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mcelroytutoring
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 06 Dec 2023, 17:50
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Yes, I believe that ExpertsGlobal5 was the first to share that particular piece of (verbal, not written) information from GMAC. I will try to dig up the post from many pages ago.

They also broke the news (which turned out to be true!) about the Verbal (previously called “logic-based”) DS questions on Data Insights.

UPDATE: Found it! It was apparently disclosed during a GMAC conference in New Delhi on 5/29/23.

https://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-focus-e ... l#p3207830

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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 05:57
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Thank you for bringing it up. they did originally bring up that the test would be section adaptive. Do we have it somewhere in writing?

I’m wondering if we can try again since the bird is out of the cage so to speak…

PS. I also tend to believe that it likely is section adaptive but I wanted to share the official information without my perspective per se.

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They did call out that the tests are sectional adaptive in this webinar with Manish Dharia, Director of Product Development at GMAC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfgby9-M__o&t=2048s
Switch over to 45.36mins.
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 06:35
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bb
Thank you for bringing it up. they did originally bring up that the test would be section adaptive. Do we have it somewhere in writing?

I’m wondering if we can try again since the bird is out of the cage so to speak…

PS. I also tend to believe that it likely is section adaptive but I wanted to share the official information without my perspective per se.

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They did call out that the tests are sectional adaptive in this webinar with Manish Dharia, Director of Product Development at GMAC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfgby9-M__o&t=2048s
Switch over to 45.36mins.
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Then, the best bet would be to start with DI section in the exam as mcelroytutoring said.
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 06:39
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Thank you so much, mcelroytutoring, Sid7896 and ExpertsGlobal5!

I'd like to correct my previous statement on the impact of sectional adaptability -
Sim_SG3
Considering your score also depends on the difficulty level of questions you answer, someone doing exceedingly well in the first two sections would face hell in the third round and be more likely to mess up. It makes no sense to have the harder section count just as much as the two good ones.
Conversely, doing poorly in the first two sections would mean you'd only get low-level questions in the third section and would have virtually no way of saving your score.

The only way out would be to ace absolutely everything or strategically sacrifice questions along the way, both of which seem rather impractical.
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I incorrectly assumed the phrase sectional adaptive meant the overall difficulty level of the whole section would be adaptive. But that isn't the case, going by how GMAC has phrased their stance on the matter.
ExpertsGlobal5
The difficulty level of the first few questions of one section would depend on one's performance on the previous section(s).
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And as of the 46:11 minute mark of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfgby9-M__o&t=2048s - Manish references "the starting point" of sections two and three being influenced by the preceding section.

While this does mean you could potentially be starting on a harder note, the algorithm should balance things out depending on how you perform on these questions. However, I will say that I'm still concerned about how well the balancing is done considering we have limited questions to increase/decrease the difficulty level.

Final thoughts - playing to your strengths when choosing your section order does matter. It's no longer a question of stamina and preference alone. 10/10 agree with the below.
mcelroytutoring
All of a sudden, I’m thinking that for high scorers, Data Insights might be better suited as the first section of the GMAT Focus, not the last. Why? No one wants a super-hard DI section.
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Thanks,
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 06:57
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Sim_SG3 mcelroytutoring bb AjiteshArun what would be the order on the test day? VA-DI and then QA?
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 07:46
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bb
Thank you for bringing it up. they did originally bring up that the test would be section adaptive. Do we have it somewhere in writing?

I’m wondering if we can try again since the bird is out of the cage so to speak…

PS. I also tend to believe that it likely is section adaptive but I wanted to share the official information without my perspective per se.

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Thank you so much for this update, bb But I am still very surprised how the GMAC representative told me that sections of New Focus Edition are not adaptive. I was very confused about this whole process. But thanks to you for bringing up this topic again and ending my confusion.

Though I am considering the current version if in case I have to appear for the New Focus test in the future then what key points should I consider? Need your guidance.

Thank you!
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know Updated on: 10 Dec 2023, 18:03
Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 07 Dec 2023, 07:50.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 10 Dec 2023, 18:03, edited 63 times in total.
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Thanks for the link to the video, Sid7896! I had not seen that one. And thanks to GMATNinja for asking the right questions here!

Two takeaways: In this GMAT Club YouTube video (linked and timestamped above) from 7/14/23, Manish from GMAC clearly acknowledges the difficulty adjustment across sections previously reported by ExpertsGlobal5 after the GMAC New Delhi conference in late May. Manish calls it a “minor / slight tweak,” avoids the subject for a while, and then claims this tweak won't impact your score—which of course doesn’t make any sense, since harder questions overall on the Quant, Verbal, and DI sections should earn more section points for the test-taker, and vice-versa.

"Yeah, it's an interesting question. So, I mean, yes—there is a minor tweak to the starting point on your subsequent sections ... but it is not going to impact your score."

GMAC can't have it both ways, first publicly volunteering the information that 1) the starting difficulty of the next section on the GMAT Focus is adjusted based on your performance on the previous section, but then claiming that 2) this "tweak" somehow has no effect on your GMAT score.

Of course harder and easier questions will have an effect on your GMF score—that's the entire point of a section-adaptive exam!

Maybe this explains why the company is now backtracking on its official position, refusing to answer any more questions on the issue—but not before verbally contradicting itself on the issue via Seema Parakkat, another GMAC representative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbb3Rw5SOzA&t=1970s

"Is Focus Edition sectional adaptive? No, it is not section adaptive, it is question adaptive—that is, within a section, it's question-by-question adaptive."

Well, then—there you have it, folks. Confused yet? For me, it's déjà vu all over again (the Data Insights adaptability issue, where GMAC contradicted itself in print).

So, what does this all mean for the GMAT Focus test-taker? For now, starting with the Data Insights section, thus essentially guaranteeing yourself a medium difficulty level of early DI questions, still seems like a no-brainer to me.

Think of the DI section as a warm-up for the Quant and Verbal sections, which will of course be somewhat harder than DI if you perform well—assuming that what GMAC originally told us (then bizarrely retracted...and now refuses to comment on the issue altogether) still holds true.

When it comes to the fully understanding the question-level and/or section-level adaptive scoring of the new GMAT Focus exam, it's GMAC's weird world, and we're all just living in it. :dontknow:

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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 08:02
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But I am still very surprised how the GMAC representative told me that sections of New Focus Edition are not adaptive. I was very confused about this whole process. But thanks to you for bringing up this topic again and ending my confusion.

Thank you!
Pooja
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Same! I'm wondering how they explicitly confirmed this on a YouTube live as well. The sudden refusal to comment makes it seem all the more suspicious.

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mcelroytutoring
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Closing the loop on this - the exam isn't adaptive across sections. Hurray!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbb3Rw5SOzA

Thanks to BottomJee for sharing the above and putting an end to my misery.

Best,
Sim
Hi Sim_SG3,

This is a very long video. Could you please point me to the moment where she says this?

Too bad she couldn't get the slide deck to load.

Hi mcelroytutoring,

Seema confirms this somewhere around the 32:50 minute mark when answering questions from the live chat. She seems very certain, even going on to state that the test is "question by question adaptive within a section".
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know Updated on: 15 Mar 2024, 04:49
Originally posted by poojaarora1818 on 07 Dec 2023, 09:59.
Last edited by poojaarora1818 on 15 Mar 2024, 04:49, edited 1 time in total.
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mcelroytutoring
Thanks for the link to the video, Sid7896! I had not seen that one. And thanks to GMATNinja for asking the right questions here!

Two takeaways: In this GMAT Club YouTube video (linked and timestamped above) from 7/14/23, Manish from GMAC clearly acknowledges the difficulty adjustment across sections previously reported by ExpertsGlobal5 after the GMAC New Delhi conference in late May. Manish calls it a “minor / slight tweak,” avoids the subject for a while, and then claims this tweak won't impact your score—which of course doesn’t make any sense, since harder questions overall on the Quant, Verbal, and DI sections should earn more section points for the test-taker, and vice-versa.

"Yeah. It's an interesting question. Yes, there is a minor tweak to the starting point on your subsequent sections...but it is not going to impact your score."

GMAC can't have it both ways, first publicly stating that 1) the starting difficulty of the next section on the GMAT Focus is adjusted based on your performance on the previous section, but then claiming that 2) this "tweak" somehow has no effect on your GMAT score.

Of course harder and easier questions will have an effect on your GMF score—that's the entire point of a section-adaptive exam!

Maybe this explains why the company is now backtracking on its official position, refusing to answer any more questions on the issue—but not before verbally contradicting itself on the issue via Seema Parakkat, another GMAC representative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbb3Rw5SOzA&t=1970s

"Is Focus Edition sectional adaptive? No, it is not section adaptive, it is question adaptive—that is, within a section, it's question-by-question adaptive."

Well, then. There you have it, folks. Confused yet? For me, it's déjà vu all over again (the Data Insights adaptability issue, where GMAC contradicted itself in print).

So, what does this all mean for the GMAT Focus test-taker? For now, starting with Data Insights, thus essentially guaranteeing yourself a medium difficulty level of starting questions, still seems like a no-brainer to me.

Think of the DI section as a warm-up for the Quant and Verbal sections, which will of course be somewhat harder than DI if you perform well—assuming that what GMAC originally told us (then bizarrely retracted...and now refuses to comment on the issue altogether) still holds true.

When it comes to the fully understanding the question-level and/or section-level adaptive scoring of the new GMAT Focus exam, it's GMAC's weird world, and we're all just living in it. :dontknow:

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Yeah, Exactly GMAC representative confirmed the same thing to me regarding the sectional adaptivity of the test over the mail. So, I am confused about this whole thing. I don't know what to say about this.­
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know Updated on: 08 Dec 2023, 10:47
Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 07 Dec 2023, 11:41.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 08 Dec 2023, 10:47, edited 17 times in total.
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To completely change the subject for a moment, I have discovered a couple of keyboard shortcuts that work on the GMAT Focus Official Practice Tests—and that might also work on the real exam, even though I see nothing about keyboard shortcuts in the exam instructions.

On the GMAT classic, you can use the tab button to scroll down vertically through your answers, and the space button to select your answer—but this is awkward, so I don't recommend it.

Conversely, the GMAT Focus is much easier: simply type the letter of your answer (A,B,C,D, or E) on your keyboard, and the exam will register that choice! (You can also use 1,2,3,4,5 if you prefer.)

Then, just type Alt-N to choose "Next."

You can then use Alt-Y to select "Yes", and Alt-N to select "No."

Boom! You're quickly on to the next question, without a single click of the mouse or tap of the trackpad.

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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 11:49
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AnkurGMAT20
Sim_SG3 mcelroytutoring bb AjiteshArun what would be the order on the test day? VA-DI and then QA?
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Depends on your strengths. Personally, I'd leave what I'm best at for the end so it doesn't throw off my other two sections. Since DI is brand new and is still a wild card, I'd start with DI - which as mcelroytutoring mentioned, would work as a good warm-up for Verbal and Quant.

Thanks,
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 11:56
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To completely change the subject for a moment, I have discovered a couple of keyboard shortcuts that work on the GMAT Focus Official Practice Tests—and that might also work on the real exam, even though I see nothing about keyboard shortcuts in the exam instructions.

First, on the GMAT Focus there is no "Next" button in the middle of your after choosing your answer; instead, it is in the located lower-right hand corner only. Then, a "Yes / No" button that appears once you click "Next," or use the keyboard shortcut Alt + N.

You can then use "Alt + Y" to select Yes, and "Alt + N" to select No.
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Neat find!

mcelroytutoring
it's GMAC's weird world, and we're all just living in it. :dontknow:
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This should be their tagline!!
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know Updated on: 26 Dec 2023, 08:57
Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 07 Dec 2023, 17:27.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 26 Dec 2023, 08:57, edited 45 times in total.
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One more tangent: I just finished a GMAT Focus official practice test, and can confirm that Quant did not include any geometry. Most, if not all, of the questions seemed new, and there were no "Verbal DS" questions.

I chose the order DI, V, Q, which—given the result—I am convinced is the best order for me, and probably for most of my students as well. I felt very tired at the end of Verbal, but that's where I took my optional 10-minute break, and the entire Quant section was pretty easy, at least compared to that of the classic GMAT.

The big question, of course: what's up with the GMAT Focus scoring algorithm? Is it indeed section adaptive as well as question adaptive, as multiple GMAC reps have already indicated? Well, DI was easy at the beginning, but ended quite difficult (I ended up scoring an 88/90, with just one part of one question wrong). Verbal and Quant also finished harder than they started, so the Focus is definitely question adaptive, as GMAC continues to confirm.

As far as the rumored (and previously confirmed!) section adaptivity of the GMAT Focus, I didn't notice much of a difference in the beginning of my 2nd and 3rd sections—but it's certainly possible that my early questions on Verbal and Quant were more difficult than average, and I simply didn't notice.

I'm glad I chose the new(ish) Data Insights section first. Much like the old Integrated Reasoning (IR) section, DI is not difficult overall—but there are so many little details, multi-part questions, and charts/visuals to keep track of that I felt it was a good use of my early-test alertness. Pacing was tricky, too. I was actually grateful for the 6 or 7 DS questions I saw, as I generally complete Data Sufficiency questions faster than I do Integrated-Reasoning style ones.

Verbal was not any easier than the classic GMAT—but not too tough, either. I did miss having Sentence Corrections to speed me up and earn quick, easy points. Timing was more of an issue, which surprised me given that I tend to fly through the section, but my strengths in CR and RC ultimately paid off. Overall, Verbal was relatively "medium" difficulty, though: I was afraid that it would be much harder, because I felt that DI had gone well.

Quant was the big surprise. It was MUCH easier than expected, and I didn't miss having DS questions, given that I had plenty of those in Data Insights. No probability, geometry, or even rates questions were tested (there were a lot of function questions, though). For a while, I was worried that I did worse on Verbal than I thought!

Overall, the Focus was relatively easy compared to the GMAT classic, especially on Quant, where the removal of geometry means simpler questions overall. Thus, I can see why some think the Focus is easy, but I'm guessing the real exam has some more challenging questions up its sleeve.

I do wonder, had I chosen DI last, whether the scoring curve would have been more forgiving (assuming harder questions at that point). Maybe 1 point lost per question wrong is possible when the overall difficulty is higher, since questions are only worth about 1.5 points per question, on average. Given my experience and training, I am more equipped to handle very hard Verbal and Quant questions, however—so I still believe my chosen section order to be the correct one.

I also wonder whether it might be possible to use the new question edit and review function to go back and answer all the questions correctly—but still earn less than a perfect score (say, 89 out of 90), because getting the question wrong on the first pass may have led to a lower difficulty level of questions overall.

The good news? There are lots of brand-new questions on these tests. Even though the O.G. 2023-2024 is all recycled questions, it appeared that nearly all the questions I saw on the official practice test were new to the GMAT Focus—and after 23 years of GMAT tutoring, I have a pretty good memory for questions.

I also of course confirmed the functionality of the following keyboard shortcuts on the official Focus practice exams, on both Mac and PC:

1,2,3,4,5 or A,B,C,D,E = selects an answer
Alt-N = Next / No
Alt-Y = Yes

However, this was only an official practice exam. If someone reading out there could also please confirm whether these keyboard shortcuts also work on the real GMAT Focus (both the test-center exam and/or the online test), then that would be much appreciated!
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 17:33
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Thank you so much for doing the research
mcelroytutoring

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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 22:41
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AnkurGMAT20
Sim_SG3 mcelroytutoring bb AjiteshArun what would be the order on the test day? VA-DI and then QA?
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Hi AnkurGMAT20,

I'm currently asking my students to go with the order that they're comfortable with, rather than trying to game the algorithm in any way. Basically, it's your strengths (and weaknesses) that should drive your decision, not someone else's guesses about section difficulty. If you think you are good at DI, you should absolutely back yourself to do well in that section.

Also, I see a lot of discussion here about whether the Focus edition is question-adaptive or section-adaptive. The Focus edition is question-adaptive.
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 07 Dec 2023, 23:43
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But I am still very surprised how the GMAC representative told me that sections of New Focus Edition are not adaptive. I was very confused about this whole process. But thanks to you for bringing up this topic again and ending my confusion.

Thank you!
Pooja
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Same! I'm wondering how they explicitly confirmed this on a YouTube live as well. The sudden refusal to comment makes it seem all the more suspicious.

Hi Sim_SG3 ,

Good to see you on the forum as always. Yes, I agree with your point that you mentioned in the above post that GMAC didn't explicitly mention in their YouTube live video regarding the sectional adaptivity of the New Focus Edition. I am still confused about the whole process.

P.S. If you don't mind can you pls tell me about yourself? Like where you are from and the organization you are working with? If you are comfortable we can discuss this privately. Pls, let me know if you are comfortable.

Thank you!
Pooja
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 08 Dec 2023, 02:22
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poojaarora1818

Hi Sim_SG3 ,

Good to see you on the forum as always.

P.S. If you don't mind can you pls tell me about yourself? Like where you are from and the organization you are working with? If you are comfortable we can discuss this privately. Pls, let me know if you are comfortable.

Thank you!
Pooja
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Hi Pooja, likewise! Sure, just reached out via direct message.

Thanks,
Sim
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know Updated on: 26 Dec 2023, 06:30
Originally posted by mcelroytutoring on 08 Dec 2023, 08:23.
Last edited by mcelroytutoring on 26 Dec 2023, 06:30, edited 2 times in total.
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AjiteshArun
Also, I see a lot of discussion here about whether the Focus edition is question-adaptive or section-adaptive. The Focus edition is question-adaptive.
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Why not both?

It’s no longer an either/or debate: at this point we have confirmed without a doubt that the GMAT Focus is in fact question-level adaptive.

However, multiple GMAC reps have already publicly volunteered that the GMF is also section adaptive: see the whole “yes, there is a minor tweak to your starting point on subsequent sections” exchange from the GMAT Club video, and ExpertsGlobal5’s post after the GMAC New Delhi conference in late May.

Now, we are simply trying to convince GMAC to admit to the exact same information it has already publicly revealed about the GMAT Focus's section adaptivity. In other words, "the cat is already out of the bag."

Meanwhile, GMAC's sudden silence on the issue of GMAT Focus section adaptivity is deafening—especially because GMAC is the one who publicly offered this news in the first place.

GMAC now bizarrely chooses to say nothing on the issue of section adaptivity—but it hasn't denied it, either.

Is there a reason why you would claim otherwise?

Posted from my mobile device
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know Updated on: 24 Dec 2023, 03:42
Originally posted by Can,Will on 20 Dec 2023, 00:32.
Last edited by Can,Will on 24 Dec 2023, 03:42, edited 1 time in total.
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Official guide 23-24( focus edition) does not include any fresh questions ?
Is it worth buying additional GMAT focus practice questions and review books ,or most of these questions are already posted on gmatclub ?
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GMAT Focus Edition - Everything You Need to Know 22 Dec 2023, 13:55
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Just a quick note, you can now ADD and VERIFY your GMAT Focus scores on GMAT Club.
You can add your score here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/ucp.php?i=280

Thank you all for your patience as we upgrade the systems to support GMAT Focus.
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