{"id":37325,"date":"2017-05-24T13:51:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T20:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2017\/05\/does-gmat-integrated-reasoning-matter-2\/"},"modified":"2017-05-24T13:51:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T20:51:00","slug":"does-gmat-integrated-reasoning-matter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/does-gmat-integrated-reasoning-matter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Does GMAT Integrated Reasoning Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"There\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/em> Does GMAT integrated reasoning matter for MBA admissions?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In 2012, when the GMAT was revised to include the <\/span>Integrated Reasoning<\/span><\/a> (IR) section, business school applicants and online GMAT forums conjectured as to whether schools were even going to look at the IR scores. After all, the section was so brand new that even <\/span>top-ranked business schools<\/span><\/a> like Stanford, the Wharton School, INSEAD, and Kellogg acknowledged, at least to some extent, that they were <\/span>not going to look at IR scores<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

In those early days of the revised GMAT, IR seemed to be a mystery to both admissions staff and GMAT test takers alike. So, what about now? Does GMAT Integrated Reasoning matter in preparing for GMAT Test Day?<\/span><\/p>\n

Solving the Integrated Reasoning mystery<\/b><\/h2>\n

Since that time, schools have amassed comparative data on test takers\u2019 IR performance and how that performance aligns with what those schools are looking for. Even the\u00a0schools that\u00a0once claimed the IR score did not figure heavily in their decision-making have now devised a structure for how to incorporate the new scoring data into admissions. In addition, test-preppers now have a <\/span>panoply of resources<\/span><\/a> that have demystified GMAT IR.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simply put, IR is no longer \u201cnew\u201d or a mystery, but is a standard part of the GMAT that supplies MBA admissions committees with valuable information on how candidates\u00a0“work-smarter-not-harder”\u2014the way a business leader would. IR gives you the opportunity to\u00a0prove to schools that you have what it takes.<\/span><\/p>\n

School yourself on b-school admissions<\/b><\/h2>\n

Anything<\/span><\/i> that appears on the GMAT confers a chance to better position your \u00a0application. Just because a dean at a top-ten business school said five years ago that IR was a mystery does not mean that admissions teams don’t scrutinize your overall GMAT score.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, not all business schools are the same. You owe it to yourself to research and find out how IR (and Analytical Writing Assessment, for that matter) figures into admissions at each of your\u00a0individual prospective programs. Some business school websites detail how they regard the various sections of the GMAT. You can also find out by\u00a0contacting\u00a0the school’s admissions counselors via email or phone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though\u00a0some admissions committees continue not to consider\u00a0IR scores in their decision-making process,\u00a0they do\u00a0not use IR scores in the established decision-making process, they still\u00a0<\/span>see<\/span><\/i> your IR score; hence, there is a chance that low IR results could affect\u00a0the deliberations of admissions\u00a0officers evaluating your application.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your chance to shine<\/b><\/h2>\n

In short: Your GMAT Integrated Reasoning score matters. IR is one of many opportunities to advance your candidacy. Even if an MBA program\u00a0does not place any particular emphasis on IR, strong IR results can only help your candidacy. A solid score can boost your admissions chances\u2014and can\u00a0certainly hurt those chances if you blow it off as inconsequential.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, that raises another question: if the IR score does not figure as heavily as the Quantitative and Verbal scores do with business schools, how should you prioritize it in your GMAT prep?<\/span><\/p>\n

Prepping for IR and cognitive behavior<\/b><\/h2>\n

The GMAT is unlike any test you\u2019ve taken in academia. It doesn\u2019t assess knowledge, but rather how well\u2014under stress\u2014you execute the most efficient solutions to business-like problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that regard, GMAT IR is identical to the GMAT Quantitative and Verbal sections in that you use a college-level command of grammar, reasoning, vocabulary, and math to negotiate critical thinking puzzles amidst the constraints of the clock and the online testing scenario. Similarly, IR offers a business-oriented, problem-solving scenario in which you must manipulate spreadsheets and statistical information in order to deduce inferences that answer the questions asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, the primary way to grow in IR is to <\/span>first<\/span><\/i> refresh yourself on the grammar and math you haven\u2019t seen in years to\u00a0strengthen your cognitive prowess in the Quantitative and Verbal sections. Once you have rehearsed the pattern-recognition, translation, and work-smarter behaviors demanded by the Quant and Verbal sections to the point that you are raising your scores in those sections, <\/span>then<\/span><\/i> apply yourself to the different medium presented by IR. Here’s one great way to approach your GMAT prep:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Drill yourself back to a daily familiarity\u00a0with the math and language concepts demanded by the Quant and Verbal sections.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Apply that knowledge to the patterned ways that the Quant and Verbal sections require you to use those concepts.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Practice those applied behaviors until they\u2019re second nature, and your Quant and Verbal scores rise.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Acquaint\u00a0yourself with the unique medium and format of the Integrated Reasoning section. Get used to the repeated ways in which IR presents information and questions and the patterned methods to efficiently attack the problem solving it demands.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. When you see your IR practice scores rise, take full-length practice tests so that you encounter IR in its \u201cnatural habitat.\u201d That way, you\u2019ll then see the continuity between the cognitive behaviors demanded by IR and all the other sections of the GMAT.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Want to see how you stack up against IR and the entire GMAT? Take a <\/span><\/i>free practice GMAT<\/span><\/i><\/a> with experts to guide you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    The post Does GMAT Integrated Reasoning Matter?<\/a> appeared first on Business School Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Does GMAT integrated reasoning matter for MBA admissions? In 2012, when the GMAT was revised to include the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section, business school applicants and online GMAT forums conjectured…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,940],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-gmat-prep-gmat","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}