Are you considering taking the GMAT for your graduate school admissions? It’s time to weigh your options and stay informed about recent changes to this popular test.
In late September 2023, the GRE was sliced in half to the delight of graduate school applicants around the world. In turn, the GMAT became a lot less attractive to potential applicants. Not to be outdone, just two months later, the shorter GMAT Focus Edition launched on November 7th. Official practice materials are out, including practice exams and a new official guide, and our Top Tier Admissions GMAT tutors are hip to the new exam and ready to help.
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GMAT FOCUS VS. CLASSIC GMAT
Let’s dive into the details of the GMAT Focus and the Classic GMAT to help you make the right choice.
1. Time is Running Out for the Classic GMAT
This December and January students can still take the Classic or the Focus, but the Classic has been given a death date — it’s gone 1/31/24. That said, scores from the Classic are still valid for 5 years.
2. Pricing Made Simpler
Good news for test-takers: the additional fee for an Enhanced Score Report, which used to cost $30 in the Classic GMAT, is now included in the overall test cost of $275 for the in-person test.
3. Shorter Test Duration
The Classic is 3 hours and 7 minutes, but the Focus is 2 hours and 15 minutes. This reduction in test time can be a significant advantage.
- Students used to have: 62 minutes for the Quant section, 65 minutes for Verbal, 30 minutes for Integrated Reasoning, 30 minutes Analytical Writing.
- On the new GMAT, it’s 45 minutes per section for Quant, Verbal, and Data Insights (a new integrated reasoning and data sufficient section merged).
4. Changes in Sections
- The Analytical Writing section is gone, so the whole test is multiple choice now.
- Sentence correction questions and geometry questions are gone so for students who are not grammar enthusiasts and haven’t taken geometry since 9th grade, you’re in luck!
5. Scoring Adjustments
Scoring for the Classic was 200-800, and now it’s 205-805 (total score) and the section scores on the Focus are now a 60-90 for the 3 Quant, Verbal and Data Insights sections.
6. Adaptiveness
The Classic was question-level adaptive across single sections. Your performance in the first section affects the difficulty level of the second section. Sections 1 and 2, in turn, influence the questions in section 3.
7. Increased Forgiveness
The Focus got the Thanksgiving memo this year. It’s a bit more forgiving, and so far, test takers are thankful for it. Students can “bookmark” questions when they’re in the middle of a section and then once the section is complete (meaning all questions have an answer in), students have the option to do a review at the close of the section and change up to three answers.
8. Be Cautious with Answer Changes
Just because the Focus allows students to change up to three answers per section, that doesn’t mean they should enter Second-Guess-Yourself-City. Change your answer if you caught a careless error but don’t go second guessing yourself on all of the questions in a section just because you have the ability to change three answers.
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THE CATCH: PROGRAM ACCEPTANCE
Not all graduate programs are on board with the slim and trim GMAT Focus just yet. Harvard Business School (HBS) has opted to accept only the Classic GMAT for the 2023-2024 admissions season, with the Focus becoming acceptable starting with their April 2024 2+2 deadline. This doesn’t seem totally fair to the newborn Focus, though, as HBS has been accepting the shorter GRE since September 2023. Meanwhile, UPenn Wharton will embrace the GMAT Focus after the Classic’s expiration date, making it the sole GMAT option.
MOST TOP MBA PROGRAMS ARE ACCEPTING THE FOCUS
Fortunately, many other top MBA programs are more flexible during this transition period. Schools like Stanford (due 1/4/24) and MIT (due 1/17/24) will happily accept the GMAT Focus for their Round 2 MBA deadlines.
Are you considering taking the GMAT for your graduate school admissions? Or are you still determining if graduate school is the right path? Either way, it’s time to weigh your options and stay informed about the recent changes. At Top Tier Admissions, we are here to guide you through the process and help you succeed in your journey.