<![CDATA[Critical thinking is a 21st-century skill and part of the graduate profile that Indonesian students must master. Urgency: However, Indonesian students' mathematical critical thinking requires careful consideration, especially when addressing problems. Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe students' profiles of mathematical critical thinking by analyzing their thinking patterns based on their performance on a critical-thinking test. Method: Using a descriptive qualitative design, the study involved 30 ninth-grade students at SMP Negeri 31 Medan. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling. Purposive sampling aims to select the most relevant and informative students to interview, thereby gaining an in-depth understanding of their mindsets regarding mathematical critical thinking skills. Data were collected through a mathematical critical thinking test (five questions on cubes and rectangular prisms), interviews, and documentation of written responses. Analysis focused on five indicators: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation. Novelty: This study demonstrates that students' mathematical critical thinking skill profiles cannot be explained solely by ability level categories (high, medium, low), but rather by their thinking patterns. Conclusions: Three thinking patterns were observed in their performance on the mathematical critical thinking test: a mechanistic procedural pattern, indicating a reliance on rote memorization; an unstructured trial-and-error pattern, indicating a shift in thinking; and a reflective conceptual pattern, indicating maturity in critical thinking. Contributions: The main contribution of this study is to offer a new perspective on students' critical-thinking profiles by identifying thinking patterns, thereby providing a stronger foundation for mathematics instruction that focuses on strengthening the thinking process rather than merely achieving results.]]>
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