GMAT’s Integrated Reasoning Section Shouldn’t be Ignored: MBA News

By Tim Dhoul Updated Oct 20, 2014

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Introduction
Too soon to judge its impact on MBA admissions?

GMAT's integrated reasoning section is still relatively new

Finding the right program and starting an MBA journey: Applicants & online resources

Earlier this month, it was revealed that 60% of MBA admissions officers in the US didn’t consider GMAT’s integrated reasoning section an important consideration when evaluating an applicant’s performance in the business school entrance exam.

This led to the suggestion that applicants needn’t be so worried about studying for this section of the GMAT – the logic being that integrated reasoning, like the analytical writing segment, commands a separate score. The overall scores given out of 800 come from the quantitative and verbal sections that constitute the majority of the exam written by the GMAC.

However, dismissing the importance of the integrated reasoning section seems a little hasty. It was only introduced by GMAC two years ago, whereas GMAT scores remain valid for five years. This means that applicants could still be sending business schools scores from before the new section became a feature.

Too soon to judge its impact on MBA admissions?

In this light, it’s easy to see why the 200+ MBA admissions officers polled in the US can’t easily attribute importance to it. It’s a little too soon to judge its significance if not all the applications they receive contain an integrated reasoning score.

“As more and more applicants submit scores from the current GMAT over the next couple of years, business schools may decide that integrated reasoning performance should play a more critical role,” said Kaplan Test Prep’s Brian Carlidge, adding that in the meantime, “doing well on integrated reasoning can set you apart from other applicants in a positive way.”

GMAC introduced the new section in 2012, after a 2009 survey of 740 business school faculty concluded that an ability to analyze and interpret data was an increasingly important attribute – for those attending MBA programs and for the modern manager in general.

The 12 questions to be completed in 30 minutes aim to test these skills in different formats, with the use of datasets, graphs and tables.

Whether GMAC’s integrated reasoning section will become of more use to MBA admissions officers, as the old exam scores die out, does remain to be seen, but not taking it seriously in the meantime certainly doesn’t seem worth the risk.

After all, the same Kaplan survey upheld the GMAT’s overall importance to the MBA admissions process – 50% of those responding to the telephone poll this fall cited a low score as the ‘biggest application killer’.

Written by

Tim Dhoul

Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).