Home >
MBA Admissions >
GMAT/GRE Articles >
You Can Now Choose the Order in Which You Tackle GMAT Sections
Thanks for sending your response.
Your input will help us improve your experience.
Thanks for sending your response.
Your input will help us improve your experience.You can close this popup to continue using the website or choose an option below to register in or log in.
Already have an account? Sign in
More knowledge, more power
Sign up free to keep exploring.
Access unlimited articles and study guides
Discover top subjects and destinations
Get the personalised guidance you need to succeed
Back
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
By signing up I agree to share my data and according to
User agreement, Cookie policy
and
Privacy policy.
OR
Sign up
Sign up with Email
Already have an account?
Sign in
We use Necessary cookies to make our website work. We’d also like to set optional Functional cookies to gather anonymous site visitation data and Advertising cookies to help us understand which content our visitors value the most. By enabling these cookies, you can help us provide a better website for you. These will be set only if you accept.More information about the cookies we use can be found here Cookies Policy
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling in forms.
We may use a set of cookies to collect information, report site usage statistics and understand how visitors engage with the website. In addition to reporting site usage statistics, data collected may also be used to personalize your experience and remember your chat history. We may also use these data, together with some of the advertising cookies described, to help show more relevant ads across the web and to measure interactions with the ads we show.
We use cookies to make our ads more engaging and valuable to site visitors. Some common applications of cookies are to select advertising based on what’s relevant to a user; to improve reporting on ad campaign performance; and to avoid showing ads the user has already seen.
Help us to know you better
Thanks for visiting TopUniversities.com today! So that we can show you the most relevant information, please select the option that most closely relates to you.
Views
You Can Now Choose the Order in Which You Tackle GMAT Sections
Save
Share
Share via
Share this Page12
Table of contents
Table of contents
GMAT takers are getting a confidence boost – they will soon be able to choose the section order in which they feel most comfortable taking the exam.
Beginning July 11, 2017, those sitting the business school entrance test will select their desired section order at the test center immediately prior to the start of the exam.
Although a minor change, the exam’s administrators, GMAC, believe it will help steel test taker’s mettle.
“The idea of being allowed to choose the section order had been commonly requested,” said GMAC’s Ashok Sarathy.
“We conducted a pilot in 2016 and…[found that] 85% of participants expressed that the new feature boosted their confidence prior to even taking the exam.
“Our pilot findings also concluded that taking the exam in different section orders continues to maintain the quality and integrity of GMAT scores.”
Brian Carlidge, executive director at Kaplan Test Prep, added: “It could help people perform during the exam by allowing them to choose the order in which they are more comfortable, depending on their strengths or weaknesses.
“Some may wish to start with the sections they are most confident about. Others may prefer to tackle the sections they are worried about.”
Are GMAC’s changes made with GRE rivalry in mind?
The announcement marks the latest in a cadre of changes GMAC has made to the GMAT as competition with rival entrance exam, the GRE, continues to heat up.
In 2016, GMAC began allowing people to cancel their GMAT scores online after leaving the test center. On-the-spot score cancellations were first introduced in 2014 and, in 2015, GMAC also enabled test takers to hide a poor score from a business school.
“There is rivalry among the graduate admissions tests. In recent years, more schools have begun accepting the GRE, and all the steps taken by GMAC to improve the customer experience are designed to prevent them losing market share to the GRE,” Carlidge said.
A 2016 Kaplan survey of around 200 business school admissions officers in the US found that 92% of them accepted the GRE as an alternative to the GMAT.
But, despite increased acceptance of the GRE among business schools, 26% of admissions officers said those who submit a GMAT score have an admissions advantage over those who submit a GRE score.
Seb is a journalist and consulting editor who has developed a successful track record writing about business, education and technology for the international press.
Recommended Articles Last year
MBA Loans in the US
Trying to decipher the MBA loans’ landscape in the US? Here’s an extensive guide to options available to both US citizens and international students.
MBA Acceptance Rates at the…
Want to know the acceptance rates of top US business schools? We've got you covered.
Discover top free GMAT prep…
We take a look at some free online resources for GMAT preparation.