GMAT Data Insights strategy: sort the source before solving
Handle tables, graphics, multi-source material, data sufficiency, and two-part analysis with a consistent process.
Data Insights tests whether you can organise information, judge sufficiency, and make decisions across numerical and verbal sources. A reliable first move is to identify the source structure before calculating.
Use a four-step pass
- Task: state exactly what must be determined.
- Source: identify units, filters, legends, tabs, and definitions.
- Constraint: separate relevant facts from plausible distractions.
- Decision: calculate only what changes the answer.
Data sufficiency
Test each statement under the official answer framework and ask whether it guarantees one answer, not whether it provides useful information. Avoid importing assumptions from a diagram or everyday context.
Tables and graphics
Check units, scales, denominators, sorting, and whether a percentage is a share or a change. For multi-source material, note which tab supports each claim rather than repeatedly scanning everything.
Review by process
After a set, identify the first missed cue: task wording, source navigation, condition, arithmetic, or time decision. Then repeat a parallel item using the corrected process.