“The integrated reasoning questions involve working with multiple sources of information — so looking at charts, data sources and descriptions of written passages — and working with that information to draw conclusions,” Mitchell said.

The GMAT is a standardized test used by graduate business programs to assess the verbal, quantitative and writing skills of applicants, Paul North, director of admissions in MSU’s full-time MBA program, said in an email. North said the GMAT is an important factor when weighing applicants and is the only credential that is uniform across all applicants.

“Since this section is new, it will take a few years before all candidates are on the new format and can be assessed across the board on a level playing field,” North said in the email.

GMAT scores are valid for five years, so the transition to the new format might take some time, he said.

The integrated reasoning section will not add any more total time to the three hour and 40 minute exam. However, it will effect how much time students take to prepare for the GMAT — which is scored on a scale from 200 to 800 points, Mitchell said.

People who have done well on the test, scoring above 600 points, averaged about 100 hours of preparation, he said, adding that the rule of thumb to begin studying is about three months prior to the exam.

“What makes the test more difficult is that there’s more to prepare for and more to execute on,” Mitchell said about the new test. “What was 120 hours (of preparation) before is something like 150 hours.”

First-year MBA student Arik Orbach took the GMAT during his senior year as an undergraduate to get into the MBA program as soon as possible, which Mitchell said is the less common path for MBA students as many spend a few years in the workforce before graduate school.

Orbach said he felt the writing section of the current GMAT was unnecessary and only would be useful for assessing international students’ qualifications.

“I don’t think it measures how effective or how good of an MBA student you’ll be,” Orbach said. “(The new GMAT) sounds like it could be a little bit more analytical, which is more applicable to business school.”

The GMAT is administered nearly every day of the week at Pearson Professional Centers, including a location at 3390 Pine Tree Road, in Lansing, and there still is time for students to register to take the current version of the test. With less than four months until the new GMAT is released, Mitchell said the clock is ticking for students to begin preparation for the current GMAT.

“Now is a really good time to seize an advantage and opportunity by starting to prepare now,” he said. “There will be a rush of people looking to take the test before it changes.”