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2012GraduateManagementAdmissionCouncil(GMAC).GMAT,GMATFocus,GMATWrite,GMATPrep,andGraduateManagementAdmissionTestareregisteredtrademarksofGraduateManagementAdmissionCouncilintheUnitedStatesandothercountries.

ASKTHEMAKERSOFTHEGMATEXAMABOUTINTEGRATEDREASONING[LIVEWEBINARSTRANSCRIPTS]9:30AM/1PM/8PMUSEDT/April18,2012OnApril18,2012,AshokSarathy,VicePresident,GMATOperations,andBetsyMcIntyre,Director,ProductManagement,hostedthreeonlinewebinarsontheGMATexamwithIntegratedReasoningandnewstudymaterialsforthisnewsection.QuestionsBegin:StartTime:09:30:00GMT0400(EasternDaylightTime)

HowmanyquestionswillbeaskedintheINTEGRATEDREASONINGsection?ANSWER:12

Twoquestions.WillIRscoringbe1through8inintegers?Orcanyouget,say,a6.5?Also,IdidthenewGMATPrepandtheIRsectionwasidenticalforthetwotests.Wasthatabug?Answer:IRwillbescoredbetween1and8usingonlyintegers.Youcannotgeta6.5.TheIRsectionisthesameforbothpracticetestsinGMATPrep.

AbhishekAsked:HowdoyouexpectBSchoolstousethisnewsectionduringadmissions?Answer:WhilewecantsayhowindividualschoolswillspecificallyusetheIRsectionintheiradmissionsprocess,nearly740facultymembershaveindicatedthattheskillsmeasuredbyIntegratedReasoningarecriticalforsuccessinagraduatemanagementprogram.AdmissionsDirectorsatkeybusinessschoolshavealsoindicatedtheIRsectionwillbevaluedadditiontotheadmissionsprocess.Admissionstoleadingbusinessschoolsiscompetitive.SchoolscanuseIRscoresasanadditionaldatapointtoevaluateacandidatesapplication.

ManasaAsked:HowmanyquestionswillbeaskedintheINTEGRATEDREASONINGsection?Answer:12

ArunRaviKumarMAsked:IneedsomehelpregardingselectionofBschools.HowdowegetintouchwiththeschoolswithourGMATscores?Answer:Youhavetheopportunitytosendyourscorestoupto5schoolsontestday.Ifyouwanttosendyourscorestomorethan5schools,orifyouwanttosendyourscoresafteryouvetakentheexam,visithttp://www.mba.com/thegmat/gmatscoresandscorereports/sendingyourscorestoschools.aspx.

RiccardoAsked:HowwillbusinessschoolsbeabletocomparecandidateswhotooktheoldGMATwiththeoneswhotooktheNewGenerationGMAT?



Answer:WhatisimportanttoconsiderwiththenewGMATexamisthattheQuantitative,Verbal,TotalandAWAscoreswillremainexactlythesameasthecurrentGMATexam,soschoolswillbeabletocomparethescoresassociatedwiththesesectionsveryeasilyforGMATteststakenbeforeorafterthelaunchofIntegratedReasoninginJune2012.IntegratedReasoningoffersschoolsanadditional,highlyrelevantdatapointwithwhichtoevaluateapplicationstotheirprogram.HoweverthebestwaytodeterminehowaspecificschoolwilluseIRscoresistoaskthatschooltowhichyouareapplyingdirectly.

aditysoodAsked:detailsofIRAnswer:12questions,30minutes,scoreof18.

PeterAsked:SoifIget9outof12correctonIR,whatdoesthattranslateto?Answer:Thereisntadirectltranslation.Sincedifferentstudentsseedifferentquestions,eventhoughwetakegreatpainstomakesurethatthedifficultyofthedifferentformsofquestionsaresimilaracrosscandidate,anequatingprocesswillconvertacandidatesrawscore(basedonthenumberofquestionsansweredcorrectly)tothescaledscore(from18).FormoreinformationabouthowtheIRsectionisscored,pleasevisitwww.mba.com/nextgen.

NilimaAsked:outofhowmuchistheintegratedreasoningsectionoutof?Answer:TheIRsectionisscoredfrom18.

MichaelMagyarAsked:IheardthattheIRsectionisnotcomputeradaptive.Whyisitthatcandidatescannotmovebackwardsinthesection?Also,doestheIRsectionhavealargepenaltyforleavingquestionsblank,astheQandVsectionssupposedlyhave?Answer:Youarecorrect;theIRsectionisnotcomputeradaptive.However,wevekepttheformsimilartotheQuantandVerbalsectionsoftheexamsothatyoucannotmovebackwardsandforward.Questionsleftblankwillbetreatedasthoughthecandidatehasansweredthosequestionsinaccurately.

JohnFulmerAsked:IseachtypeofIntegratedReasoningquestionweightedthesame?Answer:Yes.

AkashJoshiAsked:CanIcorelateDataInterpretationastotheIntegratedreasoninginGMAT?Answer:YouwillneedDataInterpretationskillstocorrectlyanswerIntegratedReasoningquestions.

MadieAsked:Justtoclarify,whichisbetterfortheendscore:leavingquestionsblankorguessingonthelastquestionsifyourunoutoftime?Answer:Thebestforyourendscoreisforyoutomanageyourtimesothatyoucanreadandmakeaneducatedguessonallquestions.Answeringallquestionstothebestofyourabilityisbetterthanleavingquestionsunanswered.



PiyushJalanAsked:Somequestionmightbedifficultforsomewhichmightbeeasierforothers.Pleaseexplainhowyoujudgethedifficultylevelofquestions.Answer:Difficultyisassignedtoquestionsbasedonhowtheyareansweredasexperimentalquestions.ExperimentalquestionswillbeincludedontheIntegratedReasoningSectionaswell.Thequestionsareassignedadifficultylevelasafunctionofthenumberofaccurateresponsesprovidedtothequestions.Oncethedifficultylevelisassignedtoaquestion,itwillbetreatedasoperationalandwillbeincludedonatestform.

JohnFulmerAsked:AreanyoftheIRquestionsexperimentallikethereareexperimentalsintheQuantandVerbalsections?Answer:Yes.

SunilAsked:IfihavetakenaGMATbeforeJune,willtheschoolaskmetotakeGMATagainifiamapplyingafterJune,becausetheoldGMATwillnotcontainIR?Answer:Thebestwaytoanswerthatquestionisforyoutoasktheschoolstowhichyouareapplying.Theirresponseswillvary.

ArunAsked:Willeachtestformpresentitsquestionsinthesameordertoalltesttakerstakingthatparticularform?Answer:Questionsonaformwillbeadministeredinarandomordertocandidates.

MadieChangesQuestionTo:IscheduledmyGMATexamintwomonthstobeabletomeetaschool'sdeadline.Is2monthsenoughtimetostudyforthisexam?Answer:Itdependsonhowyoustudy.Ifyouhaveenoughtimetodedicatetostudyingin2months,thenyes.However,ifyouarenotabletodedicatethetimetopreparation,youmightneedmoretime.

NilimaAsked:theirsection,howisitscored?Answer:Wholenumbers,between1and8.

AlhajicontehAsked:whenwilltheIRsectionbegin?Answer:June5,2012

OriSnirChangesQuestionTo:What'sconsidereda"sufficientgrade"inthe"IR"sectionbyMBAprograms?forinstanceIknowthat4.5intheAnalyticalwritingsectionisasufficientscore.Answer:Itdependsontheschool.Youshouldasktheschoolsthatyouareconsideringapplyingto.

RajatSadanaAsked:Inyouropinion,IsKaplan'sclaimthatpeoplewhotaketheGMATafterJune2willbeatadisadvantagetrueinyouropinion.



Answer:No.TheQuantandVerbalsectionshavenotchanged.AdditionallytheIRsectionallowsyoutoshineaspotlightonskillsthatyouhavehonedinyourcurrentworkenvironmentorinyourundergraduateprogramandthatareconsideredrelevantinbusinessschoolaswellasinthesubsequentcorporateenvironment.

JeyurPatelAsked:Iftherewasahighcorrelationthenwhywerethere2essaysforsomanyyears?Answer:Businessschoolfacultyhadoriginallyidentifiedauniquesetofskillstobemeasuredbyeachoftheessasys.Forexample,anAnalysisofanargumentevaluatesacandidatesabilitytodeconstructabusinessscenario,critiquealogicalargumentbyexaminingtheassumptionsunderlyingtheargumentandprovideanevidencebasedanalysis.TheAnalysisofanIssueevaluatesacandidatesabilitytotakeapositiononadebatableideaandtoprovidesupportingexamples.HoweversubsequentanalysisofthescoresontheindividualessaysrevealedahighdegreeofcorrelationsuggestingthatoneAWAessaydoesasaverygoodjobofmeasuringacandidatesanalyticalwritingskills.Oncebusinessschoolfacultyidentifiedanewsetofskillstomeasureontheexam,wedeterminedthatwewoulddroponeoftheessaysandintroducethenewsection.

DrewAsked:Dodifferencesindifficultymeanthatonequestiononatestmightbeworthmorethananother?Answer:AcandidatesscoreontheIRsectiondependslargelyonthenumberofquestionsheorshehasansweredcorrectly.GMACtakesgreatcaretomakesurethatonaveragethedifficultyofthequestionspresentedtocandidatesarethesameontheIntegratedReasoningSection.Howevertheremightbeveryminordifferencesindifficulty,andthereforeweconductanequatingandscalingprocesstomakesurethatallcandidatesareevaluatedonthesamescale.

PolinaChangesQuestionTo:Howmanyquestionsaretheregoingtobeintheintegratedreasoningpart?Answer:12

BarbaraAsked:doeseachquestionhavethesamescoreAnswer:AcandidatesscoreontheIRsectiondependslargelyonthenumberofquestionsheorshehasansweredcorrectly.GMACtakesgreatcaretomakesurethatonaveragethedifficultyofthequestionspresentedtocandidatesarethesameontheIntegratedReasoningSection.Howevertheremightbeveryminordifferencesindifficulty,andthereforeweconductanequatingandscalingprocesstomakesurethatallcandidatesareevaluatedonthesamescale.

ArindamChakrabortyAsked:Howcanapersonget8inIntegrationReasoning?Ifthereare12questions,howwillthescorebegiventofirst8answersiftheyarecorrect?Answer:AcandidatesscoreontheIRsectiondependslargelyonthenumberofquestionsheorshehasansweredcorrectly.GMACtakesgreatcaretomakesurethatonaveragethedifficultyofthequestionspresentedtocandidatesarethe



sameontheIntegratedReasoningSection.Howevertheremightbeveryminordifferencesindifficulty,andthereforeweconductanequatingandscalingprocesstomakesurethatallcandidatesareevaluatedonthesamescale.Thisprocessconvertsthenumberofquestionsthatthecandidatehasansweredcorrectlytothe18scale..

MadhusudanAsked:Doesthatmeantosayoutofthefoursamplequestionsthatyoushowed,assumingthattheyappearintheGMATexam,ifImanagetogetoneofthequestionswrongineachofthe4types,willibeawardedonly1credit?Answer:AquestionontheIRsectionmayhavemultipleparts(multipletrue/falseormultiplestatementstocomplete).Acandidatehastoanswerallparts(orresponseoptions)toaquestioncorrectlyinordertoreceivecreditforthatquestion.AcandidatesscoreontheIRsectiondependsonthenumberofquestionsthatheorshehasansweredcorrectly.

RishilSavaniAsked:WhatwouldbetheaveragescoreinIR?Answer:Becauseitisnotyetavailableforstudentstotake,wedonotknowwhattheaveragescoreis.FormoreinformationaboutIRpercentilesandhowtheywillbecalculated,pleasevisitwww.mba.com/nextgen

VladAsked:isIRadaptive?Answer:No.IRisnotadaptive.Howeveracandidatecanonlyproceedtothenextquestionifshehasrespondedtoallpartsofthequestionthatsheiscurrentlyanswering.Additionallyacandidatecannotreturntoapreviouslyansweredquestiontocorrectit.

KarthikParvathaneniAsked:WillapercentileforIRsectionbeprovided?Ifso,howisitcalculated?Answer:Yes,apercentilewillbeprovidedfortheIRsection.ForthefirstsixmonthsaftertheIntegratedReasoningsectionlaunches,percentilesforallIntegratedReasoningscoreswillbeadjustedeachmonthandthenupdatedannuallyonthesamescheduleastheotherGMATpercentiles.YourIRscaledscorewillnotchange,butasthepooloftesttakerswithIRscoresgrows,IRpercentileswillmostlikelychange.

MarcelaAsked:Helloall,regardingthescorescale,howcana,examof12questionshavemaxscoreas8andtheintervalsareequalto1?Thanks!Answer:AcandidatesscoreontheIRsectiondependslargelyonthenumberofquestionsheorshehasansweredcorrectly.GMACtakesgreatcaretomakesurethatonaveragethedifficultyofthequestionspresentedtocandidatesarethesameontheIntegratedReasoningSection.Howevertheremightbeveryminordifferencesindifficulty,andthereforeweconductanequatingandscalingprocesstomakesurethatallcandidatesareevaluatedonthesamescale.Thisprocessconvertsthenumberofquestionsthatthecandidatehasansweredcorrectlytothe18scale.Thereisnotadirectconversionfromthenumberofquestionsyouanswercorrectlytoyourscore.



ManasaAsked:Willthescaledscoresberevealedattheendofthetest?ManasaAnswer:YouwillreceiveyourQuant,VerbalandTotalscoresatthetestingcenter.YouwillreceiveyourIRscorewithyourofficialscorereport.

BarbaraChangesQuestionTo:willallschoolsbeconsideringtheIRrating?Answer:Likelyyes.Nearly740facultymembershaveindicatedthattheskillsmeasuredbyIntegratedReasoningarecriticalforsuccessinagraduatemanagementprogram.AdmissionsDirectorsatkeybusinessschoolshavealsoindicatedtheIRsectionwillbeavaluedadditiontotheadmissionsprocess.Admissionstoleadingbusinessschoolsiscompetitive.SchoolscanuseIRscoresasanadditionaldatapointtoevaluateacandidatesapplication.However,thebestwaytounderstandhowschoolsareusingtheIRscoresistoaskthemdirectly.

rahmansaruhanAsked:whenwouldschools(eitherformbaorphd)startuseIRsectionscoreintheapplicationprocess,woulditbeoktoskiptheIRsectionifwearemakingourapplicationsnextyear?Answer:ThebestwaytounderstandhowschoolsareusingtheIRscoresistoaskthemdirectly.

ManimatorrAsked:firunoutoftimeandidontmanagetoanswerallthequestionsinthestipulatedamountoftime.willibepenalizedinmyscoring?Answer:Candidateswillnotreceiveanycreditforleavingaquestionunanswered.Werecommendcandidatescompleteallquestionswithinthestipulatedtime.

BarbaraChangesQuestionTo:canweorderonlinetoIndiatoday?Answer:TheOfficialGuideforGMATReviewisavailableinIndiatoday.Tolearnmore,visitwww.mba.com/india.

ArindamChakrabortyChangesQuestionTo:WhichisimportantforaBSchool:PercentileorScore?WillalwaysmyscorebethelatestGMATexamtakenevenifthelatestscoreislessthanthelastexamtakenin5years?Answer:Yourscoreisareflectionofyourability.Thepercentilerankingindicatesthepercentageofcandidateswhohavescoredbelowyourscore.Bothvariablesareimportanttoschools.However,eachschoolconsidersscoresandpercentilesdifferently.ThebestwaytounderstandhowaspecificschoolusesGMATscoresistoaskthemdirectly.

PolinaChangesQuestionTo:Whatisthebestwaytopracticetheessaypart?Howmanyquestionsaretheregoingtobeintheintegratedreasoningpart?Howmuchpreparationtime(inhours)doyourecommendtoplanforthetestpreparation,whennothavingtakenthetestbefore?Answer:ThebestwaytopracticetheessaysectionoftheGMATistopurchaseGMATWritefromwww.mba.com/store.Itallowsyou2opportunitiestowriteandscoretheessay.Therewillbe12questionsontheIRsection.Theamountoftimerequiredtopreparefortheexamvaries.Pleaserefertotheblogarticleonmba.comhere:http://www.mba.com/mbacommunity/mba_com/b/asktheexpert/archive/2011/02/07/howlongshouldipreparestudyforthegmat.aspx.



VladAsked:isIRadaptive?Answer:No,itisnotadaptive.Howeveracandidatecanonlyproceedtothenextquestionifshehasrespondedtoallpartsofthequestionthatsheiscurrentlyanswering.Additionallyacandidatecannotreturntoapreviouslyansweredquestiontocorrectit.

CourtneyAsked:CanyoupurchaseonlytheIRsection?Asopposedtohavingtopurchasetheentirebook?Answer:Ifyoualreadyhaveacopyofthe12theditionoftheGuideandonlywanttopurchasetheonlineIRsection,youmaydosoatmba.com/store.

MatthewBoguszAsked:WhydopeopletaketheGMAT?Answer:Foradmissiontoagraduatebusinessprogram.

RajatSadanaAsked:Doeasy,medium,hardcorrespondtoaparticulardifficulty?Answer:Yes.

SanjayAsked:IhavestartedpreparingforGMATusing12thEdition.DoIneedtoredopreparationforVerbalandQuantfromscratchandpreparationthatIhavedonesofarwillnotbeuseful?CanInotcontinuepreparingforVerbalandQuantfrom12thEditionanduse13thEditiononlyforIR?Answer:Ifyoualreadyhaveacopyofthe12theditionoftheGuideandonlywanttopurchasetheonlineIRsection,youmaydosoatmba.com/store.

ManasaChangesQuestionTo:IntheIRsection,isitpossiblefortesttakerstogobacktoaquestionandcorrectit(beforefinishingthesectionofcourse)?Answer:No.Youmaynotgobacktoaquestionafteryouhavesubmittedyouranswer.

CourtneyAsked:HowmuchpreptimeshouldyoudedicatetostudyingfortheIRsection?Answer:Therearesomeanswerstothisquestioninablogpostonmba.com:http://www.mba.com/mbacommunity/mba_com/b/asktheexpert/archive/2011/02/07/howlongshouldipreparestudyforthegmat.aspx.

JeetThakkarAsked:WhatkindofquestionsaregoingtobeaskedintheIntegratedReasoningsectionofGMAT?Answer:FormoreinformationabouttheIRquestiontypes,gohere:http://www.mba.com/thegmat/nexgen/integratedreasoningquestionformats.aspx.



MohitBhargavaAsked:IfiGiveOnetestBeforeIRSectionAvailabilityandOneAfterIRSection,howwillthesetwoscoresbecompared?Answer:YourQuant,VerbalandTotalscoreswillbecomparedonetoone,astheIRscoreswillnotbeincludedintheyourTotalscore.SchoolswillhaveanadditionaldatapointonhighlyrelevantskillswithwhichtoevaluateyourapplicationasaresultoftheIntegratedReasoningscore.

KarthikParvathaneniAsked:WilltherebeabreakbetweenArgumentAWApromptandIRsection?Answer:No.

SubhashiniSriramaluAsked:WilltherebeabreakbetweentheessayandtheIRsession?Ifsohowlong?Answer:No.

JeetThakkarChangesQuestionTo:ArethequantandVerbalsectionformatschanginginanyway?Answer:No.

AlhajicontehAsked:caniseemyscoreintheIRaftertheexamsAnswer:YouwillreceiveyourIRscorewithyourofficialscorereport.TheunofficialscorereportwillnotcontainanIRscore.

JeetThakkarAsked:WherecanIfindstudymaterialfortheIRsection?Answer:IRquestionsareavailableinthenewversionofGMATPrep(freedownloadablesoftwareavailableatwww.mba.com/gmatprep)aswellasinthe13theditionoftheOfficialGuide.ifyoualreadyhaveacopyofthe12theditionoftheGuideandonlywanttopurchasetheonlineIRsection,youmaydosoatmba.com/store.

omotadeAsked:Inacaseofthetwopartquestions,aretheanswersgoingtobegradedseparately,ifyouansweredonecorrectlyandtheotherwrongly?Answer:Thewholeanswerwillbeconsideredwrong.Youwillonlyreceivecreditforthequestionifyouanswerbothpartscorrectly.

PriyankAjmeraAsked:CanyouexplainwhatkindofquestionscouldweexpectintheIntegratedReasoningsection?Andbeingthefirstyearwiththisaddedsectionwhatwouldthelevelofdifficultybe?



Answer:FormoreinformationabouttheIRquestionstypes,visit:http://www.mba.com/thegmat/nexgen/integratedreasoningquestionformats.aspx

MarkAsked:Howwilltheintegratedreasoningsectionbescored?Answer:Wholenumbers,18.

MarkAsked:Whenwilluniversitiesstartusingtheintegratedreasoningscoreinanofficialmode,asopposedto"foranalysisonly"?Answer:Itdependsontheschool.Nearly740facultymembershaveindicatedthattheskillsmeasuredbyIntegratedReasoningarecriticalforsuccessinagraduatemanagementprogram.AdmissionsDirectorsatkeybusinessschoolshavealsoindicatedtheIRsectionwillbeavaluedadditiontotheadmissionsprocess.Admissionstoleadingbusinessschoolsiscompetitive.SchoolscanuseIRscoresasanadditionaldatapointtoevaluateacandidatesapplication.Foraspecificanswerwerecommendyoucontacttheschoolthatyouareapplyingtodirectly.

AaronLundbergAsked:WhywastheAWAIssueessaydropped?Answer:Aftermuchstatisticalanalysis,wedeterminedthetwoessayscoreswereveryhighlycorrelated.Assuch,oneessayscoredemonstratesyouranalyticalwritingskills.

JuniorAsked:didyousaythatintegratedreasoningwillbescoredseparatelyfromeverythingelse?Answer:Yes.

AaronLundbergChangesQuestionTo:Ispartialcreditgivenforaquestioniflessthanalloftheresponseopportunitiesareansweredcorrectly?Answer:ThereisnopartialcreditintheIRsection.

AaronLundbergChangesQuestionTo:Isitpossibletoanswereveryquestioncorrectlyandnotget8points?Answer:No.AllformsofIRquestionshaveapproximatelythesamelevelofdifficulty.Thescalingprocessadjustsforminordifferencesindifficulty.Howeverifacandidateweretoanswerallquestionscorrectlytheywouldreceivean8.

LindaEdwardsSheaAsked:HowhavetheIntegratedReasoningquestionsbeentestedforthefirstbatchoftestsfollowing5thJune?Answer:WeconductedthreeseparatepilottestsofGMATtesttakerswiththeIRquestionstocalibratethequestions.

KimberlyKruzynskiAsked:IsitassumedthatthemorepeoplethattakethenewIntegratedReasoningsection(i.e.asmoretimepasses),themorecompetitivethepercentilewillget?



Answer:Itdependsonthepeoplethattaketheexam.ForthefirstsixmonthsaftertheIntegratedReasoningsectionlaunches,percentilesforallIntegratedReasoningscoreswillbeadjustedeachmonthandthenupdatedannuallyonthesamescheduleastheotherGMATpercentiles.YourIRscaledscorewillnotchange,butasthepooloftesttakerswithIRscoresgrows,IRpercentileswillmostlikelychange.

AaronLundbergChangesQuestionTo:HowmanyexperimentalIRquestionswilltherebe?Answer:Fortestsecurityandfairnessissues,wecannotrevealthenumberofexperimentalquestionsontheIRsection.

MBRAsked:HowareyougoingtodeterminepercentilesforstudentstakingthenewGMATduringthefirstmonth?Answer:Forthefirstmonth,thepercentileswillbecalculatedbasedoncandidateswhohavetakentheGMATtestduringthefirstfewweeksinJune.ForthefirstsixmonthsaftertheIntegratedReasoningsectionlaunches,percentilesforallIntegratedReasoningscoreswillbeadjustedeachmonthandthenupdatedannuallyonthesamescheduleastheotherGMATpercentiles.YourIRscaledscorewillnotchange,butasthepooloftesttakerswithIRscoresgrows,IRpercentileswillmostlikelychange.

GillianWongAsked:HowwouldyouadvisewebestprepareforthenewIntegratedReasoningsection?Answer:Wesuggestthatyoupractice!YoucanseeIRquestionsinthefreeGMATPrepsoftware(availableatwww.mba.com/gmatprep)orintheOfficialGuideforGMATReview,13thedition.

ShivaliAgarwalAsked:HowwillthecandidateswhotakethetestafterJune5beevaluatedagainsttheoneswhohavetakenthetestbefore.Esp.ifthepersonhasastellarQuant/Verbalscoreandnotsogoodintegratedreasoningscore.Answer:SincetheQuantitative,Verbal,AWAandTotalscoreswillnotchange,schoolswillbeabletocomparecandidateswhohavetakentheGMATbeforeJune5thwiththosewhohavetakenitafterJune5th,basedonthesemeasures.IntegratedReasoninggivesschoolsanadditionaldatapointwithwhichtoevaluateahighlycompetitiveapplicantpool.ThewaythatschoolsevaluateGMATscoresvary.ThebestwaytounderstandhowschoolswilluseIRscoresistoasktheschoolstowhichyouareapplyingdirectly.

JuniorAsked:arepracticetestsavailableonmba.comnowthatincludetheintegratedreasoningsections?Answer:yes,afullpracticetestwithIntegratedReasoningisavailableinthenewversionofGMATPrep(freedownloadablesoftwareavailableatwww.mba.com/gmatprep)

rawnAsked:awaissuesorargumentrelatedquestionactuallydropfornewversion?Answer:TheAWAsectionwillnowonlyincludeanAnalysisofanArgumentprompt.



JuniorChangesQuestionTo:IsthissoftwarenowcompatiblewithMacAnswer:Yes,GMATPrepisnowcompatiblewiththeMAC.

SiyingAsked:questionsaboutthetiminginIR:HowdidGMACgaugethetimerequiredforansweringeachIRquestion?Iwouldliketoseesomestatisticaldatashowing,forexample,fortheregularverbal/quant,%oftesttakerswholeavequestionsunansweredattheend,comparedwith%oftesttakerswholeavequestionunansweredinIRduringtheprevioustrialperiod(earlythisyear).IsIRsessionhashighertimeconstraintthanverbal/quant?Foranaveragetesttaker,aquantquestiontakes2min.So,isittruethatthisaveragetesttakerwould,onaverage,answeranIRquestioninaround2.5min?Thanks.Answer:GMAChaspilotedtheIRsection3timesoverthepast2years.Duringthattime,ourtestingexpertshavedeterminedthetimingandthenumberofquestions.Thereissomedatawedonotshare,includingdataaboutourpilottests.Perquestion,youhave2minutesand30secondstoanswer(30minutesdividedby12questions)whichismoretimeperquestionthaneitherVerbalorQuant.

vatoyaAsked:Hello,IhaveaqontheGmatPrep.IfIalreadydownloadedthesoftwareandhavebeenusingitsofar,canIdownloadthisnewversionandstartfromscratch?Answer:ThequestionsintheIRsectionarenew.AllotherquestionsarethesameasfromtheoldversionofGMATPrep.

LouAsked:Iboughtthe12theditionoftheGMATprepguide,isthereaguideonlyforintegratedreasoning?Answer:YoucanpurchasetheonlineIRsectionseparatefromthe13theditionuntilJune5,2012here:http://www.mba.com/store/productinfo.aspx?ProductID=5032

KarinePelletierAsked:whatisthedeliverydelayforthe13thprepguide?Answer:The13theditionoftheGuideisnowavailableinCanada.

LaurenceChangesQuestionTo:Threequestions:WilltheIRpercentilerankingsbeupdatedonthe1stofeverymonth,orwilltheybeupdatedduringthemiddle/endofeverymonth?ThestatementclaimsthattheIRpercentilerankingsareupdatedeverymonth.IfItaketheexamonJune5th,willmyscorereportshowapercentilerankingfortheIRsection?Scorereportsaremailedwithin20daysaftertheexam,soevenifthescorereportismailedtomeonJune25th,themonthofJuneisn'toveryet,sowillthescorereportshowablankpercentilerankingfortheIRsection?Ifthatistrue,willschoolsseeablankpercentilerankingfortheIRsection?Also,ifItaketheexamonJuly15thorJuly29th,theIRpercentilerankingwillreflectmyperformanceagainstthepooloftesttakersfortheentiremonthofJune,correct?ThescoresofJulytesttakersaren'taddedtothepooluntilAugust1st,correct?Answer:ThefirstmonthspercentilerankingswillbecalculatedbasedontheperformanceofthosetestingduringthefirstfewweeksinJune.Thereafter,forthefirstsixmonths,thepercentilerankingswillbeupdatedatthebeginningofthemonthtocumulativelyincludedatafromthepriormonths.



vatoyaChangesQuestionTo:Hello,thisisaquestionontheirpersonalopinionaboutwhentotaketheexam.Ihavenotbookedmyexamyet;wouldtheyrecommendItrytotakeitbeforeJune2ndorafterandhavetheexamwiththeIRsection?Answer:TheIRsectiongivesyouanopportunitytospotlightyourskillsinawaythattheQuantandVerbalsectionsdont.Whenyoutaketheexamisentirelyuptoyou,butdontmissouttheopportunitytoshowyourabilities!

URIELAsked:Aretheseparticularquestionscomputeradaptivequestionstoo?Answer:No,theIRsectionisnotcomputeradaptive.Howeveracandidatecanonlyproceedtothenextquestionifshehasrespondedtoallpartsofthequestionthatsheiscurrentlyanswering.Additionallyacandidatecannotreturntoapreviouslyansweredquestiontocorrectit.

TaniaAsked:AsmoreGMATtesttakerstakethetestwillthepercentileofyourscoredecrease?Answer:Yourpercentilewilllikelychange,butnotnecessarilydecrease.

ZAsked:Howmanyschoolsyoucansendyourscoretowithoutpayingadditionalfee?Answer:Beforeyoutakethetestwhileyouareinthetestingcenter,youwillhavetheabilitytosendyourscorestoupto5programsforfree.Ifyouchoosetosendyourscorestomorethan5programs,orifyouwanttosendyourscoresafteryouseeyourscore,youmaydosoatwww.mba.com.ThecosttodosoisUS$28perscorereport.

TahminaAsked:Whatisthepurposeoftheexperimentalquestion?Doesthatmeantherewillbe13questionsinsteadof12?Answer:ExperimentalquestionsareusedtoreplenishthequestionbankofIRquestion,toenableustotestfuturetesttakers.Weareabletogatherempiricalinformationaboutanexperimentalquestionsuchasdifficultyandtimetakentorespondtothequestion.Oncethisdatahasbeengathered,weareabletoadministersuchquestionswithintheoperationalpool.Experimentalquestionsareincludedwithinthe12questionsontheIRsection.

JordanDAsked:WhatshareofIRquestionscantesttakersexpecttobemultipart?Isthereamaximumnumberorgeneralrange(34)thatwecanexpecttoseeonmultipartIRQuestions?Answer:AllIRquestionsaremultipart.Formoreinformationaboutwhatthequestionslooklike,visit:http://www.mba.com/thegmat/nexgen/integratedreasoningquestionformats.aspx.

sreeAsked:TowhatextentdoesQuantandVerbalpreparationhelpmeinIRsection?Answer:Thefoundationalskills(highschoolverbalandquantitativeskills)neededtosucceedontheIRsectionaresimilartothoseneededtosucceedontheQuantandVerbalsections.WhiletheIRcombinessomeoftheseverbalandquantitativeskills,itexpandsontheseskillsbymeasuringacandidatesabilitytosynthesizeinformationfromdifferentsourcesinordertoevaluatethelikelihoodofcertainoutcomes.Formoreinformationaboutthetypesof



questionsaskedintheIRsection,visithttp://www.mba.com/thegmat/nexgen/integratedreasoningquestionformats.aspx.