What Problem Solving tests
Every question in GMAT Focus Quantitative Reasoning uses the Problem Solving format: a short prompt and five answer choices. The questions test arithmetic (fractions, percents, ratios, number properties, statistics, counting, and probability) and algebra (equations, inequalities, exponents, functions, and sequences), often inside word problems about rates, work, mixtures, or money. GMAT Focus dropped geometry, and the section gives you no calculator, so it rewards clean setups and quick mental arithmetic.
How the GMAT Focus scores it
The section adapts as you go: a correct answer tends to bring a harder question, and a miss an easier one. Your 21 answers produce a Quant score from 60 to 90, which GMAC weights equally with Verbal and Data Insights. GMAC also lowers your score for each question you leave unanswered, so pace yourself to reach the last one.
Timing rule of thumb
At 21 questions in 45 minutes you average just over 2 minutes each, about 2:09. Set a hard stop near 3 minutes: pick the most plausible choice, bookmark the question, and move on. Question Review & Edit lets you change up to three answers per section if time remains.
The two most common traps
1.Answering the wrong quantity
The question asks for 2x + 1, a total, or a difference, and one choice is the x you just found. Reread the prompt’s last sentence before you commit.
2.Trusting a tidy number
Wrong choices match predictable slips: a sign error, a percent of the wrong base, minutes mixed with hours. Check the base and the units of your last step.