The GMAT Business School Admissions Test Gets a Makeover

Students who want to attend business school will be facing an even more challenging GMAT starting next month. The Graduate Management Admissions Test is getting a makeover, which includes the addition of a new section that will evaluate students’ integrated reasoning.
The GMAT was first used in February 1954 at nine business schools in the USA, including Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, and the University of Pennsylvania. It has undergone several revisions since then, including the additions of a quantitative reasoning section and a reading comprehension section. This newest addition to the exam will test how well students can predict future outcomes based on given data.
“We did a survey of more than 740 faculty from schools all over the world,” Ashok Sarathy, the vice president of Graduate Management Admission Council, told The New York Times. “As a result, we developed a set of questions aimed at testing the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources in order to solve complex problems. They also wanted candidates to be able to indicate what information was relevant, and not relevant, and toe able to evaluate which among a set of possible outcomes were the most likely.”
The GMAT is one of the most widely used standardized tests used for admission to post-graduate programs. Currently, there are more than 5,000 programs that accept GMAT results as an indicator of students’ readiness to attend these programs. The GMAT is different from other post-graduate admissions tests, like the GRE, because it is a computer-adaptive test. This means that – depending on how a student does on the test – the questions become easier or harder as the student progresses. It also does not allow students to skip questions, which the SAT, ACT, and GRE all allow.
Sound like an intimidating test? Maybe, but not to be worried about unless you are applying for admission to a business school, or want to study accounting, business, finance, or management at the graduate level. However, if you do want to pursue a career in these fields, you better start studying for the new and improved GMAT!
See Also:
Why You Should Take the GMAT as an Undergrad
Business Administration Degree Profile
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