Bombing Integrated Reasoning

Question

Hi all,

I have been studying for the GMAT pretty consistently for a little over a month. In alignment with the 6-month plan I'm following (from Magoosh), I did the 15 official GMAC IR questions on the GMAC website. I gave myself 38 minutes to complete all 15. I did ABYSMALLY, getting only 20% of the questions right. To be fair, I haven't spent any quality time studying IR, but I have been hitting quant really hard. I've scoured the forums, and all I can seem to find are really old posts claiming that MBA schools don't weigh your IR score too heavily. That may have been true in 2013, but what about now?

I am also wondering if the score I received is indicative of whether I'm a suitable MBA candidate. Based on this feedback, I am really thinking that an MBA may not be for me and perhaps I should just give up. Regardless of how heavily MBA schools weigh your IR score, getting only 20% of the questions correct says a lot about my capacity to handle myself in the business world. Should I just be done, or can anyone do reasonably well on the GMAT given enough time and money?

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi kaylaquijas,

I'm sorry to hear about how things have been going.

Regarding the importance of IR, schools weigh that section differently, so you may want to reach out to the folks in admissions at your desired schools to see if you can get a definitive answer about IR.

Regarding your issues with IR, keep in mind that IR is also testing you on components of quant and verbal. So, my question to use is have you already completed your quant and verbal prep? If not, I would focus on getting through quant and verbal FIRST, and then dive into your IR practice.

kaylaquijas · Answer

That's really helpful  ScottTargetTestPrep . I have not finished the quant and verbal prep - I was just following what the 6-month plan told me to do. I'll wait to focus on IR until I've completed the prep in the other two areas.

It is also an excellent idea to ask specific schools how they weigh the IR. I honestly don't have any specific schools in mind as I am waiting to see what kind of score I can pull off on the GMAT. My confidence for scoring well on the GMAT is pretty low, and I don't want to set my hopes on something if I cannot realistically achieve it. My plan is to see what score I can get, and then apply to schools based on that.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  kaylaquijas . I agree with Scott: focus on improving your Verbal and Quant sections first. The IR section is a natural progression of different aspects of these two vital components of the exam (the only ones that have any bearing on the total score). If you practice CR questions and get better at them, you will grow more accustomed to some of the passage-based IR questions; concerning the Quant angle, calculations are not intensive, but you will have access to an onscreen calculator to work with anyway to ease that burden. IR takes practice to gain familiarity with the types of traps you can expect to see, as well as the different types of questions themselves (table reading, graphs, and so on). The all-or-nothing format of a multiple-answer question can be daunting, but again, practice will help, and this whole section should be put on hold while you prepare for the part that most certainly counts.

To touch further on the importance of the IR section, I have not had any clients who have been provided feedback from schools that their IR score was barring them from gaining entry. One of them even earned a spot at an M7 with a 3 in that section. The general consensus seems to be that a 5 is safe territory. Keep in mind, too, that you do not even need to answer every question correctly to earn a perfect IR score. Just cross that bridge when you get to it.

Finally, make sure you are prepared to go all in if you decide to pursue an MBA. Many people invest in self-prep courses or other types of tutoring or classes to put their best foot forward in the admissions game, and the sticker price at many schools is quite expensive. Ask yourself whether you would be willing to put everything on the line financially and invest a significant amount of time to see your dream through. If the answer is yes, then by all means, put one foot in front of the other and get going. If earning an MBA is more of a passing fancy because you like the thought of earning a six-figure salary, then do not commit to anything until you are sure.

Best of luck to you.

- Andrew

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi kaylaquijas,

Many GMATers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so if you've been studying for just 1 month, then you should not expect to have mastered any aspects of the Exam just yet. Integrated Reasoning has a lot in common with Verbal CR (along with some RC skills and Quant Tactics involved in certain prompts) - meaning that you'll likely improve in IR once you've honed skills in those other areas.

Most Business Schools still do not put much (if any) emphasis on an applicant's IR score when evaluating an application, so you likely have nothing to be concerned about (regardless of what your IR Score eventually ends up being). That having been said, you should still try your best when dealing with the IR section on your CATs/mocks and on Test Day. In addition, if you're interested in what a specific School/Program thinks about the IR score, then you should research that School directly (you might also consider contacting the School to ask). In the years since IR was introduced, I've never heard of anyone ever getting rejected from a Business School because of a low IR Score.

Since you're currently following a study plan, it would make sense for you to continue on with that plan. Have you taken any practice CATs/mocks yet (and if you have, then how did you score?)? What is your Goal Score?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

kaladin123 · Answer

Hi kaylaquijas, A couple of weeks ago, I was struggling with IR too. But with a little bit of practice, I was able to improve my performance in this section. You will find a lot of questions posted by our very own Sajjad1994 on the IR forum . Your past performance is just indicative of your past ability. That should not dishearten you. If you practice just one IR question a day (for the remaining 5 months of your 6-month-plan), I reckon your ability will improve a lot. If you are experiencing self-doubt, don't worry, you are not alone. CJ has some nice webinars on handling the Emotional Aspect of GMAT Prep on YouTube. I have found them to be very useful. All the best with your prep!

kaylaquijas · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC , Thank you very much for your thoughtful response. It's good to know that IR isn't considered much for MBA admissions.

No, I have not taken a CAT, and I have two reasons for this: 1) If I do poorly (which I surely will), I will definitely lose my inspiration to study, and 2) I don't want to waste a free CAT in this way. I know that I absolutely have to focus on Quant (I've been actively avoiding math since high school). Once I am more confident in Quant, and have brushed up my Verbal a bit, I will take a CAT, assess my weaknesses, and do targeted studying from that point.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi kaylaquijas,

Many GMATers are unhappy with their initial practice scores, but you really shouldn't be thinking in those terms. That initial result will just be a measure of your skills right now - and we need to know your skills, strengths and weaknesses so that we can make sure that you're following the proper study plan. If you're studying in an inefficient way right now, then it's better to know that sooner rather than later (so that we can 'fix' whatever issues currently exist). In addition, it's important to take FULL-LENGTH CATs at regular intervals over the course of your studies (since there are Test-taking skills that take time to develop, but that can really only be learned by taking CATs over time). Finally, there are plenty of high quality practice CATs (with a number of available free ones) that you can access - so you wouldn't be 'wasting' one of them.

I suggest that you study as you like for the rest of this week, then take a FULL-LENGTH practice CAT Test next weekend; you can access 2 for free at www.mba.com (and they come with some additional practice materials). That score will give us a good sense of your natural strengths and weaknesses and will help provide a basis for comparison as you continue to study. A FULL CAT takes about 3.5 hours to complete, so make sure that you've set aside enough time to take it in one sitting. Once you have that Score, you should report back here (or you can feel free to PM me directly) and we can discuss the results and how you might best proceed with your studies.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

I'm happy to help!

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