Helpful for: MBA and Masters Applicants
Read Time: 8 minutes
Quick Facts:
- The GMAT’s Integrated Reasoning and Analytical Writing sections do not count towards the final score.
- The IR is scored on a scale of 1-8 and the AWA is scored from 0-6.
- The AWA section requires you to prove or refute the validity of a given argument by writing a critique. You are given 30 minutes.
- The AWA section tests your ability to communicate your thoughts in written form. This skill is extremely important in the business world, as you will be required to use it with colleagues on a daily basis.
- You shouldn’t take the AWA section for granted—a score of less than 4 will hurt your chances of getting into a reputable business school.
- The IR section contains 12 questions and you are given 30 minutes to solve them. There are 4 types of questions: Multi-Source Reasoning, Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, and Two-Part Analysis.
- The IR section tests your ability to solve complex problems through analyzing data. After graduating with an MBA, you will be required to make informed decisions at your workplace which require filtering out the most important data and interpreting it. Suheb adds:
Chosen Quote:
Integrated Reasoning (IR) section is the newest section of the GMAT. It was introduced in June 2012. Initially, business schools did not value the IR section much as they did not have enough data to compare applicants. To understand Admissions committees’ perspective on the Integrated Reasoning section, Kaptest did a survey of more than 200 business schools in 2014. 41% said that they found Integrated Reasoning to be an important part of overall GMAT score evaluation. Kaptest did the same survey again in 2015. This time the number of business schools considering the IR section to be important was up to 59%. With this data, we can infer that there is a shift towards GMAT Integrated Reasoning being considered an important part of your GMAT score.
Useful Information:
- Don’t disregard any of the GMAT sections when preparing for the test. Although the AWA and IR are not counted towards your final score, business schools still review them to get a better understanding of your skills.
Check out Beat the AWA GMAT Beast (Quick Reads) for helpful advice on how to prepare for the Analytical Writing Assessment section of the GMAT.
Source: e-GMAT
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