Hello everyone,
I am writing this to share my recent experience with GMAT Classic edition. I had heard from numerous test takers that the difficulty level of Classic edition has increased recently and their mock scores were inconsistent with the actual attempt, but never really paid heed to the same as I did see many people scoring 700+.
I continued with my preparation without getting demotivated to increase my score of 680 to 720+. I was averaging around 720-750 in my mocks (Kaplan, Manhattan) and the difficulty level of their questions was much higher than the GMAT Prep exams. This made me confident that I would be able to achieve my target score in the next attempt.
However, I was taken aback with the difficulty of the exam when I appeared for the same today. I received 3 long passages and there was not a single question of Main Idea/Purpose/Detail of the passage and majority of the questions were hardcore CR based. I did not get stressed or lose hope and went ahead without letting the pressure impact me.
Fast forward to the Quant section, I was pretty confident that I would be able to get a Q48-49 as I was averaging about 50 in my CAT exams. The type of questions and the diffculty took me by surprise and I knew that something was seriously wrong.
I finished both the sections and by this time I was getting impatient to see my final score as there was a lot of unsurity in my mind whether I had tanked it or not. I finished my IR and AWA section with 10 odd minutes remaining and was still able to get a 7/8 on IR.
The final score of 620 flashed in front of my eyes and I cancelled them instantaneously. Just got to glance at my IR score and did not even feel like looking at Quant/Verbal split. My confidence and motivation have taken a huge blow and it pains to see my efforts going in vain.

I was hoping to take an opinion about the Focus edition and will it be a wise choice to appear for it in the next 15 days. If yes, what all should I keep in my mind to prepare a strategy for my one final attempt before I submit my R2 applications.
Thanks in advance!
Hi even I took the classic edition and scored a 660 and all my friends who have been consistently high performers barely managed to scrape through the 700 benchmark. My understanding is that the sample size of the people taking the examination has decreased over the years. This has probably led to an increase of more serious performers leading to inconsistent percentiles. Although I could be wrong here and would appreciate the experienced members of the group to correct me.
After (My ESR of Jan 2024 with sample size: 282,098)