Has the math focus shifted?

[ShyT]

I know this is a very general question but I'm hoping someone can shine some light on this issue. I like to think that I am a very good math student and my mba.com gmat prep tests were regularly shooting out 48-50 Quantitative scores. I have just took the Gmat this past weekend (2nd time) and for the second time my quant score came back as 44. I could definitely tell the first time aroundthat the math was simply harder then what I had originally seen on the prep software but it wasn't until the second time I took the test that I realized that there seems to be a trend of extremely difficult 1. number properties 2. exponents/inequality hybrid 3. probability problems.
While it is obvious that these subjects are fairly important, the point I am trying to make is that they seem to be even more difficult/common then what is offered in the prep softwares.
While doing a little research I have read on one of your sites that the 13th OG shows a shift in focus. Is this true? I am weighing my options of whether to take it a final time to break the 700 mark, and if my math jumps up a few points then I will definitely be there. Thanks.
680
45/38

[tim]

The only thing I've read from MGMAT about the focus of the 13th edition says that there aren't enough differences for us to conclude that the focus has shifted. If you've seen something that contradicts this, please post a link here so I can look into it.

I think it's safe to say that the GMAT is always subtly shifting its problem emphasis, but I'm afraid I can't point you to any legal source that contains the kind of insight you're looking for. Your best bet, especially considering you've taken the test a couple of times and probably have a sense of the kind of changes you're describing, is to take the OG problems you have access to and find ways to modify them to make more challenging versions of the problems. Ask yourself what the GMAT could do to make these problems harder, and you'll better prepare yourself for the kinds of changes it sounds like they're making these days.

Keep in mind, what you describe may not in fact be a change at all, but rather a manifestation of the fact that you're naturally getting more difficult problems than what you'll see in the OG because of your skill level.