{"id":6827,"date":"2011-04-05T12:02:24","date_gmt":"2011-04-05T20:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=6827"},"modified":"2011-04-05T12:03:50","modified_gmt":"2011-04-05T20:03:50","slug":"are-you-worrying-about-the-new-gmat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/are-you-worrying-about-the-new-gmat\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You Worrying About the New GMAT?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the new U.S. News<\/em> graduate school rankings issue, there is an article that outlines the big change coming to the GMAT \u2014 replacing one of the AWA questions with a new section called Integrated Reasoning \u2014 and the Graduate Management Admission Council\u2019s reasons for the change.<\/p>\n

The new Integrated Reasoning section will go beyond the traditional \u201cpick one of these five answer choices\u201d format. It will ask test takers to assess information in a variety of formats, synthesize the information given, and draw conclusions from the information given. (We wrote about the new format<\/a> a great deal last year.) Sounds scary, right?<\/p>\n

Not really. In fact, if you have really<\/em> studied the right way, we would argue that you need very little preparation for the new Integrated Reasoning section beyond what you\u2019ve already studied. (Fear not\u2026 We\u2019re going to introduce an Integrated Reasoning module to our GMAT prep program in the coming year.) Answering these new questions will require the same higher-order thinking skills that the GMAT already tests; it just tests them in a new way, taking advantage of the computer-based format for the first time in the GMAT\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

In the article, we\u2019re quoted as saying that the test\u2019s new \u201cmini case study\u201d format allows for more creative and open-ended responses. Don\u2019t take this to mean that you\u2019re going to be asked to write a short argument or devise a strategy for the company in the question setup. These new Integrated Reasoning questions certainly can be more open-ended in that you may be asked to select which statements are true given a set of data, and one, two, or even all five statements could possibly be true. In this case, you won\u2019t be tasked with simply converging on THE right answer each time. However, there STILL will be a correct way and an incorrect way to answer a question. You just may need to be more creative in how you get there.<\/p>\n

Say, for example, you are given a mini spreadsheet showing a company\u2019s revenues, along with its ad spending, average price per unit sold, breadth of distribution, frequency of stockouts, and its main competitor\u2019s average price. You may then be asked which of these items appears to influence the company\u2019s sales. You will be able to sort the spreadsheet to make things easier, but you won\u2019t do any heavier spreadsheet lifting than that. You will identify, for example, that ad spending, breadth of distribution, and competitive pricing all demonstrate a clear correlation with the company\u2019s revenues, but not the other two items. In this case, you could answer the question in any number of ways, but there still is ONE correct answer.<\/p>\n

Again, if you\u2019ve studied for the GMAT properly, this will be a piece of cake. If anything, replacing an AWA question with the new Integrated Reasoning section actually removes<\/em> ambiguity from the test, since it replaces a long-form, written response (graded by a computer) with questions with clear-cut right and wrong responses. And, the best part is.\u2026 This is exactly the type of stuff you\u2019ll be asked to do in many MBA job interviews.<\/p>\n

Ready to sign up for a GMAT course ? Enroll through GMAT Club and save up to $180 (use discount code GMATC10)! Take a look at our course options in some of our most popular cities: New York<\/a>, Chicago <\/a>and Los Angeles<\/a> and make sure to check the Veritas Prep blog<\/a> for daily articles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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