The Result of Exam’s Administrator Feeling the Pressure of the GRE’s Increasing
Acceptance as an Admissions Alternative by Leading MBA Programs?
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW: KAPLAN BUSINESS SCHOOL ADMISSIONS EXPERT
Note to editors: Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO)
Russell Schaffer, russell.schaffer@kaplan.com, 212.453.7538
Carina Wong, carina.wong@kaplan.com, 212.453.7571
New York, NY (June 25, 2010) – In an acceleration of its own timeframe to change the exam in the face of MBA programs increasingly accepting the GRE as an admissions alternative, the GMAT’s administrator announced today the addition of a new integrated reasoning section, which aims to measure test takers’ ability to respond to challenges they may face in the business world. The new section will replace one of the essays currently part of the GMAT’s analytical writing section. The exam’s length will remain at three and a half hours.
According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC,) the exam’s administrator, the questions in this new section will be based on multiple sources, including charts, graphs, and spreadsheets. Test takers will have to analyze information, draw conclusions and determine relationships between pieces of data, just as they would have to do in business school. According to GMAC, these changes are based on research and surveys of business school faculty.
“By making the GMAT more focused on practical business world skills, the exam’s administrator is making a strategic decision to convince MBA programs that the GMAT is the best exam to evaluate students on,” said Jason Moss, vice president, graduate programs, Kaplan Test Prep. “In recent years, the GRE’s administrator has had some success in convincing some top MBA programs to accept their exam as an alternative to the GMAT. This move by GMAC may make those schools that already offer the GRE option reconsider their decision and encourage other MBA programs mulling it over to think twice.”
The current scoring scale of 200-800 will remain the same and test takers will receive a separate score for the new section, just as they do now for the essays.
For more information about the GMAT’s planned 2012 changes, how it may affect its 200,000 plus annual test taking population and possibly alter the business school admissions process, please contact Russell Schaffer at russell.schaffer@kaplan.com or 212.453.7538.
About Kaplan Test Prep
Kaplan Test Prep (www.kaptest.com), a division of Kaplan, Inc., is a premier provider of educational and career services for individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of online offerings and a complete array of books, Kaplan offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as well as English language and professional licensing exams. Kaplan also provides private tutoring and graduate admissions consulting services.
# # #