Any good resource for DS..

Question

Hello! I am in the process of starting to re-prepare after a pretty bad first attempt.

While both quant and verbal need significant improvement, in quant, my DS is especially in need of a drastic improvement. Can someone let me know if there is any material that just focuses on DS...also, any good compilation of DS questions would be a great help.

stevkang8 · Answer

If you want to focus on DS, I would recommend you to go through the Manhattan prep for the DS, I generally find that Manhattan is the best to get you started.

When you are done, do those DS ones from the official GMATprep, they got around 130 questions on DS, and they are the retired questions so they will help you get a better understanding of what real questions would be like.

I am not sure what you are aiming for, but if you want something over 700, also try Kaplan's GMAT800. That book has got all the hard questions, so it will be a good practice.

That's how I prepared for mine, and it worked out okay, so I think it is worth a try.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gmatgrl,

DS is not an 'isolated' category on the GMAT, which means that it 'intertwines' with the same subjects, tactics, patterns, etc. that you'll see in many PS questions. As such, you might want to start with basic PS work, drills, tactics, etc. before you jump back into DS.

Many Test Takers take the GMAT more than once, so there's no shame in that. Oftentimes, there's no way to know how much work is really required for the first attempt at the GMAT - now you have a better idea though, so you can prepare more effectively. If you can tell me a bit about your prior studies, then I'll be happy to advise:

1) What did you score on the prior GMAT (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?
2) How long did you study?
3) What resources did you use?
4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

gmatgrl · Answer

Thanks Rich. I scored in the lower 20s in verbal and lower 40s in Quant. Concept-wise, I feel I am ok in Quant and am able to "generally" solve PS question, though there is obviously always a scope for improvement. My accuracy level in DS is significantly lower and hence, I feel that DS needs a special focus.

I studied for around 2 months, and mainly used OG-13. However, the issue that I found was (especially true for verbal) that since the questions in OG are "from all topics", I didn't have either a "topic wise" conceptual foundation, or a topic-wise assignments/practice questions.

I am targeting a 700+, but have not decided on business school, since that would depend upon the final score that I end up with.

GMATinsight · Answer

Hi gmatgrl, Online available collection of DS questions can be accesses at the below mentioned link ds-question-directory-by-topic-difficulty-128728.html However I believe that it's not just the exposure that improves the accuracy in DS but it's the technique to deal with the various forms of DS questions that improves your efficiency and accuracy to deal with DS questions. You can write to me to know more about techniques of DS questions if you prefer. Prosper!!!

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi gmatgrl,

It sounds like you were trying to self-teach using the questions in the OG (and trying to figure out your own way to deal with DS). If you're looking for a more tactical approach, we have a series of free resources on our site that will help.

With the Scaled Scores that you described, you have to put some serious work into developing your Verbal skills. Even with a Q49+, a Verbal Score in the 20s is far too low to get you into 700+ range. As such, you might want to invest in a GMAT Course of some kind (either Guided Self-Study or Instructor-Led), so that you can focus on practicing Tactics and absorbing all the patterns and secrets that you'll learn (as opposed to trying to deduce those patterns and secrets on your own).

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

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Any good resource for DS..

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