Need advice to increase my score above 645 - Lost in so many resources

Question

Hi, I gave Gmat 2 times.
Gmat 1 - scored 645 (Q85, V80, DI80)
Gmat 2 - scored 625 (Q87, V81, DI75)
I had 30 days gap in between but couldn't improve score. My order has always been DI > Verbal > Quants

I am planning to give another Gmat exam in 25-30 days and I would be glad if someone can share actionable for me to improve drastically.

I have not purchased any official mocks until now and practiced using Mock Test 1 & 2. Also, I am LOST in so many resources/questions for DI. is there a link where I can find only the relevant questions to practice? should I buy DI official questions or are they available on Gmat club?

Please help!

MartyMurray · Answer

Hi  anmol3614.

Nice work on Quant. Now, you just have to increase your scores on the other sections.

Since, to achieve your target score, you need to improve in Verbal and likely need to improve in verbal-based DI, the tips in the following comprehensive post could help you achieve your goal.

How to Prepare for GMAT Verbal

bb · Answer

Hi. You can use the menu at the top that says "Forums" and you will find the relevant sub-forums for the type of DI questions. It is not overwhelming. Resources for DI are very very scant. There is basically a handful of questions, very few strategies, and the best prep options is watching YouTube videos.

Anyway, get the official guide and practice there on mba.com - it is fairly streamlined.

What are you lost in?

anmol3614 · Answer

bb  Thank you for your reply. I am actually lost in 2 things:
1. Since I gave exam twice and prepared as well, there is a bit of frustration. I read through reddit posts and some of them said to do all questions on gmat club, whereas other said do only official ones. Now when I opened DI section, there are too many questions and I was unable to decide how should I pick questions.

2. I thought of purchasing DI questions from mba.com but they also have 2 kinds of items to purchase. I have attached screenshot.
Also, Gmat Club does have all of those questions listed here right? so I feel no point in purchasing, but I couldn’t find those official questions.

3. is there any list that containes all the OG questions (of all 3 sections) ? if yes then please provide me link!

Posted from my mobile device

anmol3614 · Answer

MartyMurray  Thank you for your reply! Actually I am non native english speaker. Its not my first language so I don’t feel very confident. I prepared for Verbal in 30 days gap in between of test 1 and 2 but I still scored same. In all my tests, I always used to get somewhere around mean score. 
Do you still suggest me to work on verbal? What specific can I do in 25 days?

I almost gave up in verbal as I am not improving and native speakers have upper hand in it. Thats why I thought of working on DI - I don’t feel it’s too much focused on verbal.

bb  would love your insights as well here as you were also a non native speaker.

Posted from my mobile device

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi anmol3614,

I recommend starting with the books (main guide, then DI review), and then moving on to the Official Practice Questions products (if necessary).

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

HI anmol3614,

Since DI is an issue for you, here is some advice, you can follow to improve your DI skills.

When students struggle with DI questions, the first thing I always ask is whether they have fully completed their quant and verbal prep. Not doing so can really affect how well you handle DI questions, as many of those questions involve quantitative and verbal concepts. So, would you say you are in that boat?

In addition, one way to improve each individual DI question type is to engage in topical practice. Doing so lets you pinpoint your weak areas in JUST ONE question type. For example, when practicing TPA questions, perhaps you see a pattern that you struggle with 3-part ratios or weighted averages. If you can find those micro weaknesses, you can fix them in real-time and thus improve your accuracy in DI questions..

Lastly, when working on DI questions, for the time being, make sure to practice them untimed so you can focus on JUST accuracy. As you become more familiar with these question types and get more accurate, better timing will follow.

For more advice, check out this article:  How to Prepare for GMAT Data Insights

Feel free to reach out with any additional questions.

MartyMurray · Answer

I think you can improve in Verbal despite your being a nonnative speaker of English. I've seen nonnative speakers without great English skills score quite high on Verbal because they figured how to get to correct answers by doing their best to understand the meaning of what they read and executing well.

You could read the post I shared above to get some ideas for preparing for Verbal more effectively, which will also help with preparing for Verbal DI and even math-related Data Sufficiency. Then, see whether you get better results by preparing as discussed in that post.

I think you will.

playthegame · Answer

You can get DI question pack online for about $30 USD.

I would also strongly encourage you to at least buy practice exam 3 and 4. It is a good investment and practice week before the exam. It gives you the tempo you need before the race.

You need be consistent with DI, when you start getting 80 on DI you will make your target. What is your target score? 1 point improvement in any section is about 6 point improvement in cumulative score.

You also have room to improve verbal. DI 80 is a very good score, your quant is good as well.

Good luck.

anmol3614 · Answer

got it. is it worth to buy the book or those questions are available on gmat club? I was doing DI questions with tag of OG 2024-2025 and Data Insights Review. They do cover all the official questions right?
My target is 675-685

Posted from my mobile device

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