Business School Admissions Officers Uncertain Regarding New GMAT Integrated Reasoning Section, Survey Finds
As many current business school applicants prepare for the first time to submit GMAT scores that include the newly launched Integrated Reasoning (IR) section, business schools are expressing uncertainty about the ways in which the new section may or may not have improved the entrance exam, according to a recent survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep.
Noting that it is too early to pass judgment on the new section, Kaplan this week released survey findings that suggest that business schools may not be as positive about the new section this year – now that it has launched – as they were in recent years when it was still in development.
In Kaplan’s 2012 survey, 41 percent of responding business school admissions officers said IR would make the GMAT more reflective of the business school experience, down from 59 percent in Kaplan’s 2011 survey. More admissions officers – 49 percent – responded that they weren’t sure if the new section would make the exam more reflective. This figure was up from 37 percent the year before. Of admissions officers polled, only 5 percent last year said the new IR section would not make the exam more reflective. That figure rose to 10 percent in 2012.
Asked whether the new section will make the exam more reflective of work in business and management after business school, 54 percent responded “do not know,” compared to 36 percent who said yes and 10 percent who said no.
So, how important will the IR scores be in the evaluation process at business schools? Uncertainty dominates here, with 54 percent of respondents saying they are undecided at this point. Twenty-two percent responded that IR scores will be important, and 24 percent said they will not be.
“Schools generally prefer to gather performance data on a new test or test section before fully incorporating it into their evaluation process,” Andrew Mitchell, director of pre-business programs for Kaplan Test Prep, said in a statement. “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.”
Mitchell cautioned that GMAT test takers should not, however, take the IR section any less seriously than the other sections in the meantime.
Kaplan polled 265 business school admissions officers – including 17 from the nation’s top 25 MBA programs as ranked by U.S. News & World Report – for this survey by telephone between August and September 2012.
Learn more about Kaplan Test Prep’s survey regarding the new GMAT IR Section.
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