The New GMAT Begins Today
June 5, 2012
The GMAT has changed this morning–and Kaplan is here to make sure you’re ready to take on the new test. To make sure the changes don’t provide any bumps on the road to crushing your b school applications, here are a few points to keep in mind:
- From today forward, the new GMAT will include an Integrated Reasoning section. It will take place after the Argument Essay, in lieu of the Issue Essay. Since it will last 30 minutes, the overall time to sit for the test will remain the same. The IR section is scored on a scale of 1-8, while the AWA score of 1-6 will now be based on the Argument Essay alone.
- There are 4 question types on Integrated Reasoning. To see samples of those questions, and for the latest on the new test, visit our GMAT Test Change information center, testchange.com.
- Kaplan’s free GMAT practice tests include complete IR sections. The free practice test can be found at kaplangmat.com/gmatpracticetest. Current students should not take the free practice test, and doing so will not grant them access to additional questions.
- The Kaplan GMAT program fully addresses the new section. We offer a session dedicated to IR, and all 9 CATs in the Kaplan GMAT course include a full-length, scored, IR section. This applies also to tests taken at the Pearson testing center as the Official Test Day Experience.
We’ve worked with GMAC, the test maker, to ensure you have everything you need to prepare for the new test. And we’ll continue to place updates on testchange.com as we have them.
Please post a comment and let us know if you have any questions about the new GMAT or your GMAT preparation.
The New GMAT: Integrated Reasoning
February 13, 2012
The new section of the GMAT, called Integrated Reasoning, is going live on June 5, 2012. While we here at Kaplan implore everyone in the free world to take the GMAT before this date, we are hard at work preparing for the test change so we can start training our bar-setting students to blow it out of the water when the time comes.
In a series of four short posts, I am going to focus on the new question formats that comprise the twelve Integrated Reasoning questions test takers will see in the new section. In part 1, we’ll have a look at Graphic Interpretation questions. But before we get into it, here are some FYI question specification bullet points I found here on MBA.com:
- A given prompt, or question setup, may have multiple questions.
- All answer choices for a single question are presented on the same screen.
- Test takers respond to each question before moving to the next question prompt. Once a question has been answered, candidate cannot return and change the answer.
- Narrative prompts (text on tabs) are approximately 300 words or fewer.
- Answer options will not provide information or clues that help test takers solve other questions.
- A single prompt may provide the information to solve several questions, but the questions are independent of one another. Test takers do not have to answer one question correctly to be able to answer another.
For additional information on the New GMAT, Kaplan has set up a dedicated website at www.testchange.com. Have a look now and revisit often to stay up to date on the latest New GMAT news. Also, be sure to come back to our blog for the IR question exposé series.
