Beginner's Guide to EA & GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning
UPDATED FOR THE NEW GMAT IN 2024
Multi-Source Reasoning (MSR) questions are a reliable source of anxiety for Executive Assessment and GMAT test-takers. After all, you not only have to read a few paragraphs of text; you also have to process this text along with tables or graphs or spreadsheets, presented in two or three separate “tabs”. It can feel overwhelming.
Over and over again, our tutoring students and YouTube viewers ask us variations on the same question: “How the (bleep) am I supposed to consume all of this (bleeping) information, make sense of it, and then answer SEVERAL multi-part questions about it, without spending an entire month on the (bleeping) thing?!?”
There are no easy answers here, but, as with most challenging GMAT question types, it’s crucial to optimize both your mindset and your strategy.
To see an optimal mindset and strategy in action on a nice variety of questions, check out our GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning videos here:
(A quick note for Executive Assessment test-takers: Multi-Source Reasoning questions appear on the Integrated Reasoning section of the EA. We’ll refer primarily to the GMAT in this article, but the question format – and our advice for tackling it – is identical for the EA.)
TAKE A BREATH, THEN CALMLY SURVEY THE GMAT MULTI-SOURCE LANDSCAPE
When you see a GMAT or EA Reading Comprehension passage, you don’t just jump straight to the questions, right? Instead, you take the time to understand the structure of the passage, determine what role each paragraph plays in the overall piece, and assess where the most important information is located.
If you want to maximize your efficiency, you’ll do something similar on GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning questions. Read the text. Click through the tabs without rushing. Take a look at any included graphs and tables, paying attention to how axes are labeled.
Only once you have a broad grasp of the information presented should you proceed to the questions, which will provide more context to help you understand the relevance of each tab.
Sometimes a question will touch on a very small component of a single tab. Sometimes a question will require you to go back and forth between two or three tabs. It’s important to be flexible and be prepared for anything – without obsessing TOO much over specific details in the beginning.
Speaking of which…
DON’T OBSESS OVER DETAILS ON GMAT MULTI-SOURCE REASONING!
On your first pass through the text and figures, don’t try to memorize any details. The information isn’t going anywhere – we promise that it will be on the screen for as long as you’d like. Your first job is to get a feel for what type of information is located in which part of the information tabs.
Often, this is easier said than done. There may be times when the diagram might be so confusing that you’re not entirely sure what you’re looking at.
Even worse: there may be times when the questions are so confusingly or ambiguously worded that you’re still unsure after multiple reads.
This is challenging for everyone – even longtime GMAT tutors. The key is to be thorough without being obsessive, and to accept that there’s going to be some uncertainty when the information is difficult to understand.
WHAT ABOUT NOTE-TAKING ON GMAT MULTI-SOURCE REASONING?
Our philosophy here is similar to our philosophy on GMAT and EA Reading Comprehension passages: everyone is different. What works for one test-taker may not be a great fit for another.
Some people find that by taking notes on what’s contained within each tab, their brain engages at a deeper level, and they feel less intimidated by the sheer quantity of data they have to navigate.
Others get bogged down in taking down overly extensive notes that they’ll never refer back to, and end up even more overwhelmed.
So as you complete practice questions, you’ll want to experiment a bit with your note-taking. (Obviously, this experimentation should happen before you start taking official practice exams!) Pay attention to how various approaches impact your accuracy and timing, and see what works best for you personally.
For what it’s worth, most of our one-on-one GMAT tutoring students take minimal notes: just a handful of words to remind themselves what’s contained within each tab. But again, the optimal approach to note-taking varies from student to student.
So if you want to take more notes on GMAT Multi-Source Reasoning, that might be totally fine. Just make sure that what you’re doing is actually helping your accuracy and efficiency.
STICK WITH OFFICIAL GMAT MULTI-SOURCE REASONING QUESTIONS
If you’ve checked out any of our other GMAT articles or videos, you probably know how we feel about non-official verbal questions. And while Multi-Source Reasoning GMAT questions aren’t technically verbal questions, they contain a fair amount of text and ambiguous phrasing, so much so that duplicating their quality and feel is basically impossible.
Many of you have heard this already, but the GMAT spends literally thousands of dollars developing each official GMAT question, and even the very best test-prep companies can’t compete. (Including the tutors here at GMAT Ninja. We write our own questions, too. We think we’re good at it. You still shouldn't rely on them – particularly for a question type that’s as intricate as Multi-Source Reasoning.)
HOW MANY MULTI-SOURCE REASONING QUESTIONS WILL YOU SEE ON THE GMAT?
Multi-Source Reasoning problems come in clusters of three questions. You’ll see one or two of these clusters in the Data Insights section, for a total of three or six MSR questions on your GMAT exam.
AS WITH ALL GMAT QUESTION TYPES: HIGH-QUALITY PRACTICE IS KEY
It’s worth reiterating: Multi-Source Reasoning questions are hard and often intimidating. While watching videos and reading articles can help you craft a strategy for dealing with the complexity and difficulty of MSR questions, you’re unlikely to see instantaneous, life-altering results.
The good news is that with hard work, a willingness to tweak your strategy as needed, and general persistence, you can make substantial improvements. Just know that it’s going to take time and patience.
So keep at it!