has the GMAC upped the ante ?

Yes and no. The changes in GMAT have been afoot for a while. The test will not only continue to get harder but also will yield a lower percentile score for the same total score. To make sure you are on a level playing field in terms of GMAT test prep, make effective use of this forum and the materials GMAC puts out. That part of the strategy does not change and in fact becomes even more critical now.

What does change is the effort/reward ratio. No longer can you afford to do a perfunctory review of topics that don't interest you. You MUST master all - you never know which topic and what type of question will show up. I tell my students to expect the unexpected - cliched but true.

Did that help?

I completely agree.

kevincanspain wrote:Every year people claim that the exam is getting harder. I take the exam every year and each year I see over 100 of my students take the exam. I see no change in the difficulty level since 2005. Nor can it change, for a 700 from 2006 must mean the same as a 700 from this year. The percentiles do change a bit, though

Indeed, the exam can't change much from year to year. since the scores are valid for 5 years, the test from 5 years ago has to be pretty close to today's test. There is rumor that 99th percentile is now a 770. If confirmed, this will go along with the idea that the good percentile scores are getting tougher to achieve