Why Data Insights Requires a Different Strategy
The tactics that work in Quant and Verbal can actively hurt you in Data Insights. Here is what makes the section different, and how to adjust your approach.
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Key takeaways
- DI is designed to test how well you process a large volume of information quickly. Each question page has more data than you can fully absorb in the standard two-minute window.
- Table Analysis, Graphics Interpretation, and Two-Part Analysis each have multiple sub-questions on one page. Every sub-question must be correct to earn any credit for that page.
- Multi-Source Reasoning is a set of question pages that all reference the same source tabs. Each page also has multiple sub-questions. Within a set, either attempt all pages or guess all pages. Mixing wastes the time you already spent reading the source.
- Educated guesses (narrowing options, then picking) don't work in DI. The right move is either a full attempt or an immediate guess.
- Most top scorers plan to skip 2–4 DI questions, guessing in under 20 seconds to bank time for the rest.
- Spending between 45 seconds and 1 minute 15 seconds on a DI question is almost always the worst outcome: too short to earn credit and too long to count as a strategic guess.
How Data Insights Is Different
It simulates real business decision-making
The Data Insights section is designed to measure your ability to identify what matters in a large dataset and ignore what doesn't. That is exactly what business analysts, consultants, and managers do every day, especially as AI tools produce ever more data to sift through. The section is not just exam content. It reflects a real professional skill.
As a result, every DI question page contains more information than you can fully process in two minutes. That is by design. Knowing what to read, what to skim, and what to ignore is the core skill being tested.
The all-or-nothing scoring rule
Four of the five DI question types present multiple sub-questions. To earn any credit, every sub-question on that page must be correct. One careless mistake wipes out the credit for the whole page.
This is the all-or-nothing rule
If a page has three sub-questions and you answer two correctly but slip on the third, you earn zero credit for that page. Two out of three correct scores the same as getting all three wrong.
Here is how each question type works, with official GMAC examples:
Table Analysis: multiple true/false sub-questions, one page
You see a sortable table. Each sub-question asks whether a statement about the table is true or false. All must be correct.
Graphics Interpretation: two fill-in-the-blank completions, one page
You see a graph or chart, then complete two statements by selecting from dropdowns. Both must be correct.
Two-Part Analysis: one answer per column, one page
You see a scenario and select one answer from each of two columns. Both selections must be correct.
Multi-Source Reasoning: a set of pages, not a single page
MSR works differently from the other types. You are shown a set of source tabs (text, tables, or both), and then a series of question pages (typically three) that all reference the same tabs. Each question page has multiple sub-questions with the same all-or-nothing rule.
The source tabs remain visible throughout the entire set, so the overhead of reading the source material applies to all pages at once. This has specific implications for your skip strategy, covered below.
Data Sufficiency: single question, single answer
The only DI type with one question and one answer per page. No sub-questions, no all-or-nothing rule.
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Two Strategic Shifts from Quant and Verbal
Educated guesses don't work in DI
In Quant and Verbal, narrowing down to two options and making a guess is a legitimate time-saving move. In DI, it isn't. Each sub-question is typically a binary choice (yes/no, true/false, select one from two) with no room to narrow options meaningfully. Spending a minute partially reading the data and then guessing gives you roughly the same odds as guessing immediately, but costs far more time.
The right decision is binary: either commit fully to a question and double-check your answers, or skip it in under 20 seconds.
Double-check more carefully than anywhere else on the exam
Because one careless mistake wipes out all sub-question credit, double-checking in DI is more valuable than in Quant or Verbal. A quick review of each sub-answer before moving on can recover points that careful reading alone misses.
This is why a full DI attempt (the kind that can earn you credit) typically takes more than two minutes. Budget for it.
Top Scorers Don't Answer Every Question
This surprises most people: the majority of strong DI scorers deliberately plan to skip two to four questions, guessing almost immediately and banking that time for the rest of the section. Answering all 20 DI questions well is extremely difficult to do in 45 minutes. Attempting all 20 and rushing the harder ones is usually worse than skipping a few strategically.
Choosing which questions to skip
Choosing well requires a brief assessment of each question before committing. This connects to how the GMAT scoring algorithm works: getting easy questions wrong carries a heavy penalty. Spend a few seconds to gauge difficulty before deciding. If a question looks straightforward, don't skip it.
Good candidates to skip
- Table Analysis with a large, dense table that would take several minutes to parse
- Any question where the data format or scenario is immediately unfamiliar
Do not skip
- Questions that look straightforward. Getting easy ones wrong is heavily penalizing.
- Data Sufficiency questions you know how to approach
- Two-Part Analysis where the setup is clear
Multi-Source Reasoning: think in sets, not individual pages
Because all question pages in an MSR set share the same source tabs, the cost of reading the source is paid once for the whole set. This changes the skip calculation.
- Guessing some pages but attempting others in the same set is inefficient. You have already read (or skimmed) the source material to make that decision. At that point, attempting all remaining pages in the set costs little extra time relative to what you have already spent.
- Guessing an entire MSR set is risky. An MSR set typically contains two or three question pages, and at least one of them is likely to be relatively straightforward. Guessing the whole set means knowingly getting easy questions wrong, which carries a heavy algorithmic penalty.
- The right decision point for MSR is the first page of the set. Glance at the source tabs: are they dense, unfamiliar, or clearly going to take a long time? If yes, guess all pages in the set quickly. If the source looks manageable, commit to the whole set and work through it carefully.
The Danger Zone
Spending between 45 seconds and 1 minute 15 seconds on a DI question is almost always the wrong outcome.
Why 45 seconds to 1:15 is the worst place to be
- Too short to earn credit: you haven't had time to process the data properly, read each sub-question carefully, and check your answers.
- Too long to count as a strategic guess: you've used up time that could have gone to a question you can actually complete.
Time spent on a single DI question
Quick guess (0 – 0:30)
Intentional skip. Save the time for questions where you can earn points.
Danger Zone (0:45 – 1:15)
Too short to process and double-check. Too long to count as a strategic guess. Avoid this window.
Full attempt (1:45+)
Enough time to read the data, answer sub-questions, and check each one.
Amber zones (0:30 – 0:45 and 1:15 – 1:45) are transitional. Avoid them when possible.
How to use this when reviewing a mock
After a practice test, look at your DI answer times. Flag any question where you spent between 45 seconds and 1 minute 15 seconds. Those are the questions where you were stuck in a no-man's land: not long enough to do well, too long to be a deliberate skip.
For each flagged question, ask yourself: would I have been better off guessing immediately and moving on? In most cases, the answer is yes. Training yourself to recognise that situation early, and to commit to skipping rather than half-attempting, is one of the highest-leverage improvements you can make in DI.
Exceptions
Sometimes you don't realize until partway through that a question is harder than it looked. That happens. The useful habit is not to panic, but to make a clear decision: can you finish and check within the next minute? If not, guess now and move on. Don't let a question that started as a full attempt drift into the Danger Zone without a deliberate choice.
Your DI Game Plan
Do
- Plan to skip 2–4 questions. Identify them quickly (under 20 seconds) and guess immediately. For MSR, decide on the first page of the set: either commit to all pages or guess all pages.
- Double-check every sub-question before moving on. The all-or-nothing rule makes this worth the extra 20 seconds.
- Spend a few seconds assessing difficulty before committing. Easy questions should not be skipped.
- Budget more than two minutes for any question you attempt seriously.
Avoid
- Educated guesses. Spending 45 seconds partly reading a question and then guessing gives you roughly the same chance of being correct as an immediate guess, at three times the cost.
- The Danger Zone (0:45 – 1:15). If you look back at a mock and see times clustered here, that is where your DI score is leaking.
- Trying to answer every question. Rushing the final questions or skipping the last one because you ran out of time is more damaging than a planned early skip.
For a deeper look at how the scoring algorithm penalizes different types of mistakes, read our guide to how GMAT Focus scoring works.
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