Update, 5/7/12: We’ve added four more workshops! See the dates and register here. Hurry, before these sell out too!

Manhattan GMAT is offering a series of free online Integrated Reasoning workshops hosted by our Vice President of Academics Chris Ryan. Chris will dive deeply and provide hands-on techniques for tackling the new IR section. You do NOT want to miss this!

Below are the dates and links to where you can sign up for a workshop. Hope to see you (virtually) there!

April 14th (12-2 pm EST) — SOLD OUT
April 16th (7-9 pm EST) — SOLD OUT
April 19th (9:30-11:30 pm EST) — SOLD OUT
April 21th (12-2 pm EST) — SOLD OUT
April 23rd (7-9 pm EST)
April 26th (9:30-11:30 pm EST)
April 28th (12-2 pm EST)

The launch of the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section is getting close! The last administration of the old version of the GMAT will be on 2 June; the next-generation GMAT will launch on 5 June. It’s not too late to study for the old version, but it’s also not too early to start thinking about studying for the next-gen test, including IR.

So let’s talk about one of the four IR question categories: Graphics Interpretation. IR in general is a mix of quant and logical reasoning, so expect to bring your critical reasoning and reading comp skills into play on this section.

Before we dive in, just a note: a new Official Guide (13th edition!) was just published; it has an IR section along with an additional IR resource online (to which you get access if you buy the book). I would guess that most test prep companies will also be releasing their IR study materials next month (we certainly are!).

Read more

The 13th Edition of the Official Guide for GMAT Review (the Official Guide 13 or OG 13) has finally been released publicly. Here at Manhattan GMAT, we’ve done an initial analysis of the OG13 book.

1. The Official Guide 13 Is Not Radically Different

OG13 contains 907 practice problems for the main part of the GMAT (Quant & Verbal). Of those 907 problems, only 17% are new. Since you know your fraction equivalents, we don’t have to tell you that 17% is about 1 out of 6.

Out of 907 problems, 749 are repeats (yes, that’s 5 out of 6). If you already have the 12th Edition, a good way to look at the 13th Edition is as a source of 158 great new practice problems. We’ve listed them by number at the end of this post. Read more

The launch of the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section is getting close! The last administration of the old version of the GMAT will be on 2 June; the next-generation GMAT will launch on 5 June. It’s not too late to study for the old version, but it’s also not too early to start thinking about studying for the next-gen test, including IR.

So let’s talk about one of the four IR question categories: the Two-Part Analysis. IR in general is a mix of quant and logical reasoning, so expect to bring your critical reasoning and reading comp skills into play on this section.
Read more

On Tuesday, June 5th, the GMAT is changing with the addition of a new section called Integrated Reasoning (IR). All of our Manhattan GMAT prep classes now cover Integrated Reasoning and will prepare our students for both the old test and the new test.Our IR Strategy Guide will be released to Manhattan GMAT students on April 9th and the general public on April 24th, along with IR practice exams and online IR workshops for our students.

The following article is Part 1 of a two part overview of Integrated Reasoning written by Manhattan GMAT’s Vice President of Academics, Chris Ryan. Part 1 answers the questions What is Integrated Reasoning and When should I take the GMAT?. Part 2 covers What Is different about IR and What’s the real danger of IR?.

What is Integrated Reasoning (IR)?

IR is a new, 30-minute section that’s going to replace the Issue Essay on June 5. No other part of the GMAT will be affected. IR will have a separate score”it will not factor into the 200-800 score that you really care about.
Read more

GMAC has posted new sample Integrated Reasoning questions here. Here’s a first review of these questions, with 5 big takeaways.

1) No Drastic Changes

There’s nothing here that’s too surprising. Integrated Reasoning emphasizes three big tasks:

a) Deal with integrated math & verbal content, as the name says
b) Deal with real-world data in quantity
c) Read critically, drawing accurate inferences from given evidence

The newly released questions reflect these three tasks, just as the older ones did.

Read more

In September, GMAC held a Summit for the benefit of the test prep crowd “ all of us, basically. We’ve talked already about a lot of the information that came out of that conference, and we’ve got one last topic for you today: the Next Generation GMAT. As many of you have heard, the GMAT is changing in June of 2012.

The below quotes are all from GMAC or Dr. Lawrence Rudner (Chief Psychometrician, GMAC) and all quotes are copyright 2011 Graduate Management Admissions Council. The headers below are the names of the individual articles from which the information and quotes came.

How is the GMAT changing?

Currently, the GMAT consists of two essays scored on a 0 to 6 scale, a quantitative section and a verbal section, each scored on a 1 to 51 scale, and a total combined score for the quant and verbal sections scored on a 200 to 800 scale.

The new test will drop the Analysis of an Issue essay but keep the Analysis of an Argument essay, scored on the same scale. The quant and verbal sections and scoring, as well as the total score, will also remain the same. A new 30-minute Integrated Reasoning section will be added and it will have its own separate scoring scale; we don’t currently have information about this because they are still in the final stages of determining the scoring system. GMAC has said it expects to release the IR scoring scale in April of 2012.

Initially, test takers will continue to receive quant and verbal scores immediately (at the test center) and the Integrated Reasoning score will be available approximately 20 days later. Eventually, we expect that the IR score will also be available immediately after the test.

Read more

Note: This is an updated version of an article posted last year.

As GMAC gears up to release the Next Generation GMAT in June of 2012, we’ve been taking a look at the four sample questions posted on the mba.com website.

Let’s look at the hardest one of these questions in more detail! I can’t reproduce the problem here for reasons that will be obvious once you actually start to tackle it yourself. I also can’t tell you how much time to give yourself because GMAC hasn’t given us any timing guidelines. Just take whatever time you need. (Note: all excerpts or quotes from the problem are copyright GMAC.)

Read more

Starting in June 2012, the GMAT will have a new section, called Integrated Reasoning. This section will take the place of one of the two essays at the beginning of the exam. As the date for this new section looms closer, the GMAC (the company that makes the exam) have slowly been releasing more information about it. One of the ways in which they have been doing so is via video, and we thought we would share their insight with you.

Here is a good overview of what the new section will include:

And here is a breakdown of the Graphics Interpretation Question Type — one of the four sections to be tested within the 12 Integrated Reasoning questions: Read more

There’s big news from the GMAC.

Perhaps because they are feeling the competition as more schools begin to accept the GRE, the GMAC has announced that it will add a new section to the test called Integrated Reasoning.

According to the GMAC, this new section is designed to measure people’s ability to evaluate information from multiple sources.  It was created with a goal of making the GMAT ever more relevant to business school. The GMAC has been polling faculty at business schools for the past four years, and this new development stems directly from their feedback.

The Integrated Reasoning section, writes BusinessWeek, will involve analyzing charts and data points, and even include audio. It will last 30 minutes and replace one of the current essays (the AWA.) The total exam will remain three and a half hours long, and the AWA and Integrated Reasoning sections will be graded separately from the quantitative and verbal portions of the test.

So what does this mean for GMAT test-takers?

Chris Ryan, our director of product and instructor development, noted that because this new section will not affect the main section of the test, GMAT-takers should not worry about huge differences.  Students should continue to focus most on the verbal and math portions of the test.

While the Integrated Reasoning section may give the GRE’s data interpretation section a run for its money, Chris sees it as a smart move on the GMAC’s part to integrate what could be quite similar to a mini business case.

As for admissions, Chris believes that because members of the business school faculty were instrumental in suggesting and implementing the change, the new Integrated Reasoning section may take a higher place than the AWA, but the unchanged verbal and math sections will still be the most important parts.

Students do not have to feel like it’s going to change the preparation for the test all that much, said Chris Ryan.

For more information, check out these articles:

GMAC press release

BusinessWeek: The GMAT Gets a Makeover

Financial Times: GMAT revamp focuses on reasoning

Inside Higher Ed: Multiple Task Questions

Bloomberg: GMAT Test for Business School Has Biggest Change in Decade