Overview
GMAC describes the GMAT as three 45-minute sections: Quantitative Reasoning (21 questions), Verbal Reasoning (23 questions) and Data Insights (20 questions), for 2 hours 15 minutes plus an optional 10-minute break. The total score runs from 205 to 805, and each section contributes equally. The classic (10th Edition) GMAT was retired in early 2024, and its 200–800 scores cannot be compared directly with Focus scores; GMAC recommends comparing percentiles instead.
Data Insights is often the section applicants feel least ready for. It combines data sufficiency with multi-source reasoning, table analysis, graphics interpretation and two-part analysis, and an on-screen calculator is available. Quant, by contrast, has no calculator and focuses on arithmetic, algebra and word problems. Verbal now consists of reading comprehension and critical reasoning only.
Our tutoring starts with an official practice exam, then balances your time across the three sections according to where points are easiest to gain. We also prepare you to use the test's flexible features well: choosing your section order, bookmarking questions and editing up to three answers per section.
Who it’s for and the problems it solves
This is for you if you are…
- MBA, specialized master's and executive program applicants whose schools accept or prefer the GMAT
- Professionals who took the classic GMAT years ago and need to understand what changed
- Applicants comfortable with math but new to data sufficiency or multi-source reasoning
- Non-native English speakers seeking support with critical reasoning and dense reading passages
Common problems we help with
- Data Insights questions take too long because you read every table and tab in full
- Data sufficiency answer choices feel confusing and you solve more than you need to
- Quant scores drop under time pressure without a calculator
- Critical reasoning answers seem equally plausible and you choose the tempting wrong one
- Your study materials still include Sentence Correction and geometry
What’s included — and what isn’t
Included
- Baseline diagnostic with an official GMAT practice exam, broken down by section and question type
- Quantitative Reasoning: number properties, arithmetic, algebra, rates, percents, statistics and word problems without a calculator
- Verbal Reasoning: reading comprehension and critical reasoning question families (strengthen, weaken, assumption, inference, evaluate, boldface)
- Data Insights: data sufficiency, multi-source reasoning, table analysis, graphics interpretation and two-part analysis
- Efficient use of the Data Insights on-screen calculator and sortable tables
- Section order planning and use of the optional break
- Question review and edit strategy: when to bookmark and which answers are worth changing
- Score report interpretation, including section scores and performance insights
- GMAT-versus-GRE and Executive Assessment discussion where relevant
Not included
- Taking the GMAT, including the online delivery, for anyone else
- Promising a total score, percentile or admission result
- Writing MBA essays for you — see our separate application document services for feedback and editing on your own drafts
- Using live or recalled test content
What you receive
- Diagnostic report
- Section scores and question-type accuracy and timing from an official practice exam, with recommended priorities.
- Study plan
- A week-by-week plan balancing the three sections, with official practice exams scheduled as checkpoints.
- Tutoring sessions
- One-to-one teaching and timed drills on the question families where you lose the most points or time.
- Timing and edit strategy
- Your chosen section order, per-section pacing checkpoints and rules for bookmarking and editing answers.
- Error log
- A running record of missed questions by type and cause, reviewed each session.
How it works
Goals and schools
We discuss your target schools, round deadlines and any published GMAT ranges or preferences.
Diagnostic
You take an official practice exam; we review results by section, question type and time spent.
Plan
We agree priorities and a schedule, often starting with the section that offers the quickest gains.
Build skills
Sessions teach approaches for each question family, then practice them under time.
Simulate and refine
Further practice exams test your section order, pacing and edit strategy before the real test.
Question families and techniques
- Data sufficiency logic
- Treating each statement alone and then together, and stopping as soon as sufficiency is clear rather than solving fully.
- Multi-source reasoning triage
- Skimming each tab for what it contains, then returning only to the source a question needs.
- Table and graph reading
- Sorting tables and reading axes, units and scales before calculating.
- Two-part analysis
- Recognizing whether the two answers are linked and solving the more constrained part first.
- Critical reasoning prephrasing
- Identifying the conclusion and gap in an argument, predicting what would fill it and then matching the answer choices.
- Mental math and estimation
- Rounding, benchmark fractions and back-solving so Quant questions do not depend on a calculator.
What is on the GMAT Focus Edition
Each section is computer adaptive at the question level, so difficulty responds to your answers. Unlike older versions, you can bookmark questions, review them at the end of the section and change up to three answers, provided time remains. Section order is your choice, and the break can be taken after the first or second section.
- Quantitative Reasoning: 21 questions, 45 minutes, no calculator
- Verbal Reasoning: 23 questions, 45 minutes, reading comprehension and critical reasoning
- Data Insights: 20 questions, 45 minutes, on-screen calculator available
- Total score 205–805; section scores reported separately; no Analytical Writing Assessment
Using review and edit wisely
Three edits per section sounds generous, but reviewing takes time from the section clock. We teach you to bookmark only questions you genuinely want to revisit, to prioritize ones where you had a specific doubt, and not to change answers based on a vague feeling. Practicing this in full-length exams matters, because the trade-off between speed and review is personal.
If you took the classic GMAT
Older materials focus heavily on Sentence Correction and geometry, which are no longer tested, and old scores sit on a different scale. We help you reuse what still applies, such as critical reasoning and data sufficiency practice, and drop what does not.
What the work can look like
Illustrative example — fictional data
Sample diagnostic note: Data Insights timing
A consultant applying to one-year MBA programs took an official practice exam. The details are invented for illustration.
Finding
Quant and Verbal were broadly balanced, but Data Insights was lower, and the applicant spent over four minutes on each multi-source reasoning set and guessed on the last four questions.
Plan
Tab-skimming practice for multi-source reasoning, data sufficiency drills focused on stopping early, and a pacing checkpoint of ten questions by the 22-minute mark. Section order changed to Data Insights first, while concentration was highest.
Review
In the second practice exam no Data Insights questions were left to guessing, and two answers were successfully edited using the review screen.
Illustrative example with invented details. Real results depend on your preparation, and no score is promised.
What you’ll need to provide
- Target schools, programs and application rounds
- Any previous GMAT (Focus or classic) or GRE scores
- Planned test date and whether you will test online or at a test center
- Weekly study hours available
- Access to official practice materials, or we will advise which to obtain
You don’t need everything ready to ask for a quote — tell us what you have and we’ll say what’s missing.
What affects price and turnaround
Price depends on
- Number of sessions and time until your test date
- Whether you need all three sections or targeted help in one
- Amount of practice exam review between sessions
- Foundational math review needed before test strategy
Turnaround depends on
- Application round deadlines and time for official score reports
- Your starting point and target range
- Study time available around work and travel
Every project is quoted individually. How we price our work.
Questions people ask before starting
Is the classic GMAT still available?
No. Since February 2024 the GMAT Focus Edition has been the only version. Classic scores remain valid for five years from the test date, but they are on a different scale.
Is Data Insights really counted equally?
Yes. GMAC states that the three sections contribute equally to the total score, so a weak Data Insights result affects your total as much as Quant or Verbal.
Should I take the GMAT online or at a test center?
Both deliver the same exam. Online testing needs a suitable room and equipment and has its own rules for scratch work, while test centers supply their own materials. Check GMAC's current rules for your delivery method and practice with the same tools you will use.
Do I need to study geometry?
Not for the GMAT Focus Edition, which removed geometry from Quant. Some Data Insights graphs require reading charts, which is different from geometry.
Can you help with my MBA essays too?
We offer feedback and editing on essays you write, as a separate service. See statement of purpose feedback and related admissions pages.