Get to Know the Exam

Use the built-in error log tracker above, the Analytics portal, or a customized Excel/Google Sheets spreadsheet, whichever you'll actually keep up with.

• Topic:

  fractions, ratios, percent, CR conclusion, etc.

• Error type:

  concept gap / setup error / calculation slip / rushed reading.

• Trigger:

  what in the prompt pulled you off track.

• Fix:

  one-sentence rule you will apply next time.

• Accuracy by topic: which sub-skills are still under 80%.
• Timing by topic: where you're consistently over 2 min/question.
• The trend across your last few sessions, not just one bad day.

Six things, and that is enough to start:

• Exactly how many questions and minutes are in each section
• What each section tests, and what was removed from the old GMAT
• How the 205 to 805 score is built, and what counts as a good score today
• How the test adapts, and why the old advice about the first questions is dead
• Why leaving a question unanswered costs you more than answering it wrong
• Which GMAT Club tools to use, and the one click that makes them work

• Four tracks a week:

  Quant, Verbal, Data Insights, and review. Every week page is organised the same way, so you always know where you are

• 10 to 15 hours a week to start:

  it climbs to 25 or more in the later weeks. If you have less time, stretch the plan rather than skipping tracks

• No calculator in Quant, plan-wide:

  the real exam does not give you one, so training with one builds a habit you will have to unlearn

• Error log from Day 1:

  the single highest-return habit in this plan. Week 1 sets it up for you

• Post your weekly update in the thread: Study Plan Week 0 Support

  people who post updates finish. People who study silently mostly do not

• GMAT Syllabus for Focus Edition GMAT Club
• Exam structure and question types mba.com

The current exam is the GMAT Focus, the standard version since 2024. It is not a different test, it is a shorter version of the same one. What changed: Sentence Correction and the essay (AWA) were removed, dedicated geometry questions were dropped, and Integrated Reasoning grew into Data Insights, which now counts toward your total score.

What did not change: Problem Solving, Critical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension test the same skills they always have. A good explanation of a PS or CR question from 2020 is just as good today, which is why this plan happily uses lessons and videos made before 2024, and even GRE videos where the math is identical.

The one question type that did change is Data Sufficiency: pure algebra and arithmetic DS questions were removed, and non-math DS questions were added. GMAT Club removed the retired kind from the Quiz and GMAT Club Tests as well, so the DS you practice here matches the DS you will see on test day.

One note on geometry: although geometry knowledge was officially removed from the GMAT Focus, general concepts such as area and volume are still tested and present in both the Official Guide and GMAT Prep questions. See the examples in this thread.

• Bookmark any question:

  flag it as you go, then jump back to your flagged list at the end of the section

• Change up to three answers per section:

  the review and edit screen appears when you reach the end. Three per section, not three for the whole exam

• Choose your section order:

  you pick the order at the test centre, before the exam starts. Any of the three sections can go first

• One optional 10-minute break:

  you take it after your first or your second section. You do not get two

Worth thinking about now, and worth testing in your mocks:

• Section order. Most people lead with their strongest section to bank confidence, or with their weakest to spend fresh energy on it. There is no correct answer, but there is a correct method: try both in mocks and keep the one that scores better
• Where the break goes. After the first section is the common choice. After the second works better if your third section is the one you dread

All Problem Solving. The heavy hitters:

• Algebra, which grew sharply in Focus and is now the largest single category
• Word problems, rates, work, and mixtures
• Percent, interest, ratios, and fractions
• Exponents, roots, and number properties
• Statistics and counting, lighter than they used to be but still present

No calculator. Classic geometry (areas, volumes, circle theorems) is gone; coordinate geometry survives because it is really algebra, which is why it appears in Week 8.

Two question types, no Sentence Correction:

• Critical Reasoning: assumption, strengthen, weaken, inference, evaluate, paradox, boldface, and flaw
• Reading Comprehension: main idea, primary purpose, specific detail, inference, and tone across short and long passages

Grammar is no longer tested. If a resource spends chapters on idioms and modifiers, it was written for the old exam.

The newest section and the one most people underestimate:

• Data Sufficiency: moved here from Quant, and still the type that decides most DI scores
• Graphics Interpretation: read a chart, complete a sentence from dropdowns
• Table Analysis: sort a table, answer true or false statements
• Multi-Source Reasoning: two or three tabs of information, questions that need more than one tab
• Two-Part Analysis: pick one answer in each of two columns, and both must be right for credit

DI carries exactly the same weight as Quant and Verbal in your total score. Treat it that way from Week 1.

• GMAT Syllabus for Focus Edition GMAT Club
• Exam content by section mba.com

Do this in Week 1, not in Week 10:

• Look up the median Focus score of the three or four programs you actually want, not the ones you admire from a distance
• Add 20 to 30 points to the median. That is your target, because medians mean half the class scored below
• Work backwards into section scores. There are several ways to reach the same total, and the cheapest one is usually lifting your weakest section
• Write the number down. A target you have not written down is a wish

• GMAT Focus Score Calculator GMAT Club
• GMAT Focus score charts and percentiles GMAT Club

Four practical consequences:

• Pace evenly. There is no early stretch worth protecting. A question at the end is worth what a question at the start is worth
• Never rush the back half. The end of a section is where a blown time budget actually costs you points
• Stop reading difficulty as a scoreboard. People try to guess their score mid-exam from how hard questions feel. It is unreliable, and it is expensive to think about while the clock runs
• Use the review screen as a plan, not a rescue. Three changes per section is a real tool, but only if you bookmarked deliberately as you went

• Watch the clock at fixed checkpoints:

  not constantly. Glance at question 5, 10, and 15, and adjust from there

• Cap any single question at three minutes:

  beyond that you are not solving it, you are paying for it with the next two questions

• Guess with elimination, not at random:

  removing even one bad choice meaningfully improves the odds, and it takes ten seconds

• GMAT Focus algorithm: importance of the first 6 questions is gone GMAT Club
• Timing strategies on the GMAT GMAT Club

• The Timer:

  a blue bar attached to every practice question on the forum. Press the green play button, solve, submit your answer, and it records your time and whether you were right. That one click is what makes everything below work. It also earns you a rewards point every day you use it, which is how the paid parts of GMAT Club end up free. Week 1 explains that in full

• The Error Log:

  fills itself from the timer. Every timed question lands there automatically with its topic, difficulty, your time, and your result. Free, and it is the tool this plan leans on hardest

• The Forum Quiz:

  optional. It builds timed adaptive sets for you and needs a subscription or rewards points. Each week gives you a free Forum route and a Quiz route, so you never need it to finish the plan

• The practice links in this plan:

  already carry the topic filters and difficulty tags you need. Click the link in the week page rather than browsing the forum yourself and you land on the right set

1. Create your free account · 2 min

   the timer and the error log both need you signed in. Nothing records while you are logged out

2. Open any practice question and press play · 1 min

   the timer bar sits on the question itself. Press the green button before you read, not after, and not when you are halfway through

3. Submit an answer, then press Tag Mistake · 1 min

   when you miss one, pick a reason from the list. It takes ten seconds and it is what turns a log into a diagnosis

4. Open your Error Log once · 1 min

   just to see that your question is in it. Bookmark the page. Week 1 turns it into a daily habit

Click any image to open it full size.

The Error Log button on the right of the bar opens your full log, where every one of these questions is waiting for you. Your screens will differ a little by question type, but the controls stay in the same places.

Once a few weeks of data is in there:

• Your accuracy and your average time, split by topic, so your weak areas name themselves
• Filtering and sorting by tag, difficulty, result and date, plus an export to Excel if you want your own view
• A quiz built straight from the questions you missed, which is the highest-value review set you will ever have
• A record you can paste into your weekly update in the thread, which makes the feedback you get far more useful

Questions you do in Forum Quiz mode are grouped in the error log too, so both routes feed the same picture.

• Your Error Log GMAT Club
• Error Log: full walkthrough with screenshots GMAT Club
• Forum Quiz: how the adaptive sets work GMAT Club
• Best way to use GMAT Club and its resources GMAT Club

Signed out, the error log link will send you to the login page. That is expected.