Take on the New GMAT: Integrated Reasoning section

Ashok SarathyVP - product management, GMAC

Responsible for launching the Next Generation GMAT, Ashok Sarathy, vice president, product management, GMAC (Graduate Management Admission Council), talks about the new Integrated Reasoning (IR) section introduced in the current GMAT.

He manages all aspects of the Graduate Management Admission Test, including development, delivery, and administration.

­An increasingly data-driven world demands managers who can make sound judgments, discern patterns, and combine verbal and quantitative reasoning to solve problems. The Integrated Reasoning section measures these skills in incoming management students.  The skills being tested by the Integrated Reasoning section were identified in a survey of 740 management faculty worldwide as important for today’s incoming students. The Integrated Reasoning score provides another data point for schools to differentiate among candidates for their programs.

­IR is a 30 minute section on the GMAT exam and has 12 questions.  A test taker responds to the IR section after the AWA section and prior to responding to the Quantitative Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning sections.  There are 4 question formats on the Integrated Reasoning section – Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, Multi-Source Reasoning and Two Part Analysis.  Almost all question formats require multiple responses.  All answer choices for a single question are presented on the same screen. Test takers may not go back to a previous screen to change their answers to previous questions.  Data presented in text are approximately 300 words or fewer.

­ The skills being measured in the Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT exam are important not only to management education faculty but also to hiring managers looking for business and management school graduates.  The skills measured include:

• Synthesizing data presented in graphics, text, and numbers
• Evaluating relevant data from different sources
• Organizing data to see relationships and to solve multiple, interrelated problems
• Combining and manipulating data to solve complex problems that depend on information from one or more sources

The IR score gives schools another data point to differentiate among candidates while providing continuity with previous GMAT scores. 

As the graph shows, schools can use the IR score to further differentiate amongst candidates who fall within a certain Total Score Band (For e.g., in the graph between 600 and 640).

Schools have been very positive about the value of Integrated Reasoning section.  A large number of schools have participated in concurrent validity studies and the results have shown that the IR scores correlate well with the core courses in an MBA program. Additionally, the IR scores add incremental validity when combined with other admissions factors such as Undergraduate GPA, GMAT Total score, GMAT AWA Score, etc.

GMAC offers the following resources to prepare for the GMAT exam:

Free GMATPrep Software – Software that simulates the actual GMAT test experience using the same technology as the official GMAT exam. This prep tool includes 15 Integrated Reasoning questions with answers and explanations.

GMATPrep Question Pack 1 – This preparatory material adds additional questions and answer explanations the GMATPrep software. Includes 24 Integrated Reasoning questions

GMATPrep Exam Pack 1 – This preparatory material integrates seamlessly with the GMATPrep software. Key features include 2 full-length computer adaptive practice tests with answers.  The integrated reasoning section is included within these exams.

The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 13th Edition – the official study guide for the GMAT from GMAC, featuring real GMAT questions. In addition to more than 900 questions, the 13th Edition features: A new online study companion with 50 Integrated Reasoning questions and answer explanations.