Kaplan Test Prep Survey: Business Schools’ Opinion of new GMAT Integrated Reasoning Section Slips; Uncertainty Remains as Applicants Prepare to Submit First Round of Scores

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As a new crop of business school applicants prepares to submit the first set of applications with GMAT scores that include the newly launched GMAT Integrated Reasoning section, Kaplan Test Prep’s 2012 survey of business school admissions officers* suggests that the opinion of business schools of the new GMAT section may have slipped – though it is too early to pass judgment on the new section. Among the major findings:

“Schools generally prefer to gather performance data on a new test or test section before fully incorporating it into their evaluation process”

• In Kaplan’s 2012 survey, 41% said IR would make the GMAT more reflective of the business school experience, a big drop from the 59% who answered that way in Kaplan’s 2011 survey. Those who weren’t sure if IR would make the exam more reflective rose from 37% in 2011 to 49% in 2012. Admissions officers who said IR would not make the exam more reflective increased from 5% in 2011 to 10% in 2012.
• Somewhat similarly, 54% “do not know” if Integrated Reasoning makes the GMAT more reflective of work in business and management after business school; 36% say it does; and 10% say it doesn’t.

There is still dominant uncertainty, however. More than half of MBA programs are unsure of how important Integrated Reasoning (IR) scores will be in the evaluation process, with 54% responding “Undecided” to the question, “How important will a student’s Integrated Reasoning score be in your evaluation of their overall performance on the GMAT?” 22% say IR scores will be important, while 24% say IR scores will not be important.

“Schools generally prefer to gather performance data on a new test or test section before fully incorporating it into their evaluation process,” said Andrew Mitchell, director of pre-business programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “Not all applicants in 2012 will submit GMAT scores with an IR component. We can expect that, as more data is available, schools will determine clear policies, in which Integrated Reasoning may play a key role. In the meantime, GMAT test takers should not take GMAT Integrated Reasoning any less seriously than the Quantitative or Verbal sections.”

Mitchell notes that because test takers receive a separate score for the Integrated Reasoning section, poor performance can’t be masked by stronger performance on other sections of the test.

The four question types found in GMAT Integrated Reasoning – table analysis, graphics interpretation, multi-source reasoning and two-party analysis – feature scatter plots, sortable tables, and multi-tabbed data. Such question types, introduced in the new section in June, 2012, are novel compared to the formats traditionally seen on graduate school-level admissions exams such as the GRE, LSAT and MCAT.

For more information about Kaplan Test Prep’s 2012 survey of business school admissions officers, please contact Russell Schaffer at [e-mail] or 212.453.7538.

Kaplan will release more results from its 2012 survey of business school admissions officers in the coming weeks.

* For the 2012 survey, 265 business school admissions officers – including 17 from the nation’s top 25 MBA programs, as designated by U.S. News & World Report – were polled by telephone between August and September 2012.

About Kaplan Test Prep

Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com) 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 as well as a complete array of print books and digital products, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as professional licensing exams for attorneys, physicians and nurses. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.

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