Data Sufficiency (DS) Strategy!

Data Sufficiency (DS) Strategy:-

Pre-requisite:-
These questions are part of quantitative section of GMAT. You must have a very strong understanding of the Number Properties, Fractions, Decimals, and Percents, Word Problems, Algebra and Geometry concepts because DS questions test you on these concepts. At the same time just knowing these concepts might not be sufficient. Read on...

Things to keep in mind:-

1) Read and make a note of all the important information given in the question stem. For e.g. note whether only an integer is mentioned, or positive integer, negative integer, non negative integer or nothing is mentioned. Your success in getting to the right answer majorly depends upon how well you read the question stem and relate your basic math knowledge to the question in hand.

2) If you understand what is given in the question stem clearly then you will avoid lot of silly mistakes.

3) Don't carry the information provided in one statement to another statement while evaluating either statements individually.

4) If possible try to rephrase the question in simple words. This will help you analyze the statements relatively easily.

5) Start with the easier statement and then tackle the difficult statement.

6) Maintain and review the error log to avoid same mistakes again and again.

7) General prep strategy for Data Sufficiency (DS) questions is that there is no need to solve the equations or do the math. But sometimes, specially in case of quadratic equations and same equations (parallel lines), completing the calculations might be useful. Only where you are confident that there cannot be a trap here then you don't need to do the complete calculations.

8) Reviewing the basic concepts again and again for DS questions is very important. Laying a strong math foundation is very important to evaluate various scenarios. Try to draw tables/scenario chart for evaluating various possibilities.

9) Test numbers systematically. Use a standard set of numbers during your practice sessions so that this becomes a habit. After reading the constraints mentioned in question stem and the 2 statements, you could test for (assuming no constraints) -2,\(\frac{-3}{2}\),-1,\(\frac{-1}{2}\),0,\(\frac{1}{2}\),1,\(\frac{3}{2}\) and 2.

I have tried to jot down the important points after reading books from various prep companies/talking & reading experiences of fellow students. You may add few points of your choice to this strategy after reading few books and talking to your friends or reading articles in this forum. Please add your points by replying to this post if I have missed out on something important. This will help everyone immensely.

Regular Practice and Learning from your mistakes is the key to become more and more successful for data sufficiency questions.

Thank you for your time and wishing you all the very best in your prep. I wish you get your dream score. I hope this brief write up on DS strategy was useful for you.