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ElenaFerrante
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Data Insights Time Management - HOW?! 19 Dec 2024, 13:02
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Dear GMAT Club folks, I am really curious as to how we are managing time on the Data Insights section. Like HOW?! Seriously, HOW?!! I have not been able to complete the section in either official or non-official mocks. I gather skipping questions without taking a stab at them is not ideal as you run the risk of skipping easy questions and hurting your score disproportionately. But it's hard to bail on a question if you have already invested upwards of 2 minutes on it, not least because several DI questions, especially MSR questions, are time consuming. Am I the only one struggling with managing time in the DI section? I noticed there has already been some discussion on this, but I thought it best to create a separate thread for my query. Thank you in advance!
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Data Insights Time Management - HOW?! 19 Dec 2024, 21:18
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As per gmatwhiz u dont need to answer 20questions u need to answer 15-16qns right to score 90percentile in DI
so u can skip few questions
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AjiteshArun
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Data Insights Time Management - HOW?! 19 Dec 2024, 23:43
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ElenaFerrante
Dear GMAT Club folks, I am really curious as to how we are managing time on the Data Insights section. Like HOW?! Seriously, HOW?!! I have not been able to complete the section in either official or non-official mocks. I gather skipping questions without taking a stab at them is not ideal as you run the risk of skipping easy questions and hurting your score disproportionately. But it's hard to bail on a question if you have already invested upwards of 2 minutes on it, not least because several DI questions, especially MSR questions, are time consuming. Am I the only one struggling with managing time in the DI section? I noticed there has already been some discussion on this, but I thought it best to create a separate thread for my query. Thank you in advance!
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I don't have an answer for you, but you're definitely not the only one facing time management issues in DI.
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Data Insights Time Management - HOW?! 20 Dec 2024, 02:45
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1. Prioritise where you can save time - which will usually be DS and Table analysis. DS and Table analysis and two part usually will grill you on your foundational CR and Quant skills in some way - so if you are spending time on them -go back to the basics.

2. Practice first untimed - you need to understand a few basic approaches TTP helps and E-gmat YT channels too.

3. Then susbtitute with more practice by Expert global mocks or old IR questions for speed.

4. Most of the folks are struggling in this so I guess get the initial 5 questions right first - usually MSR (the most time consuming ones come after 5th) and try to get atleast 16-17 right.
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Data Insights Time Management - HOW?! 20 Dec 2024, 12:38
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Hi ElenaFerrante,

Struggling to complete the GMAT Data Insights section within the time limit is a common challenge. One thing I have noticed is that when a student struggles with DI timing, they have not quite completed their quant and verbal prep. Not doing so can really hurt how quickly you can attack DI questions because many of those questions are made up of quant and verbal concepts. 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 speed and timing in DI questions.

Lastly, prioritize quick decision-making; if a question seems too time-consuming, it’s better to make an educated guess and move on rather than get stuck. Developing this type of decision-making mindset will help you better navigate the section.

For more on DI timing, check out this article:

Data Insights Timing Strategy
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Data Insights Time Management - HOW?! 22 Dec 2024, 00:18
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ElenaFerrante
Dear GMAT Club folks, I am really curious as to how we are managing time on the Data Insights section. Like HOW?! Seriously, HOW?!! I have not been able to complete the section in either official or non-official mocks. I gather skipping questions without taking a stab at them is not ideal as you run the risk of skipping easy questions and hurting your score disproportionately. But it's hard to bail on a question if you have already invested upwards of 2 minutes on it, not least because several DI questions, especially MSR questions, are time consuming. Am I the only one struggling with managing time in the DI section? I noticed there has already been some discussion on this, but I thought it best to create a separate thread for my query. Thank you in advance!
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Here is a video on how to improve in DI and how to manage time on various DI questions: https://youtu.be/iyr1AuAII_c?feature=shared

This video has a theoretical discussion.

I have illustrated the points made in the video with some examples here:

MSR - What data to focus on: https://youtu.be/xL631VXGjSg

Avoiding unnecessary calculations:
https://youtu.be/Ycf4nxv7Cms
https://youtu.be/Ucf5Q-IJbQ8
https://youtu.be/OyN_szEDEPw
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