U.S. News reported on a Kaplan survey designed to check the importance of the Integrated Reasoning section of the GMAT. This 30-minute section became part of the GMAT in August 2012 in order to enable MBA programs to evaluate candidates’ skills. Since this section is still relatively new, MBA applicants still wonder about its weight in the application process.

The survey was conducted between July and September 2013 among 152 admissions committee members at U.S. business schools. When asked about the importance of the new section, 54% of those surveyed responded they are unsure, 24% said it is not important, and only 22% testified to its importance. Kaplan accounted for the results with the logic that schools would want to gather data over a length of time before attributing greater importance to the new section.

While most of those surveyed did not consider the IR section important, Kaplan still recommends taking it seriously since its importance may grow in the future.

Another survey finding was that 51% of those surveyed responded that a low GMAT score is the primary factor toward rejection.

Put Me in Business (applying in less than a year)
Put Me in Business (applying in more than a year)