GMAT Integrated Reasoning - Latest Updates

The Graduate Management Admissions Council is continuing its evolution of its test, the GMAT, with a big change coming in June 2012.  The increasing prevalence of computers -- and the increasing reliance on computer-generated information -- has led them to alter the test format in an important way.

What’s changing? 
One of the two essays, the Analysis of an Issue, will no longer be part of the test.  Students will complete the Analysis of an Argument essay and then begin the new Integrated Reasoning section immediately, after which is an optional break before the Quantitative section.  In all other respects, the test experience itself is the same; the order and timing of the sections that remain is identical, and the entire test is still four hours long with the optional breaks.

What’s Integrated Reasoning? 
After surveying hundreds of faculty worldwide, GMAC is introducing a new section with four question types.  These questions are meant to test the types of skills required by the world of business today:

1) Making decisions from a mixture of quantitative and verbal information
2) Reorganizing information to answer questions and discern trends
3) Understanding the interrelationship of data when solving complex problems

How does this impact my score? 
As the title suggests, this is a new data point, a new way for admissions offices to differentiate MBA aspirants with otherwise similar records.  The Integrated Reasoning score is separate from essay score and the combined Quantitative and Verbal score; the actual scoring will be finalized in April 2012, after the beta testing has been completed and evaluated.

What are the new question types? 
The new questions are not computer-adaptive -- they stay the same whether you are getting them right or wrong -- but test-takers will still have to answer each question prompt in order; luckily, no information will carry over from one prompt to another.  Each question prompt may have several individual questions, but these are independent of one another, so no question will “help” with another one.  The question types are:

Two-Part Analysis: The test will present a problem, the solution of which contains two parts presented in table form.  The test-taker will need to choose the correct answer for each of the parts.

Multi-source Reasoning:  Two or three sources of information (whence the name of the question type) are given, followed by multiple-choice, true/false, or yes/no questions.  The sources may be text, or may be data in table or chart form.

Graphics Interpretation:  Given a graph or image, test-takers will need to interpret the information on it and select answer choices that truthfully complete several incomplete statements.

Table Analysis:  Given a sortable spreadsheet for analysis, test-takers will be given a series of true/false or yes/no questions based on the data from the spreadsheet.

When is this happening?
Beta testing is happening now (March 2012) in testing centers the world over.  Integrated Reasoning will debut in June 2012 -- it’s coming soon!


Grockit,an online test  prep game, is the smartest way to study for your test. It's adaptive, fun and finds the right teacher for you. Grockit’s analytic capabilities and adaptive technology identifies students' strengths and weaknesses, focusing the student's study time.  Students can practice in adaptive solo games, play social learning games with peers, and work with experts that match their specific needs.