New York, NY (June 28, 2010) – With the GRE making inroads on gaining acceptance among business schools, the GMAT test administrator has countered with an accelerated timeframe on its own changes, announcing the addition of a new integrated reasoning section, which aims to measure test takers’ ability to respond to challenges they may face in the business world. 

 

The new section will replace one of the essays currently part of the GMAT’s analytical writing section. The exam’s length will remain at three and a half hours. 

The new question type will be introduced in June 2012.  Previously, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the exam’s administrator, had announced that its test changes would roll out in 2013.  

According to GMAC, the questions in this new section will be based on multiple sources, including charts, graphs, and spreadsheets.  Test takers will have to analyze information, draw conclusions and determine relationships between pieces of data, just as they would have to do in business school.   GMAC notes that these changes are based on research and surveys of business school faculty. 

“The new GMAT promises to be a real game changer for admissions testing.  The beauty of the new integrated reasoning item type is that learning to analyze and respond to these more authentic items will provide transferable skills that make you a better business school student, and ultimately make you a greater asset to future employers,” said Dr. Neal Kingston, director, Center for Education Testing and Evaluation, University of Kansas, and former director of research and test development of the Graduate Record Examination at ETS.

“As ETS has been pushing for GRE acceptance among business schools, GMAC is sending a strong message that the GMAT remains the best tool for business schools in evaluating students,” said Jason Moss, vice president, graduate programs, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions. 

 

“The change is designed to test more complex reasoning skills, to reflect a glimpse of the business school case study experience, so ultimately the test will be more difficult.  Time will tell how this impacts GRE adoption among business schools, but schools have told us that at this point they are waiting for data on the test changes before making any decisions.  Students applying to business school should continue to take the GMAT before it changes.”

The current scoring scale of 200-800 will remain the same and test takers will receive a separate score for the new section, just as they do now for the essays.

For more information about the GMAT’s planned 2012 changes or the GRE’s planned 2011 changes and how these may affect test takers, please contact Russell Schaffer at russell.schaffer@kaplan.com or 212.453.7538.

 

Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com), a division of Kaplan, Inc., is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings and a complete array of books, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as English language and professional licensing exams. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

Russell Schaffer
russell.schaffer@kaplan.com
212.453.7538