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vatsalkhemani
Joined: 23 Aug 2022
Last visit: 18 Jan 2026
Posts: 1
Given Kudos: 493
Location: India
Schools: Wharton '26 (A$) Haas '26 (A$$)
GPA: 9.59
Updated on: 17 Oct 2024, 07:36
Originally posted by vatsalkhemani on 12 Oct 2024, 05:06.
Last edited by Narenn on 17 Oct 2024, 07:36, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by Narenn on 17 Oct 2024, 07:36, edited 1 time in total.
Added video debrief link
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Hey everyone! I recently got a 715 on the GMAT Focus (Q88, V86, DI 82), and wanted to share my experience to help demystify some of the confusion around the new format and share key takeaways that might help others.
Watch Vatsal's Video Debrief on YouTube
Study Course/Materials: I didn’t take any formal courses. My prep was mainly YouTube , blogs and GMAT Club.
My background is from engineering, however it still took time to grasp all the quant concepts for GMAT, verbal is all about visualizing and getting in the flow once you have understood all questions types and ways, Data insights is something which gets better the more you study quant and verbal.
Materials bought: Official Guide & GMAT Club Forum Quiz.
Mocks: 665, 675, 685, 745, 725, 675 (all official mocks(1,2,3,4 and retakes) in the order I took them).
Key Insights Based on My Analysis of Official Mocks & Actual Test:
1. The scoring algorithm and the level in the official mocks is very close to the actual exam. Verbal felt slightly tougher on test day, but that could be due to a higher score than I had gotten in most mocks.
2. There's no way to predict your score based on the number of wrong answers. I’ve seen the same number of mistakes result in drastically different scores. (Examples at the end!)
3. Always guess if you're running out of time. The penalty for leaving questions blank is huge. Even if I was in a time crunch, I made sure to click my final answer and then quickly revisit (using 3 recheck option) the last questions if possible. Never miss submitting answers.
4. In all 7 mocks + the real exam, I noticed a consistent Verbal pattern: 2 or 3 CR questions, then 1 RC, and repeat. If you know what is coming up, it actually helps a lot.
5. In Data Insights (DI), the first MSR question usually comes around Q4 or Q5, and the second MSR (if any) tends to appear around Q11. If you know what is coming up, it actually helps a lot.
Scoring Examples & Sectional Tips:
Quant: 1 wrong = 85 or 88, 4 wrong = 84, 2 wrong = 84, all correct = 90. As I said, you cannot predict. Quant is strict. Getting an easy question wrong can drop your score significantly (by up to 40 points). From my experience, 17-18 questions are usually relatively easy or medium (according to GMAT Club ratings).
Verbal: 4 wrong = 82, 84, 86, 2 wrong = 85. As I said, you cannot predict. Verbal is more forgiving than Quant, and you can make a few mistakes and still score 80+. Time management is crucial. I stopped second-guessing my answers, which saved time and helped me finish all the questions—especially important when the easier questions come towards the end.
Data Insights: 83 with 4, 5, or 6 wrong. I know someone who scored 79 with 5 wrong. DI is tricky. It’s all about managing time and knowing when to move on from tough questions. I would spend no more than 2 minutes on a tough question—if I couldn’t solve it, I’d guess and move on to the easier ones.
Special Thanks:
Big shoutout to GMAT Club and all the amazing experts, especially: Bunuel, Karishma, Gmat Ninja, Scott, Marty and Adiya kumar. Your insights were invaluable! My entire journey was using all the free- resources available and there is some amazing content out there.
Prep Materials I Used (No Courses): GMAT Ninja YouTube videos, official questions and mocks, forum quiz, Aditya Kumar & Math Tutor YouTube videos, GMAT Club sessions with experts from TTP/e-GMAT and other experts.
Old vs New GMAT: I took the old GMAT last year and scored 710. I had 750 in official mocks but couldn’t perform on test day. This time, I prepared much better for the Focus Edition, and I believe the percentiles people are concerned about are mostly accurate. The level of 750 in the old version and 695 in Focus felt like the same level of difficulty from a prep standpoint for me. The only difference is, the focus weighs quant more heavily while the old gmat weighed verbal more heavily as per my assumptions.
Thank you again and I am happy to give back to this amazing community in whatever ways possible. All the best to everyone reading this
Posted from my mobile device
Watch Vatsal's Video Debrief on YouTube
Study Course/Materials: I didn’t take any formal courses. My prep was mainly YouTube , blogs and GMAT Club.
My background is from engineering, however it still took time to grasp all the quant concepts for GMAT, verbal is all about visualizing and getting in the flow once you have understood all questions types and ways, Data insights is something which gets better the more you study quant and verbal.
Materials bought: Official Guide & GMAT Club Forum Quiz.
Mocks: 665, 675, 685, 745, 725, 675 (all official mocks(1,2,3,4 and retakes) in the order I took them).
Key Insights Based on My Analysis of Official Mocks & Actual Test:
1. The scoring algorithm and the level in the official mocks is very close to the actual exam. Verbal felt slightly tougher on test day, but that could be due to a higher score than I had gotten in most mocks.
2. There's no way to predict your score based on the number of wrong answers. I’ve seen the same number of mistakes result in drastically different scores. (Examples at the end!)
3. Always guess if you're running out of time. The penalty for leaving questions blank is huge. Even if I was in a time crunch, I made sure to click my final answer and then quickly revisit (using 3 recheck option) the last questions if possible. Never miss submitting answers.
4. In all 7 mocks + the real exam, I noticed a consistent Verbal pattern: 2 or 3 CR questions, then 1 RC, and repeat. If you know what is coming up, it actually helps a lot.
5. In Data Insights (DI), the first MSR question usually comes around Q4 or Q5, and the second MSR (if any) tends to appear around Q11. If you know what is coming up, it actually helps a lot.
Scoring Examples & Sectional Tips:
Quant: 1 wrong = 85 or 88, 4 wrong = 84, 2 wrong = 84, all correct = 90. As I said, you cannot predict. Quant is strict. Getting an easy question wrong can drop your score significantly (by up to 40 points). From my experience, 17-18 questions are usually relatively easy or medium (according to GMAT Club ratings).
Verbal: 4 wrong = 82, 84, 86, 2 wrong = 85. As I said, you cannot predict. Verbal is more forgiving than Quant, and you can make a few mistakes and still score 80+. Time management is crucial. I stopped second-guessing my answers, which saved time and helped me finish all the questions—especially important when the easier questions come towards the end.
Data Insights: 83 with 4, 5, or 6 wrong. I know someone who scored 79 with 5 wrong. DI is tricky. It’s all about managing time and knowing when to move on from tough questions. I would spend no more than 2 minutes on a tough question—if I couldn’t solve it, I’d guess and move on to the easier ones.
Special Thanks:
Big shoutout to GMAT Club and all the amazing experts, especially: Bunuel, Karishma, Gmat Ninja, Scott, Marty and Adiya kumar. Your insights were invaluable! My entire journey was using all the free- resources available and there is some amazing content out there.
Prep Materials I Used (No Courses): GMAT Ninja YouTube videos, official questions and mocks, forum quiz, Aditya Kumar & Math Tutor YouTube videos, GMAT Club sessions with experts from TTP/e-GMAT and other experts.
Old vs New GMAT: I took the old GMAT last year and scored 710. I had 750 in official mocks but couldn’t perform on test day. This time, I prepared much better for the Focus Edition, and I believe the percentiles people are concerned about are mostly accurate. The level of 750 in the old version and 695 in Focus felt like the same level of difficulty from a prep standpoint for me. The only difference is, the focus weighs quant more heavily while the old gmat weighed verbal more heavily as per my assumptions.
Thank you again and I am happy to give back to this amazing community in whatever ways possible. All the best to everyone reading this
Posted from my mobile device
12 Oct 2024, 11:06
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Gratz. Consider writing a profile review. You could include your scoring info and the types of schools you're targeting.
14 Oct 2024, 18:07
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Hi vatsalkhemani,
Congrats on a great score! Good luck with things moving forward.
Congrats on a great score! Good luck with things moving forward.
