What You Need To Know About Integrated Reasoning, Part 1
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.
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Number Properties in GMATPrep
What are number properties? This concept covers things that we often call basic “ topics that we learned in middle school (or earlier): divisibility, factors and multiples, odds and evens, positives and negatives, and so on. It’s also true, though, that this material can become quite complex. For example, fundamental counting principles are included in number properties, and the more complex problems of this typeare something called Combinatorics which most of us hate. = ) In addition, we’ve all come up against very challenging problems testing a supposedly “simple” concept, such as divisibility.
We face two big challenges in dealing with number properties:
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Challenge Problem Showdown – February 6th, 2012
We invite you to test your GMAT knowledge for a chance to win! Each week, we will post a new Challenge Problem for you to attempt. If you submit the correct answer, you will be entered into that week’s drawing for a free Manhattan GMAT Prep item. Tell your friends to get out their scrap paper and start solving!
Here is this week’s problem:
Each of three investments has a 20% of becoming worthless within a year of purchase, independently of what happens to the other two investments. If Simone invests an equal sum in each of these three investments on January 1, the approximate chance that by the end of the year, she loses no more than 1/3 of her original investment is
More Modifiers and Meaning: a GMATPrep Sentence Correction Problem
We’ve been examining the issues of modifiers and meaning quite a bit lately because these topics are both so important on the GMAT. I’ve got another one for you today.This problem is from GMATPrep. Set your timer for 1 minute 15 seconds and go for it!
* “Recently documented examples of neurogenesis, the production of new brain cells, include the brain growing in mice when placed in a stimulating environment or neurons increasing in canaries that learn new songs.
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Friday Links
Here is what happened in the world of GMAT this week…
- Poets and Quants ranked the top 50 Non-U.S. MBA Programs.
- The Wall Street Journal took a look at the finances of Business Schools (subscription required).
- Our friends at mbaMission looked at how an MBA can increase income mobility.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Stress Management
Everyone struggles with some amount of anxiety when taking a test like the GMAT, but some people struggle more than others. Stress can also affect your preparation before you ever get to the test center “ if you’re too stressed out when studying, that will hurt your ability to make and recall memories. So what can we do to reduce studying and test-taking stress?
Know what’s coming
The more you’re prepared for what you’re going to face, the less stressed you’ll be. This won’t completely eliminate your anxiety “ nothing will “ but it can help to reduce stress to more manageable levels.
One major source of stress on this test is the feeling that you need to get everything right (and getting stressed out when you hit questions that you know you’re getting wrong). Read this article: In It To Win It. The nutshell: you’re not trying to get everything right. Nobody gets everything right, including me and other 99th percentile testers!
What to Read—and What Not to Read—on RC Passages
Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.
A student recently asked me to show an example of how I read and take notes on a reading comprehension passage. In this older article, I discussed how to read through a RC passages in general, but I didn’t show an example. If you haven’t already read the older article, read that first; then come back here to see an example. Read more
Studying for—and Struggling with—the GMAT
Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.
Have you been studying for a while now but having trouble getting to your goal score or making the kind of improvement that you want to make? If you’re getting frustrated with your progress (or lack thereof), let’s try to figure out what’s going on. It’s entirely possible that you have some problems of which you’re unaware, or that you’re studying in an inefficient or ineffective way.
There are a number of additional articles linked in this article. If you read something that applies to your situation, click on all the links you see in that section. Also, ask for advice! There are so many resources out there that it can be overwhelming, but most companies offer free advice and you can also benefit from talking to fellow students. Read more
Just Starting Out – What Should I Do?
Don’t worry. We’ll address what to do if you’re already studying—and struggling in some ways—in another article coming later this week.
If you’re just starting out and trying to figure out what to do, we’ve got several big categories of things to discuss: mindset, devising a study plan, and learning how to study.
The Next-Gen GMAT: Graphics Interpretation
Recently, GMAC released a new sample question to illustrate Graphics Interpretation questions that we will see when the Next-Generation GMAT is released in June of 2012. At that time, a new Integrated Reasoning (IR) section will be added to the test; you can read more about it in our previous article published here.
Taking the test before then? You won’t see this kind of question on the old school GMAT. Just make sure you leave yourself enough time to take the old-school version a second time in case you don’t like your score the first time around. In other words, don’t plan to take the test for the first time in May of 2012.