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Jun 0408:30 AM PDT
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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.
May 2910:00 AM IST
-11:00 PM IST
Start your journey with a fully customized action plan and work with a dedicated mentor to achieve a 735+ score.- Jun 03
08:30 AM PDT
-09:30 AM PDT
In Episode 7 of our GMAT Ninja CR series, we are rounding up the oddballs, the misfits, and the format-benders: EXCEPT, Fill-In-The-Blanks, and other unusual Critical Reasoning question types. When you see a question that ends with a literal blank line - Jun 10
06:00 AM PDT
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Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..
-_-anulomufa-_-
Joined: 18 May 2022
Last visit: 21 Mar 2026
Posts: 25
Given Kudos: 116
Location: India
Concentration: Strategy, Technology
Schools: Darden '27 (D) ISB '27 (D) Kenan-Flagler '27 (D) IESE '27 (II) Fuqua '27 (WL) Ross '26 (WA$) HEC (A)
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q90 V83 DI84 
Schools: Darden '27 (D) ISB '27 (D) Kenan-Flagler '27 (D) IESE '27 (II) Fuqua '27 (WL) Ross '26 (WA$) HEC (A)
GMAT Focus 1: 715 Q90 V83 DI84
Posts: 25
Updated on: 29 Jan 2026, 06:33
Originally posted by -_-anulomufa-_- on 25 Jan 2026, 09:18.
Last edited by -_-anulomufa-_- on 29 Jan 2026, 06:33, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by -_-anulomufa-_- on 29 Jan 2026, 06:33, edited 2 times in total.
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Hi everyone!
Its been some time since I took my GMAT, but I still wanted to share my 3-month GMAT journey. It started under a tight deadline with the hope of cracking a 685+ score in my first attempt, began with a 575 on my first proper mock, and ended with a 715.
Firstly, my prep timeline:
- Mid-December: Testing the waters with Official Practice Exams 1 and 2
- Mid-January to Mid-February: Exploring various free/paid resources, testing different study routines, and general prep
- Mid-February to Early-April: Dedicated Quant and Verbal preparation
- Early-April to Mid-April (10-day leave from work): Final set of mocks, error log walkthroughs, and focused DI preparation
- Mid-April: GMAT Focus exam
Looking back, the first month, which felt unstructured back then, proved to be the most vital for the following reasons:
- Mocks 1 and 2 helped me understand my strengths and one major weakness
(a) Cold mock 1 (GMAT Focus Official Practice Exam 1): 455 (Q - 85, V - 60, DI - 72; this is where I realized I can't leave any question unattempted)
(b) Mock 2 (GMAT Focus Official Practice Exam 2): 575 (Q - 85, V - 78, DI - 72; in a way my first real mock since I attempted all the questions here)
- I tried and tested at least six different free/paid resources and combinations to find what worked best for me. This was pivotal because I really wanted to optimize for my efforts while working in consulting and pursuing a part-time STEM Masters alongside.
Prep strategy and resources used:
Verbal:
Honestly the low Verbal score in my second mock was alarming but in a good way. It made my weakness clear and helped me prioritize Verbal. After reasearching across multiple posts and reviews here, I realized that there was nothing better than the OG materials for Verbal. And honestly, there's no plan better than GMAT Ninja's 13 week study plan. I followed the plan diligently - watched the videos he recommended and solved the number/level of questions he suggested in his plan every week. If you are someone who's not a native speaker and struggles with GMAT/GRE Verbal in general, his videos are a must. Hence, as per the 13-week plan, I used the following resources:
- GMAT OG and GMAT OG verbal review
- Official LSAT PrepTests
I skipped the Official Practice Question Bundle in case a retake was required
Quant:
Coming from an engineering background, I knew quant was not going to be tough for me. The exploration phase made me realize that while Quant wasn’t my biggest issue, I still needed structured revision and better problem solving strategies. I didn’t need Verbal-level effort for Quant, but I did need a focused approach. Hence for Quant, I used:
- TargetTestPrep's Flexible Preparation Plan for the first month. I diligently went through the lessons and "must knows" and practised mostly medium+hard or hard level questions. I will definitely vouch for TTP when it comes to quant
- GMAT OG for the second month
I skipped the OG Quant review and Official Practice Question Bundle for a potential retake
DI:
Given my analytics consulting background, I didn't spend too much time here and relied mainly on:
- GMAT OG DI Review
- GMAT Official Practice Question Bundle
Key learnings:
- Stay consistent: I don't think I missed a day of GMAT prep for the last 2.5 months before my official attempt. I would ensure I give an hour to Quant and a couple to Verbal diligently.
- Enjoy the process: After a couple of weeks, I genuinely started enjoying my prep. I believe this mindset helped me stay consistent and get the most out of this journey.
Mocks and Progression:
The mocks in April helped me realise:
- I was making silly mistakes on easy/medium level questions in Quant
- I was content with my ceiling for Verbal i.e. 82-83
- I had to get better at using calculator for DI
Avoiding silly mistakes in Quant, hitting (or atleast being close to) my ceiling in Verbal and practicing enough DI questions before my official attempt would give me my target score of 685+.
Test day on 20th April and my final attempt - 715 (Q - 90, V - 81, DI - 85):
I couldnt sleep well before my test, and it was more of a nervous excitement than anxiety tbh. Despite suboptimal sleep, I was confident that sticking to basics (things I learned from the mocks in my last week of prep) would get me my target score. I followed my tried and tested order of Quant -> DI -> break -> Verbal and surprisingly ended up scoring above my target. Since I wasn't keen on giving another attempt, I was genuinely relieved after getting a satisfactory score.
Final thoughts:
- Know your strengths and weaknesses very well
- Do as much research as possible in the intial month or two to address both your strengths and weaknesses
- Maintain an error log, and it doesnt need to be fancy but it's a must have in any format that works best for you
- Be consistent and enjoy the process
- Trust yourself
Thanks!
Feel free to reply or hmu with any questions, happy to help!
GMAT-Club-Forum-oik9tj7n.png [ 95.37 KiB | Viewed 949 times ]
Its been some time since I took my GMAT, but I still wanted to share my 3-month GMAT journey. It started under a tight deadline with the hope of cracking a 685+ score in my first attempt, began with a 575 on my first proper mock, and ended with a 715.
Firstly, my prep timeline:
- Mid-December: Testing the waters with Official Practice Exams 1 and 2
- Mid-January to Mid-February: Exploring various free/paid resources, testing different study routines, and general prep
- Mid-February to Early-April: Dedicated Quant and Verbal preparation
- Early-April to Mid-April (10-day leave from work): Final set of mocks, error log walkthroughs, and focused DI preparation
- Mid-April: GMAT Focus exam
Looking back, the first month, which felt unstructured back then, proved to be the most vital for the following reasons:
- Mocks 1 and 2 helped me understand my strengths and one major weakness
(a) Cold mock 1 (GMAT Focus Official Practice Exam 1): 455 (Q - 85, V - 60, DI - 72; this is where I realized I can't leave any question unattempted)
(b) Mock 2 (GMAT Focus Official Practice Exam 2): 575 (Q - 85, V - 78, DI - 72; in a way my first real mock since I attempted all the questions here)
- I tried and tested at least six different free/paid resources and combinations to find what worked best for me. This was pivotal because I really wanted to optimize for my efforts while working in consulting and pursuing a part-time STEM Masters alongside.
Prep strategy and resources used:
Verbal:
Honestly the low Verbal score in my second mock was alarming but in a good way. It made my weakness clear and helped me prioritize Verbal. After reasearching across multiple posts and reviews here, I realized that there was nothing better than the OG materials for Verbal. And honestly, there's no plan better than GMAT Ninja's 13 week study plan. I followed the plan diligently - watched the videos he recommended and solved the number/level of questions he suggested in his plan every week. If you are someone who's not a native speaker and struggles with GMAT/GRE Verbal in general, his videos are a must. Hence, as per the 13-week plan, I used the following resources:
- GMAT OG and GMAT OG verbal review
- Official LSAT PrepTests
I skipped the Official Practice Question Bundle in case a retake was required
Quant:
Coming from an engineering background, I knew quant was not going to be tough for me. The exploration phase made me realize that while Quant wasn’t my biggest issue, I still needed structured revision and better problem solving strategies. I didn’t need Verbal-level effort for Quant, but I did need a focused approach. Hence for Quant, I used:
- TargetTestPrep's Flexible Preparation Plan for the first month. I diligently went through the lessons and "must knows" and practised mostly medium+hard or hard level questions. I will definitely vouch for TTP when it comes to quant
- GMAT OG for the second month
I skipped the OG Quant review and Official Practice Question Bundle for a potential retake
DI:
Given my analytics consulting background, I didn't spend too much time here and relied mainly on:
- GMAT OG DI Review
- GMAT Official Practice Question Bundle
Key learnings:
- Stay consistent: I don't think I missed a day of GMAT prep for the last 2.5 months before my official attempt. I would ensure I give an hour to Quant and a couple to Verbal diligently.
- Enjoy the process: After a couple of weeks, I genuinely started enjoying my prep. I believe this mindset helped me stay consistent and get the most out of this journey.
Mocks and Progression:
| Date | Quant | Verbal | DI | Total | |
| Official Practice Exam 1 (cold mock) | 12/02 | 85 | 60 | 72 | 455 |
| Official Practice Exam 2 | 12/18 | 85 | 78 | 72 | 575 |
| Official Practice Exam 1 (retake) | 04/13 | 88 | 83 | 76 | 655 |
| Official Practice Exam 3 | 04/14 | 86 | 83 | 77 | 645 |
| Official Practice Exam 4 | 04/16 | 88 | 82 | 79 | 665 |
The mocks in April helped me realise:
- I was making silly mistakes on easy/medium level questions in Quant
- I was content with my ceiling for Verbal i.e. 82-83
- I had to get better at using calculator for DI
Avoiding silly mistakes in Quant, hitting (or atleast being close to) my ceiling in Verbal and practicing enough DI questions before my official attempt would give me my target score of 685+.
Test day on 20th April and my final attempt - 715 (Q - 90, V - 81, DI - 85):
I couldnt sleep well before my test, and it was more of a nervous excitement than anxiety tbh. Despite suboptimal sleep, I was confident that sticking to basics (things I learned from the mocks in my last week of prep) would get me my target score. I followed my tried and tested order of Quant -> DI -> break -> Verbal and surprisingly ended up scoring above my target. Since I wasn't keen on giving another attempt, I was genuinely relieved after getting a satisfactory score.
Final thoughts:
- Know your strengths and weaknesses very well
- Do as much research as possible in the intial month or two to address both your strengths and weaknesses
- Maintain an error log, and it doesnt need to be fancy but it's a must have in any format that works best for you
- Be consistent and enjoy the process
- Trust yourself
Thanks!
Feel free to reply or hmu with any questions, happy to help!
Attachment:
GMAT-Club-Forum-oik9tj7n.png [ 95.37 KiB | Viewed 949 times ]
28 Jan 2026, 23:01
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Wow! Congratulations!
29 Jan 2026, 08:58
Kudos
Bookmarks
A 715 score paired with a 140-point gain is no small feat. That kind of progress reflects sustained effort, smart adjustments, and a serious commitment to growth. The discipline you brought to your preparation clearly made a difference, and the results speak for themselves.
We’re glad TTP could play a role in supporting your progress, and we’re excited to see how this momentum carries forward as you pursue your next goals.
Best of luck as you move ahead with your applications!
We’re glad TTP could play a role in supporting your progress, and we’re excited to see how this momentum carries forward as you pursue your next goals.
Best of luck as you move ahead with your applications!
