Integrated Reasoning: a Major Change to the GMAT Exam

By QS Contributor Updated Sep 30, 2014

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Introduction
Preparing for the new GMAT: still three and a half hours
Preparing for the new GMAT: Verbal and Quantitative sections stay the same

Integrated Reasoning: a Major Change to the GMAT Exam

In June 2012, the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) gained an extra section, titled Integrated Reasoning. Here, TopMBA.com outlines it.

The new section asks "test takers to assimilate and integrate information from multiple sources to solve complex problems; accurately interpret visual and tabular data representations; and determine or estimate probability and statistics,” according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC).

Preparing for the new GMAT: still three and a half hours

While the Integrated Reasoning section may be causing a greater amount of stress for students preparing for the GMAT, the overall length of the exam has remained at three and a half hours. To make room for the extra section, GMAC have opted to remove one of the two essays that previously formed the Analytical Writing section.

Keen to point out that this decision was due to feedback from business schools, GMAC explained that, “admissions officers have stated and GMAC research has shown that performance on the essays is closely aligned, making a single essay acceptable for predicting performance.”

Preparing for the new GMAT: Verbal and Quantitative sections stay the same

“The enhancements to the GMAT exam stem from multiple surveys of business school faculty conducted during the past four years,” GMAC announced. “The integrated reasoning portion of the GMAT will capitalise on innovations in technology and assessments and feature questions that further enhance the validity of the test,” through the use of graphs, spreadsheets, charts and the like, which participants have to analyse successfully in order to score highly.

The remaining features of the GMAT exam, most notably the Verbal and Quantitative sections remain unchanged, and those participating will receive a breakdown of their results for each part, including the new Integrated Reasoning section.

Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC explained the benefits of the integrated reasoning section to business schools. “The new integrated reasoning section of the GMAT will be a microcosm of today’s [business] school classroom... These questions will provide critical intelligence to schools about the ability of prospective students to make sound decisions by evaluating, assimilating or extrapolating data.”