. notes that these are only a selection of possible topics.
Are these sample passages from the real dMAT?
No. They are original Yastudy passages written in the published format. The topics and difficulty of the real test may differ.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on 10 October 2026.
- dMAT for graduate students in India (g.a.s.t., official dMAT website)
- FAQ: dMAT for graduate students in India (g.a.s.t.)
- Digital Master Test (dMAT) for selected Master's applicants in India (APS India)
- dMAT India: List of Affected Previous Degree Fields, Version 1.0 (APS India, PDF)
- dMAT Preparatory Materials for Test Takers, General Academic Module (g.a.s.t., PDF)
