How to Improve in Data Sufficiency??? What book to buy?

[irish200]

Hey guys,

First time posting, I just graduated from college and my employer (a consulting firm) recommends I take the GMAT now while I am still fresh out of school and have a lot of free time. I will likely apply to school in 2 or 3 years and I must be accepted to a top 20 school. (I am aiming 700+).

I took my first practice GMAT CAT with no prep whatsover in the midst of school in March (Free download software per mba.com)
....710 (94%) Q 45 (76%) V 42 (96%)

Then this month I bought and worked with the Kaplan GMAT premier program 2009 edition, and I thought the strategies were helping me with data sufficiency (apparently not). Using the paper/pencil test in the book:
....670 (91%) Q 44 (74%) V 45 (99%)


I miss almost 1/2 the data sufficiency problems every time!!! As someone who scored a 750 on SAT math and 35 ACT math, how am I now in the 70some percentile?????

I am considering buying GMAT Official Guide Quatitative Review....Is this my best option for a book to vastly improve data sufficiency??? I hear good things about the OG.[/b]

[VP_Jim]

You can't go wrong with the OG. It sounds to me like you have strong quant ability but just need to get used to the question format - the OG is great for that purpose since you'll have dozens of actual old GMAT questions to work with. Given your SAT math score, I don't think you have to worry too much as long as you put in the time to study.

[farooq]

As you mentioned, you scored 710 without referring GMAT standard books like Kaplan or OG, I believe you are strong enough in Maths and SC basic concepts and score of 750 or above will be easy to achieve.

GMAT DS questions are bit different from those of other competitive exam, therefore, it is recommend to familiarize GMAT DS standard pattern and question types.

Also read Kaplan or Princeton for DS strategies...especially for Yes or No questions.

Thanks and best of luck for your further score/test

Regards,
Farooq

[4score20]

Try some of problems in the challenge archive of Manhattan GMAT. They are more difficult and can sharpen your skills.

[ManhattanReview]

For everyone who is looking for a book on the topic, Manhattan Review has published a book dedicated solely to Data Sufficiency:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1629260657/

Good luck on the test!

-Tim
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[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

If we're reviving this old thread, I'll mention that we have a set of 16 free videos that cover everything you need to know to tackle DS questions: https://www.gmatprepnow.com/module/gmat-data-sufficiency

Cheers,
Brent

[Bara]

And I'll throw into the mix here that often DS isn't about math, it's about thinking out of the box and the strategy in applying the information provided in the question set.

One fun thing to do, believe it or not, is to read anti-jokes, it can kick you out of the normal way of thinking through questions.

But that's just a fun thing to do. And only marginally relevant.

OG is a given. As are the prior OGs. Get them all.