What’s Changing In The New GMAT And GRE?

A new version of the Graduate Record Examination (better known as the GRE) launched Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, with the new Focus Edition of the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) following = on November 7.

The good news is that both new versions are condensed for a shorter testing experience. The GRE has been slimmed down dramatically, clocking in at under two hours compared to about four hours for the previous version.

Fewer Questions, Faster Results

Educational Testing Service (ETS), which administers the GRE, says the changes are designed to balance two things — “maintaining rigor and validity, while improving the test-taker experience.” Here are other major changes:

With the test now clocking in at one hour, 58 minutes, the 10-minute break was eliminated.
The unscored section has been removed.
The “Analyze an Argument” portion in the analytical writing section is eliminated.
The number of questions in the quantitative and verbal reasoning sections are reduced.
Scores are delivered faster, in eight to ten days.

With the release of the new GRE, the old version is no longer available. At present, no test prep books or materials are yet available. Because it’s simply shortened and the material is expected to be the same, the need is not so great, although it would be useful to know how many questions are in each section, for example. ETS will likely release more information when the new test is available.

The new GMAT Focus Edition is a different story. It’s shorter and significantly restructured, to be more“flexible, efficient, and offer greater insights,” according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. “I think the test administrators are shortening tests and flexing formats to make the test less intimidating, in the hope that this will encourage more people to consider applying to business school,” says my fellow Fortuna cofounder and director Caroline Diarte Edwards.

But shorter tests mean every question matters more in your overall score. For the GMAT in particular, test takers must be on top of their game, focusing mentally like a marathon runner preparing for race day, according to Stuart Park of Simply Brilliant test prep. “It’s going to be more important for people to be sharp on test day, ready to give that top performance. In the past, with a larger set of questions, if you miss one, there was more tolerance.”

As GMAC transitions to the Focus edition, both old and new test formats will be available from November until late January, when the old test is expected to sunset. This raises some questions about scoring, timing your test, which tests schools will accept, and strategies for test prep. Fortuna coaches are keeping on top of these changes and have a rundown of what it all means for you.

The GMAT Focus Edition

Registration opened in late August for test dates starting Nov. 7, 2023. Wharton has announced they will not accept the Focus Edition until Jan. 31, 2024, after Round 2 applications. Presumably, Wharton is trying to ensure that they are evaluating candidates on a consistent set of scores from the same test. Harvard also is not accepting Focus Edition scores for the current admissions season, except for its 2+2 deferred admissions program. All other top-ranked business schools are on track to accept the new edition.

Data Insights

The Focus Edition has three sections: Quantitative, Verbal, and the new Data Insights.

This third section incorporates questions from the previous integrated reasoning section, as well as data sufficiency questions. Data sufficiency has been pared down and de-emphasized; pure math questions in this section have been replaced with word problems.

However, as GMAT has gotten rid of geometry, sentence completion, and the essay, integrated reasoning questions are now more significant, Park said. “In the past, in the test prep business, hardly anyone cared about integrated reasoning because that’s not what the schools are focused on.

“Now this topic is going to be super important and one of the most challenging aspects of the exam from a time standpoint. Integrated reasoning tends to be a high-pressure topic. People are going to need to really put a big effort into preparing for that, to master these question types and get really fast at answering them.”

Scoring and Reporting

Probably the most noticeable change will be in scoring. With less content, GMAC has adjusted scoring curves. and total scores will now be “wildly different” than from the soon-to-sunset test, notes Fortuna expert coach Rachel Erikson Hee. Someone who scored 700 on the old test will receive a 665 on the new test, according to a comparison table GMAC released to help schools make sense of the scores,

“A 700 will now be a great score; there’s not going to be 730s. or 750s or 760s anymore,” says Erikson Hee. On the other end of the spectrum, a candidate with a score of 605 will be perfectly capable of handling the business school curriculum.

This huge realignment in scores will significantly shift schools’ admissions profiles for the next few years until the change is thoroughly incorporated into statistics. In the meantime, some candidates who don’t have great scores may be able to slip in while the dust settles, and schools figure out what the scores mean.

Scores will be available to test takers faster —within three to five days — and now you can select which schools to send your scores to after you know how you performed, not before. GMAC is also promising an “improved Official Score Report with detailed performance insights,” but no specifics on that report have been released.

Changes in content and format are discussed in more detail in our Fortuna Admissions blog.

The uncertainty around the new tests and scores can be unnerving, but there’s no cause for alarm. Remember that academics are only one element of the admissions criteria. “Schools do not assess your GMAT or GRE in isolation; they practice holistic admissions,” says Diarte Edwards. “Your test score is one data point alongside your undergraduate track record. And it’s still very much about your overall profile. This hasn’t changed and we don’t foresee it changing.”

Book a free consultation to learn how Fortuna coaches can help you with testing strategy and polish every other component of your applications to optimize your chances of winning admission to your dream school.

Judith Silverman Hodara is a Director at MBA admissions coaching firm Fortuna Admissions and former Wharton head of Admissions. For a candid assessment of your chances of admission success at a top MBA program, sign up for a free consultation.