The New GMAT in 2023: GMAT Focus

Attention, future titans of industry! The GMAT is changing in 2023… Right now! Here’s what you need to know.

If you are planning to apply for a business school program in the near future, you might have heard that the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is undergoing some major changes in 2023. The primary admissions test and one of the most critical components in your application to an MBA or other business graduate school program is getting a makeover.

The new GMAT, known as GMAT Focus, is a streamlined version of the GMAT (the “shortest GMAT ever”). Over the course of the next few months (from August 2023 into 2024), it will replace the “old” GMAT.

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What exactly are the changes, how will they affect you as a test-taker?

  • The GMAT will be shorter and more flexible. The total testing time will be reduced to three, 45-minute sections: Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, and Data Insights.
  • The question types on the GMAT will be mostly the same — but, significantly, some question types are getting phased out. In particular, geometry questions and the entire writing section, two major sources of headache for GMAT test takers, are going away in the “new GMAT”. Sentence Correction questions, based on English grammar and style, are also going bye-bye. The idea here is to make the test “friendlier” and also to cut back on question types that are not obviously relevant to business.
  • Although the various types of question are mostly unchanged, they are shuffled around in the sections a little bit. We’ll go into more detail about this. It won’t make much difference when you are practicing question by question, but it will matter when you are working on pacing yourself during the exam. One nice feature of GMAT Focus is that you’ll be able to choose the order in which you take the sections of the test.
  • The GMAT will still be adaptive. The makers of the exam tweak things under the hood from time to time, and the algorithm may change, but these changes would likely not be noticeable to you. During the test, an adaptive testing algorithm will adjust the difficulty level of the questions based on your performance and ability. You will see questions based on your demonstrated skill level so far in the section.
  • You will be able to see your score before sending it to schools. This will eliminate a major source of stress when taking the test. You can walk in, completely cold or completely prepared, take the thing, and see you how did before sending your scores onward to schools!

The GMAT is a crucial part of your business school application, so you want to make sure you are ready for it. Whether you choose to take the current or the new version of the test, you need to practice hard, review your strengths and weaknesses, and seek expert guidance if needed. With proper preparation and confidence, you can ace the GMAT and achieve your academic and career goals.

Registration for GMAT Focus will start on August 29, 2023 for test dates in Q4 2023. We’ll talk more about the new GMAT in upcoming posts. For now, the quick takeaway is that there is no need to pump the brakes on your business school plans… Keep practicing!

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