GMAT Integrated Reasoning Might Be Really Important... In 2027
UPDATE: A version of this article was first published in 2012, when the GMAT Integrated Reasoning (IR) section was brand-new. At that time, we thought that the IR section might become important in the next few years.
As of 2022, it’s clear that the IR section is still not that important — with a couple of caveats.
First, IR is definitely important if you decide to take the Executive Assessment (EA), because it is a huge part of the EA score (read more about the EA here). Second, we’ve heard rumors that a few post-MBA consulting employers look at your IR score when assessing your applications — but these are just rumors. We’ve also heard MBA admissions directors say that
Overall, the IR section is still way, way less important than your GMAT quant and verbal scores, at least as of 2022. Check back in with us in 2027 for another update.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE BELOW:
If you’re applying to MBA programs during the current (2012-13) admissions season, you’ve probably already read a few articles about the new Integrated Reasoning (IR) section. As many other GMAT tutors and bloggers and forum participants have suggested, there’s little reason to think that the IR section will have any meaningful impact on your odds of admission at top business schools anytime soon. The section is simply too new, and MBA admissions committees have absolutely no basis for evaluating the new section.
But what if you’re looking ahead, and you’re preparing to submit your MBA applications in late 2013 or beyond? Should you worry about Integrated Reasoning at all? And if so, how much of your GMAT preparation time should you devote to the IR section?
Although GMAC is doing its best to convince everybody that Integrated Reasoning is extremely important, I would argue that there’s still no good reason to spend much time studying for the Integrated Reasoning section... for now. And here are three reasons why:
Reason #1: five years of GMAT fairness
GMAT scores are valid for a full five years, and a substantial percentage of applicants will submit “old” GMAT scores (taken before the IR section existed) during the next few admissions cycles. And it simply isn’t reasonable for schools to use Integrated Reasoning scores to compare applicants, when a certain percentage of applicants haven’t taken the new section at all.
In theory, MBA programs could require all applicants to submit an Integrated Reasoning score beginning with the 2013-14 admissions cycle, but this seems incredibly unlikely. We still know very little about the value of the Integrated Reasoning section (see reason #2 below), and there’s absolutely no incentive for MBA programs to aggressively require an IR score before the five-year window is over.
Reason #2: GMAC needs time to determine IR test validity
Somewhere in the bowels of GMAC headquarters, researchers are busy calculating the “validity” of various portions of the GMAT exam. Basically, those researchers are interested in determining what, exactly, the GMAT tells us about test-takers. Do GMAT scores correlate to performance in business school? Do GMAT scores correlate to success in the business world?
For what it’s worth, most of the studies I’ve read (and yes, I’m apparently nerdy enough to read academic studies about the GMAT) suggest that the quant and verbal sections do a credible job of predicting MBA students’ grades in business school, but the GMAT does a pretty lousy job of predicting post-MBA success… and the AWA isn’t really a great predictor of anything, which is why one of the AWA tasks has been replaced by Integrated Reasoning. If you’re curious and want to geek out on some really old GMAT validity studies, you could start by clicking here.
Anyway, the bottom line is that researchers need time to “prove” that the GMAT’s new Integrated Reasoning section actually means something. Until that happens, why would MBA programs worry about your IR score?
Reason #3: MBA applicant information overload
By the time you submit your MBA application, business schools know a ton about you. They have your work history, academic transcripts, lists of extracurricular activities, two or three references, at least a few essays, maybe a cover letter, possibly a slide presentation, an interview, and probably some extra interactions with you from campus visits or other events. Oh yeah, and they have your GMAT quant score, your GMAT verbal score, your GMAT composite score, and your GMAT AWA score — or the equivalent scores from the GRE.
Really, do you think that MBA programs need yet another data point to evaluate your candidacy? And do you think that MBA programs are likely to care about a data point that doesn’t show up in any MBA rankings?
Don’t get me wrong: someday, all of this will probably change. If major publications eventually decide to include IR in their MBA program rankings, admissions committees will suddenly care—a lot—about the IR section. I also suspect that the GMAT validity studies will someday make the IR section look really, really good; frankly, the GMAT should be testing your ability to analyze basic data tables, and the exam should include some non-multiple choice questions. In my very irrelevant) opinion, the Integrated Reasoning section has plenty of potential to be a valuable tool for evaluating MBA applicants.
And someday, the IR section really will matter. But not yet. Call us in a few more years, and maybe we’ll tell you to start worrying about it then.
In the meantime, your approach to Integrated Reasoning should be the same as your approach to the AWA section: at best, both tasks are warmups for your quant and verbal sections, and it’s not worth burning much of your precious GMAT energy on IR or AWA. The IR section is not adaptive at all, so just answer the easy ones to avoid complete embarrassment, and let the harder ones go. It just isn’t worth spraining any brain cells for a section that probably has another several years of irrelevance ahead of it.
But again, call us in a few more years—the story might change by then.
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