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HoosierTD
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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? Updated on: 05 May 2026, 13:00
Originally posted by HoosierTD on 03 May 2026, 17:13.
Last edited by HoosierTD on 05 May 2026, 13:00, edited 1 time in total.
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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? 03 May 2026, 17:26
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Two to three weeks is probably a good amount of time for tightening up some weaker areas, increasing speed, and taking some more practice tests.

During that two weeks, you could continue to practice both timed and untimed and make it your game to answer questions as efficiently as possible. You can get ideas for being more efficient and answering questions faster from YouTube videos.

Also, while the main thing you need to work on appears to be pacing, increasing accuracy could help with pacing as well since many of the same skills that support accuracy support speed. Also, you mentioned improving execution under pressure. So, doing streaks method practice could help you both get more questions correct and move faster.

How to Ace the GMAT Using the Streaks Method
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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? 03 May 2026, 18:11
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HoosierTD
What I’m trying to understand:

1. Does this look more like an execution issue on test day vs. capability?
2. At this point, is it better to:

* Take the test while I’m “in form”, or
* Spend more time trying to refine weaker areas?
3. Any specific strategies for:

* avoiding getting stuck on 1–2 quant questions
* actually executing the “let it go and move on” approach during the real exam
4. How can I improve Data Insights timing?

* Are there specific pacing strategies or question-selection approaches that help avoid running out of time?
5. Any feedback on my **section order (V → Q → DI)?

Would really appreciate any input — especially from people who were scoring at/above target on mocks but had a gap on official exams.

Thanks in advance! Anything would be much appreciated
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Hi HoosierTD,

1. This is not an execution issue. You're getting great scores (645-655) on the actual GMAT, and these scores are basically the same as your target score and your recent practice test scores (675). I know it feels like you're not doing as well as on your practice tests, but there really is very little difference between a 645/655 and a 675.

2. It's absolutely possible that you'll get your target score if you retake immediately (after the minimum gap). In fact, if you had even one good (quant) day across those three Feb-Apr attempts, you'd already be at a 675+. However, if you want to improve your chances, try to get to a 695+ on the official practice tests.

3. You're capable of getting a Q90, and your verbal is very strong as well. DI is probably what you should focus on, unless you want to dig in and try to get (or get close to) perfect quant and/or verbal scores.

4. The 3 V85s streak looks really good, but just in case DI is too heavy as the final section, maybe you could try V → DI → Q. I'm not sure if you have any practice tests left, but it's usually better to take at least a couple of practice tests before committing to a different section order.
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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? 03 May 2026, 19:27
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Thank you for the in depth reply! What would your suggestion be to improve DI (resources / tips / videos)? I plan on taking the week of May 18 and have 4 mocks left. how many should i do until then? Any other final tips to get over the hump, or is it moreso mindset?
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Hi HoosierTD,

1. This is not an execution issue. You're getting great scores (645-655) on the actual GMAT, and these scores are basically the same as your target score and your recent practice test scores (675). I know it feels like you're not doing as well as on your practice tests, but there really is very little difference between a 645/655 and a 675.

2. It's absolutely possible that you'll get your target score if you retake immediately (after the minimum gap). In fact, if you had even one good (quant) day across those three Feb-Apr attempts, you'd already be at a 675+. However, if you want to improve your chances, try to get to a 695+ on the official practice tests.

3. You're capable of getting a Q90, and your verbal is very strong as well. DI is probably what you should focus on, unless you want to dig in and try to get (or get close to) perfect quant and/or verbal scores.

4. The 3 V85s streak looks really good, but just in case DI is too heavy as the final section, maybe you could try V → DI → Q. I'm not sure if you have any practice tests left, but it's usually better to take at least a couple of practice tests before committing to a different section order.
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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? 03 May 2026, 19:29
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The below was my last quant (6 min Q1) and DI (ran out of time badly). Any further analysis you have?
HoosierTD
Thank you for the in depth reply! What would your suggestion be to improve DI (resources / tips / videos)? I plan on taking the week of May 18 and have 4 mocks left. how many should i do until then? Any other final tips to get over the hump, or is it moreso mindset?

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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? 04 May 2026, 06:46
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Hi HoosierTD,

Let's work through your questions.

1. Execution vs. capability
This is an execution issue. Three official attempts at 645–655 while mocking at 675 is a textbook performance-under-pressure pattern. The content is there. What's breaking down is decision-making and composure, specifically in Quant timing and DI pacing.

2. Test soon or wait?
I suggest that you wait. You have two months free, only two attempts left, and no application deadline until 2027. A mid-May attempt would be taking the same test with the same habits that have produced 645 three times.
Spend 4–5 weeks on targeted execution training, then a mock. If that mock shows real DI pacing improvement and a stronger "letting go" habit in Quant, schedule for mid-to-late June. If not, keep training. You have the time.

3. Getting unstuck on hard Quant questions
You know you should let go, you just haven't rehearsed the decision enough for it to be automatic under pressure. That's fixable.
Do timed sets of 10–12 mixed Quant questions (half medium, half hard). On each question, spend about 30 seconds making a solid initial attempt. If it feels especially difficult or you're not making clear progress, make an educated guess and move on. If after that initial read the question feels manageable and you have a clear path forward, commit to solving it. This is the "lose a battle to win the war" approach. The goal is training the reflex so it fires automatically on test day.

4. DI timing
Not all DI questions take the same time. Graphics Interpretation can often be handled in about a minute. Multi-Source Reasoning and Two-Part Analysis regularly take 2:15–3:00. If you're spending equal time on every question, you'll run out. Practice triaging. Move quickly through GI and straightforward Table Analysis to bank time for MSR and TPA.

The compounding pressure toward the end usually means you're overinvesting early. Flip that in practice: move briskly through the first half, accept the occasional close-call error, and protect time for the back half.

Critical rule: never leave a DI question blank. The scoring model penalizes an unanswered question more heavily than a wrong answer.

5. Section order (V → Q → DI)
V → Q → DI is solid and well-reasoned. But your weakest section is getting your most fatigued brain after 90+ minutes. It may be worth one mock with V → DI → Q. This order has Verbal first (your preference), DI while still relatively fresh, then Quant where your conceptual strength can carry you through fatigue. If it doesn't help, stick with your current order. Section order is personal, and the only way to know is to test it.

I hope that helps.

HoosierTD
Hi everyone — would really appreciate some advice on timing my next GMAT Focus attempt and how to approach the gap between my mock performance and official exams.

---

Background

* Studying since August
* Completed entire TTP and most Official Guide questions
* Also used LSAT materials for Verbal
* Additional resources: GMAT Club, GMAT Ninja videos, Aditya Kumar videos
* At this point, I don’t have many official quant questions left
* Not applying until 2027, so I have time — but I’d prefer not to drag this out unnecessarily
* I have 2 attempts remaining and want to use them optimally
I have a lot of free time in these next 2 months (no job)

---

**Official Exam History:**

* **Feb 25:** 645 (Q81 / V85 / DI80)
* **March 23:** 655 (Q82 / V85 / DI81)
* **April 27:** 645 (Q81 / V85 / DI79)

I’m attaching snips from my most recent exam review showing what I got wrong.

**Observations:**

* Verbal has been consistently strong
* Quant feels strong conceptually, but I’ve had timing issues on certain questions

* I can solve many questions quickly and efficiently, but then get slowed down significantly on a few tougher ones
* One of the biggest things I worked on recently was letting go of hard questions instead of spiraling

* I thought I improved on this in practice, but it did not translate well on my last attempt
* **Data Insights is a consistent pain point**:

* I frequently run out of time
* Timing pressure seems to compound toward the end of the section
* Performance varies depending on pacing early in the section

---

**Recent Mock Performance (Focus):**

* Mock 1: 675 (Q90 / V82 / DI80)

* Mock 2: 675 (Q82 / V85 / DI83)

* Mock 3: 675 (Q84 / V87 / DI80)

* These are my three most recent mocks

* Two were taken before my April 27 official attempt

* All taken under timed conditions, trying to simulate test day closely

---

**Test Approach:**

* Section order: **Verbal → Quant → DI**
* I prefer doing Verbal first since it requires the most energy/focus for me

---

Current Situation / Questions:

I’m trying to figure out:

* How long I should wait before my next attempt?
* Whether I should take it relatively soon (e.g., mid-May) or wait longer (3–4+ weeks)

On one hand:

* I’ve hit 675 consistently on mocks, so I feel like I should be able to perform at that level
* Waiting too long feels like it could be dragging it out unnecessarily

On the other hand:

* I wonder if more time would help me:

* better manage quant timing on harder questions
* improve execution under pressure, especially in DI

---

What I’m trying to understand:

1. Does this look more like an execution issue on test day vs. capability?
2. At this point, is it better to:

* Take the test while I’m “in form”, or
* Spend more time trying to refine weaker areas?
3. Any specific strategies for:

* avoiding getting stuck on 1–2 quant questions
* actually executing the “let it go and move on” approach during the real exam
4. How can I improve Data Insights timing?

* Are there specific pacing strategies or question-selection approaches that help avoid running out of time?
5. Any feedback on my **section order (V → Q → DI)?

Would really appreciate any input — especially from people who were scoring at/above target on mocks but had a gap on official exams.

Thanks in advance! Anything would be much appreciated
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645/655/645 with target of 675. How long before 4th attempt? 04 May 2026, 18:44
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HoosierTD
The below was my last quant (6 min Q1) and DI (ran out of time badly). Any further analysis you have?
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Your ESR (including the verbal component from your other thread) shows a lot of strengths, but your approach to timing may be risky.

1. Q: 1 mistake in the first 14, 4 mistakes in the last 7, 2 6+ min qs (both incorrect)

2. DI: 1 mistake in the first 12, 7 mistakes in the last 8, last 4 questions done under time pressure (all wrong), 1 6+ min q

3. V: No mistakes in the first 9, 1 mistake in the last 10, slow start, fast finish (without sacrificing accuracy), no questions beyond 4 min

If you stretch to 3, maybe 4 min on a few questions in Q, that's usually fine. However, you also have a couple of 6+ min questions, which put a lot of pressure on your timing (you used a quarter of your total time on only 2 questions, both of which were incorrect). You're strong at quant, so the problem is masked by your 1-1.5 min range on the rest of the questions.

In DI, you started slowly (and with great accuracy), but that hurt you in the final questions. You were faster on some questions, but not by as much (1.5-2 min) and, more importantly, on far fewer questions than quant. Basically, you couldn't pull things back in DI the way you could in quant.

In verbal you started slowly, but were quite fast at the end (0.5-1.5 min). You did spend 3.5 and 4 min on a couple of questions, but that could simply be RC passage reading time.

HoosierTD
Thank you for the in depth reply! What would your suggestion be to improve DI (resources / tips / videos)? I plan on taking the week of May 18 and have 4 mocks left. how many should i do until then? Any other final tips to get over the hump, or is it moreso mindset?
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The main issue I see here is timing. Firstly, are you being too careful in the first few questions (all 3 sections)? Secondly, did you go 5/6+ min on quant in the other attempts as well?

If the answer is yes, that's a slightly high-risk approach. I recommend that you put a hard stop in place and use review and edit for such questions. Even in verbal, we don't want to take too much time at the beginning (unless we get multiple RCs right at the start).

As for DI resources/tips, your ESR doesn't really point to conceptual issues, because you have great accuracy when you give yourself extra time. I can't be sure about this, as it's possible that you're spending too much time thinking through calls that could be made faster.

If you go ahead with your May ~18 attempt, (a) set a hard stop so that you don't overcommit on individual questions and (b) implement a time management strategy if you're not already doing that. Try not to use all 4 of your remaining practice tests.

Finally, do you want to increase your score target? Retaking with the aim of going from 655 to 675 is fine, but I think you could push 705+ if you have the time/energy to stick with your prep.
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