I'm thinking the GMAT is a good option for my career choices down the road - whatever they may be. I hear the exam is changing in June - should I take it before or after? I've never taken the GMAT but I want to do well - 700+.

You want to take the exam when you're at your strongest in terms of what you score. There are ways you can measure you ability to score well like the prep CAT exams. If you're not maximizing the ability to do well, it doesn't make a difference whether you take it before or after. I have read that with the new IR section, you can expect to add roughly 20 hours to your prep time (please correct me if this is incorrect and hearsay). If you're able to add that 20 hours and be more prepared, I say wait and give yourself a chance to score well.
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Stats by August 2014
28, Asian-American, Born and raised in lower-income Bronx, NY.
2.64 (downward trend) Economics degree from UT-Austin in Dec. 2009
GMAT Goal: 710+, exam scheduled for July 27, 2013 at 12PM CST
WE: Sales Team Manager at Apple - business development and strategies for the Apple Online Store
Past WE: Financial Services advising at Northwestern Mutual Financial, Equities Trading at Kershner Trading Group
EC: 3 years of National Council on Fraternity (VP, President), Current Chairman of Texas Exes, Asian Alumni Network (2012-2013)
Target: (1) NYU, (2) Duke, (3) Michigan, (4) Texas, (5) UCLA, (6) Rice
Giving this 110%. I appreciate all advice and encouragement. Thank you, everyone.

You've gotten some good advice on this page already, but I'll add my 2 cents as well.

As it happens, I've already written a blog addressing this very question:
http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/should-i-t ... t-changes/

I hope you find that helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mike
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Mike McGarry
Magoosh Test Prep

Karishma, does Veritas Prep have any published material for the Integrated Reasoning Section? I am just a little curious on this.

I'll chime in as well. In short, if you are smart enough to get a 700+ and you don't have a strict timeline, you should not fear the IR section.

Lot's of students are trying to decide if they should be taking the test before the big change in June. As has been mentioned, the big change of Integrated Reasoning really isn't that big. Sure they swap out an essay for more "real" test, but the rest of the GMAT is unchanged! The IR section is scored completely separately (1-6) from your 200-800 score. At some point, the IR section score will become relevant to admissions offices, but it will be a while before enough data exists to correlate IR performance with Business School Performance.

So the impact of the IR to you is the additional study time required to prepare for IR and the increased mental fatigue you'll experience before the Quant section (let's admit that the essays are warm-ups at best). You won't have to dedicate vast amounts of study time to IR (20 hours isn't a bad estimate) because you'll use the same quant/verbal concepts for IR as you will during the "main event". You'll spend most of your time dealing with the new tools and question types (yes you get a calculator!). As far as stamina, you'll want to be running through practice exams with IR sections (GMAT 2.0 is loaded with IR and our CATs now have IR) and be sure to take advantage of the break before the quant section (recharge your brain).

So don't fear IR! Take the GMAT when you will maximize your 200-800 score. If you want a deep dive on IR, go to the MGMAT site and check out the free IR video (on the home page).
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Kyle Widdison | Manhattan GMAT Instructor | Utah


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