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For most test takers, Data Insights is the most challenging section on the GMAT, with test takers scoring several points lower on average on DI than on Quant or Verbal and completing the section with less time to spare.
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Cav
Joined: 18 Jul 2022
Last visit: 22 Aug 2025
Posts: 23
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 96
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Operations
Schools: Judge '26 (A$$)
GMAT 1: 640 Q45 V32
GMAT 2: 710 Q47 V40
23 Jan 2024, 10:33
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I took my 1st official GMAT test on March 10, 2023 and scored 640 (V32, Q45). I remember the disappointment and pain I felt to this day. A recap of that experience can be found here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/first-gmat-after-6-months-of-preparation-scored-a-measly-408269.html.
I was so hurt by that experience that I completely gave up on GMAT until I came to know in early December 2023 that the GMAT Classic is being phased out. I thought I should give it one last try. So, I began studying in 2nd week of December 2023 and then finally took the official GMAT classic test last night. I cannot explain how much of a relief it was to see the final score of 710 (V40, Q47). I know it's not a brilliant score but it's a great score for me!
So, what changed? And how was I able to do in about 6 weeks what I couldn't in 6 months last time?
There is no simple answer but I guess the following helped:
a. Quite ironically, taking a relatively long break from the prep - didn't study at all between March and December last year - and stepping away from GMAT did help me in the sense that when I came back to it in December, I didn't feel burnt out and was hungry for it.
b. The prep itself focused more on reviewing my mistakes and understanding exactly why I was making those mistakes rather than studying new material. After revising the fundamentals, which took me about a week, I divided the rest of the time so that I was reviwing my mistakes about 75% of the time and studying new material only 25% of the time. As for the process of reviewing, I relied heavily on the GMAT Club error log. I spent a lot of time understanding what kind of mistakes I was making. For example, on CR questions, I mostly messed up when I couldn't identify the conclusion, or didn't pay attention to what the question was asking (i.e., what kind of question it was: strengthen, weaken, etc.). For SC questions, I found out that I don't really understand the usage of tenses, modifiers, and that I struggled with comparisons and parallelism. Similarly, for quant questions, I narrowed down my prep to focusing on my weak areas: absolute values, inequalities, geometry, and sets.
c. I also didn't take the exam in the test center this time. Instead, I booked an online exam and took it from the comfort of my home and that helped a lot as I remember having some trouble with noise in the official test center last time.
The reason I am sharing my experience is that I want everyone who's going through what I went through to remember that it's beyond nobody's capacity to not improve if you're determined enough and take the right approach to doing it. In my case, that approach was to find out why I make mistakes and what those mistakes are and then focus on them.
ps. Thank you to the GMAT Club team for making such invaluable resources available for free.
I was so hurt by that experience that I completely gave up on GMAT until I came to know in early December 2023 that the GMAT Classic is being phased out. I thought I should give it one last try. So, I began studying in 2nd week of December 2023 and then finally took the official GMAT classic test last night. I cannot explain how much of a relief it was to see the final score of 710 (V40, Q47). I know it's not a brilliant score but it's a great score for me!
So, what changed? And how was I able to do in about 6 weeks what I couldn't in 6 months last time?
There is no simple answer but I guess the following helped:
a. Quite ironically, taking a relatively long break from the prep - didn't study at all between March and December last year - and stepping away from GMAT did help me in the sense that when I came back to it in December, I didn't feel burnt out and was hungry for it.
b. The prep itself focused more on reviewing my mistakes and understanding exactly why I was making those mistakes rather than studying new material. After revising the fundamentals, which took me about a week, I divided the rest of the time so that I was reviwing my mistakes about 75% of the time and studying new material only 25% of the time. As for the process of reviewing, I relied heavily on the GMAT Club error log. I spent a lot of time understanding what kind of mistakes I was making. For example, on CR questions, I mostly messed up when I couldn't identify the conclusion, or didn't pay attention to what the question was asking (i.e., what kind of question it was: strengthen, weaken, etc.). For SC questions, I found out that I don't really understand the usage of tenses, modifiers, and that I struggled with comparisons and parallelism. Similarly, for quant questions, I narrowed down my prep to focusing on my weak areas: absolute values, inequalities, geometry, and sets.
c. I also didn't take the exam in the test center this time. Instead, I booked an online exam and took it from the comfort of my home and that helped a lot as I remember having some trouble with noise in the official test center last time.
The reason I am sharing my experience is that I want everyone who's going through what I went through to remember that it's beyond nobody's capacity to not improve if you're determined enough and take the right approach to doing it. In my case, that approach was to find out why I make mistakes and what those mistakes are and then focus on them.
ps. Thank you to the GMAT Club team for making such invaluable resources available for free.
23 Jan 2024, 12:56
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Bookmarks
Hi Cav,
Congrats on a great score! Thank you for sharing.
Congrats on a great score! Thank you for sharing.
23 Jan 2024, 15:17
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Gratz on the score improvement. All the best going forward. Consider writing a profile-review.
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-contact: gmatknight site | gmatclub dm
