Fresh from GMAC - New GMAT Feature: Select Section Order
In a continuing effort to enhance the GMAT exam experience for test takers, GMAC is launching Select Section Order, a new feature that gives candidates the flexibility to customize their GMAT experience.
Beginning July 11, test takers worldwide will be able to choose the order in which they complete the four sections of the GMAT exam. Three options will be available at the test center:
- Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative, Verbal (original order)
- Verbal, Quantitative, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment
- Quantitative, Verbal, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment
Additionally, the test taker profile update screens will be removed from the testing center and can be updated anytime on mba.com.
GMAC will be actively reaching out to candidates via email and digital media between now and July 11 to ensure they are prepared for and can take advantage of the new features. To learn more about Select Section Order and how it may impact your students, please visit our
Select Section Order FAQ page.
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Important FAQ Points - You can Reschedule for free by July 11th
Q: I already have a GMAT exam scheduled. Should I reschedule it to take advantage of this new feature?A: The decision to reschedule is up to you. For those that have already done significant preparation for the GMAT and are already prepared to take the exam, you may feel comfortable proceeding with your exam as scheduled, as the original section order will be available.
If you would like to reschedule your GMAT exam to take advantage of the new Select Section Order feature, you can call GMAC Customer Service to reschedule your exam. Both your reschedule fee and phone fee ($10) will be waived if your request is received within a 7-day grace period of the announcement (request via phone must be received on or prior to June 22, 2017). Remember, you have to call in to customer service by June 22 to have the fee waived.
After the grace period, you may reschedule your GMAT exam online, at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment, for the standard reschedule fee.
Q: Are there study and preparation materials available that simulate the GMAT exam in different orders?A: The Select Section Order feature is not currently available in the full-length practice exams in the mba.com store, which includes GMAT Prep and Exam Packs 1 and 2. These products will be updated with the Select Section Order feature by July 31, 2017.
You can still download or purchase any full-length exam product via mba.com/store between now and the release of the updated versions. When the software is updated to include the Select Section Order feature, you will be eligible for a complimentary upgrade of GMAT Prep or Exam Pack.
In the meantime, you can use the Test Bank Tool in the Online
Official Guide to build your own question sets by question type in your preferred order.
We recommend that if you are not comfortable with a different section order, you can take the GMAT exam in the original section order.
Q: What was involved in the 2016 pilot testing for Select Section Order and what were the results?A: The purpose of the 2016 pilot test for Select Section Order was two-fold:
1. Determine which section orders were the most popular amongst candidates
2. Verify that taking the exam in different section orders did not impact the integrity of the GMAT score
The pilot successfully determined the two most popular section orders that will be implemented with the new feature (in addition to the original section order).
The pilot also confirmed that statistically, the integrity of the GMAT scores was not impacted by candidates taking the exam with different section orders.Official Press Release is here:
https://newscenter.gmac.com/press-releas ... 667560_001Questions from GMAT Club Members & Analysis
Q: Does this mean GMAT scores will get inflated? A: It would seem that ability to choose order of sections, esp being able to put IR and AWA at the very end would give one an edge in getting a better V or Q scores. However, the GMAC's FAQ section specifically mentioned that the overall scores have not been affected and the pilot demonstrated that the change of sequences was more of a convenience than an advantage. I don't know how they would measure this or arrived to this conclusion specifically. I know that they did offer it to re-takers, so they had some expectation as to how much retakers improve on average. The only way this would make sense is if some people scored higher and some lower as I still think there is some advantage in taking the V or Q before AWA or IR.
My take is that it will likely improve some scores for some folks, esp those who were lacking a few points to go from 650 to 660 for example but it will likely have a counter-balance effect and will force some people to score less due to over-confidence or taking their hardest section cold. Thus the overall statistics will remain unchanged but each individual test taker result will vary. Just a prediction over here.
Q: Can you reschedule your test Online for free?A: No, you have to call the customer service by June 22nd to have the fee waived.
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Updated on: 16 Jun 2017, 16:30
