DI Section Collapse on Test Day!

Question

Hi all, 
 
I just took the GMAT Focus. My mock scores were consistent:

M2: Q82 V83 DI80 → 625  
  M3: Q85 V77 DI84 → 635  
  M4: Q85 V83 DI80 → 655  
  M5: Q83 V78 D83 → 635  
  M6: Q82 V80 DI85 → 645
   
  Official GMAT:  Q83 | V84 | D73 → 615. 
 
In mocks I was  86–93% in DI , but in the real test it crashed to 45%. Quant & Verbal stayed strong.

Has anyone faced a similar DI collapse on test day? Any tips/resources to stabilize DI performance under pressure? My Target score is 645+.

Thanks!

Gladiator59 · Answer

Try changing section order. Take DI first

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

Replaying what happened during the exam when you get your score report may provide some helpful insight. Perhaps, for examplel, there were some DI questions you thought you got correct but, looking back, may have made a careless error on. Consider including/sharing your score report when it becomes available. If you usually did some prep before taking a full mock, try replicating that a little on your next attempt. Perhaps do an MSR, TPA, and 2 DS questions.

5 DI tips

hr1212 · Answer

Being fresh during the DI section can definitely give you an edge, so ordering it right might help you perform better. That said, treat this as a one-off adjustment if you’re confident in your skills, it shouldn't make a major difference.

In your practice sessions, focus a bit more on time management. Try to be efficient by making quicker decisions and ensuring you get the easier questions in your strong areas right. You're quite close to your target score, and with a bit of focused work, you could reach it within a couple of weeks.

Once you get your report, take time to analyze what held you back. Was it something you've seen in mocks before? Or did the question types or wording throw you off?

Before your next attempt, do a few timed DI quizzes to simulate test pressure. Lately, I’ve seen a good number of DI questions that are non-math based, which feels different from official mocks. If that’s where you're losing time or accuracy, practicing those styles might help even if good quality sources for them are limited.

Also, this article has some helpful tips you might find useful:  How to Improve Your Data Insights Score from D75 to D82

Uthra22 · Answer

Hi  hr1212 , thanks for your reply! To my surprise, my result turned out very differently from my mock test performances. In my mocks, I would usually get only one or even no DS questions wrong, but in the actual exam I ended up getting three wrong. I think the main issue was timing—I spent around 3.5 minutes on a few questions, which threw me off. As a result, I had to rush through the last five questions, and that likely hurt my accuracy.
I’ve attached a screenshot of the detailed results for your reference.

yc168 · Answer

Hi Uthra22,

Do you mind also sharing the Time Management & Performance report of your DI section in "Table View"? That is, the list of all your DI questions with information on response time, question types, math/non-math, etc.

Thanks in advance.

hr1212 · Answer

From the percentiles it seems that you got few easy questions wrong in DS and MSR. With a calm mindset and performance similar to your mocks, you likely would have scored much higher. Your overall time management seems decent to me, you just need to work a bit on accuracy and that too I believe you might be relatively good but just got carried away in the test. Also, those four back-to-back incorrect responses significantly dragged your score down. So going forward, try to make quick guesses when a question feels too time-consuming, this can help you recover on the next one and avoid a snowball effect of rushed mistakes.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

So unfortunatly, these things can happen even when Quant and Verbal remain strong. What often helps is practicing with tighter time limits, drilling official DI sets in one sitting to mimic fatigue, and learning to quickly recognize how to attack certain DI questions.

In essence, you really want to work on having a calm, repeatable approach when pressure hits. Did you feel it was nerves, pacing, or tougher sets that caused the drop?

Uthra22 · Answer

Hi  yc168 ,

Here is the table view of the DI section -

Q#  
  Time (min)  
  Performance  
  Content Domain  
  Question Type  
 
   1  
  1.3  
  Incorrect  
  Math Related  
  Data Sufficiency  
 
   2  
  1.1  
  Correct  
  Math Related  
  Data Sufficiency  
 
   3  
  3.5  
  Correct  
  Math Related  
  Graph and Table  
 
   4  
  2.7  
  Incorrect  
  Non-Math Related  
  Two-part Analysis  
 
   5  
  3.0  
  Correct  
  Non-Math Related  
  Two-part Analysis  
 
   6  
  3.1  
  Correct  
  Non-Math Related  
  Two-part Analysis  
 
   7  
  1.2  
  Correct  
  Math Related  
  Data Sufficiency  
 
   8  
  1.7  
  Incorrect  
  Math Related  
  Data Sufficiency  
 
   9  
  1.3  
  Correct  
  Non-Math Related  
  Two-part Analysis  
 
   10  
  3.6  
  Incorrect  
  Non-Math Related  
  Multi-source Reasoning  
 
   11  
  1.5  
  Incorrect  
  Non-Math Related  
  Multi-source Reasoning  
 
   12  
  0.8  
  Correct  
  Non-Math Related  
  Multi-source Reasoning  
 
   13  
  2.1  
  Incorrect  
  Non-Math Related  
  Graph and Table  
 
   14  
  3.5  
  Correct  
  Math Related  
  Data Sufficiency  
 
   15  
  2.8  
  Correct  
  Non-Math Related  
  Graph and Table  
 
   16  
  1.3  
  Incorrect  
  Non-Math Related  
  Data Sufficiency  
 
   17  
  2.0  
  Incorrect  
  Math Related  
  Graph and Table  
 
   18  
  2.7  
  Incorrect  
  Math Related  
  Two-part Analysis  
 
   19  
  3.5  
  Incorrect  
  Math Related  
  Two-part Analysis  
 
   20  
  2.5  
  Correct  
  Math Related  
  Graph and Table

Thanks for your help!

Uthra22 · Answer

Hi,

I found the DS section a little tougher than in the usual mocks, but everything else felt similar. 
 In mocks, I usually have 4–5 minutes left for review at the end, but in the actual exam I had to rush through the last few questions, which may have caused my accuracy to dip quite a bit at the end.

yc168 · Answer

Hi Uthra22,

Thanks for sharing the table. Based on your DI scores in mock tests and your latest comment that you usually have a few minutes left at the end of DI, I'm more inclined to think that your timing was probably a bit off on the real exam date, due to either nerves or fatigue.

In addition to hr1212's great post about how to improve on DI, here is another post on general time management strategy, with a dedicated section on DI:
 Time Management Strategies on GMAT Focus

There are two practice approach to sharpen your timing strategy in DI:
1. Use OG online question bank to create mixed set of DI questions and do timed practice
2. Use DI sectional mocks. In GMAT Club Test, you can have access to 10+ DI sectional mocks.

In case you find still some lingering weakness in terms of either DI question type and/or underlying quant/verbal content topics, you can also use GMAT Club Question Bank to filter for relevant practice questions. Alternatively, if you have exhausted the Main OG and OG DI Review Guide, there is another DI practice question pack with 100+ questions on mba.com that you can purchase.

If you can maintain your DI score level in mocks, your target total score will not be far away. Rooting for you.

GmatKnightTutor · Answer

For questions in which info is spread across multiple tabs, consider creating a quick info map before diving into the questions. For Data Sufficiency, if you're looking for a bit of structure when tackling them, consider checking out the ADBCE method.

Xanthus34 · Answer

You’re right, the last 5 questions, of which you got 4 incorrect, would have a drastic effect on your score. Maybe start with the DI section?

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DI Section Collapse on Test Day!

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Q#	Time (min)	Performance	Content Domain	Question Type
1	1.3	Incorrect	Math Related	Data Sufficiency
2	1.1	Correct	Math Related	Data Sufficiency
3	3.5	Correct	Math Related	Graph and Table
4	2.7	Incorrect	Non-Math Related	Two-part Analysis
5	3.0	Correct	Non-Math Related	Two-part Analysis
6	3.1	Correct	Non-Math Related	Two-part Analysis
7	1.2	Correct	Math Related	Data Sufficiency
8	1.7	Incorrect	Math Related	Data Sufficiency
9	1.3	Correct	Non-Math Related	Two-part Analysis
10	3.6	Incorrect	Non-Math Related	Multi-source Reasoning
11	1.5	Incorrect	Non-Math Related	Multi-source Reasoning
12	0.8	Correct	Non-Math Related	Multi-source Reasoning
13	2.1	Incorrect	Non-Math Related	Graph and Table
14	3.5	Correct	Math Related	Data Sufficiency
15	2.8	Correct	Non-Math Related	Graph and Table
16	1.3	Incorrect	Non-Math Related	Data Sufficiency
17	2.0	Incorrect	Math Related	Graph and Table
18	2.7	Incorrect	Math Related	Two-part Analysis
19	3.5	Incorrect	Math Related	Two-part Analysis
20	2.5	Correct	Math Related	Graph and Table