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DensetsuNo
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 00:43
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Hey all,
a few days ago I took my first GMATprep simulation scoring 38 in the verbal part,
since a big part of my mistakes were in the critical reasoning part I decided to try and take a more structured approach to it,
so I bought the Manhattan Critical Reasoning book hoping for a nice and sleek approach to these problems.

Long story short yesterday after finishing the book (and doing most of the exercises inside it) I tried my chances with a little drill on Magoosh (16 CR questions of adaptive difficulty), and scored much less than I used to.
My question is, can you really use Manhattan's approach in under 2 minutes? It is a nice approach but I feel like it's too, too long to be truly useful!!
I'm looking for a way to increase my CR accuracy, and I feel like I wasted two days reading that manual.

I'm open to any suggestion on how you'd improve your score on this part of the GMAT.

Thanks a lot,
Densetsu
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 01:14
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Would love to answer your questions, but first... What is the Manhattan approach to critical reasoning?
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DensetsuNo
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 02:49
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To sum it up it's something like this:
1) read the question (and understand the question type)
2) comprehend the pieces that make up the argument (premise, conclusion etc.)
3) "state the goal" or rephrase what the problem wants you to find
4) eliminate answers till there's one left standing

Clearly step 2 (and 3) are really long and not that fruitful...

Their basic message is not to read the argument more than once, and in order not to do so they make you jot down notes while you read it.
Besides they provide approaches to ≈ 10 different question types, which are variations of the 4-steps approach.
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 05:30
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DensetsuNo
To sum it up it's something like this:
1) read the question (and understand the question type)
2) comprehend the pieces that make up the argument (premise, conclusion etc.)
3) "state the goal" or rephrase what the problem wants you to find
4) eliminate answers till there's one left standing

Clearly step 2 (and 3) are really long and not that fruitful...

Their basic message is not to read the argument more than once, and in order not to do so they make you jot down notes while you read it.
Besides they provide approaches to ≈ 10 different question types, which are variations of the 4-steps approach.
Show more

Actually it ís step 4 that is really long. Instead, you should try your best to answer the question before looking at answer choices, and then look for the answer choice that resembles your own answer. Analyzing wrong answer choices is time- and brain power-consuming, and you do not have much time and brain power to spend.

The first 3 steps are very important. If you do not understand the argument, it will be very hard to answer the question.
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DensetsuNo
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 06:22
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HiLine
DensetsuNo
To sum it up it's something like this:
1) read the question (and understand the question type)
2) comprehend the pieces that make up the argument (premise, conclusion etc.)
3) "state the goal" or rephrase what the problem wants you to find
4) eliminate answers till there's one left standing

Clearly step 2 (and 3) are really long and not that fruitful...

Their basic message is not to read the argument more than once, and in order not to do so they make you jot down notes while you read it.
Besides they provide approaches to ≈ 10 different question types, which are variations of the 4-steps approach.

Actually it ís step 4 that is really long. Instead, you should try your best to answer the question before looking at answer choices, and then look for the answer choice that resembles your own answer. Analyzing wrong answer choices is time- and brain power-consuming, and you do not have much time and brain power to spend.

The first 3 steps are very important. If you do not understand the argument, it will be very hard to answer the question.
Show more

I don't really know what to answer you, I totally get the point I just find really hard to "squish" the first 3 points in 60-90secs (I might do it if I don't write much down). Anyway I'll spend more time on the CR and see whether with time and practice those things will come naturally...

Thanks for the tips,
Densetsu \(:)\)
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 14:52
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Hi Densetsu,

To start, when you say that you scored 38 in Verbal, do you mean a Scaled Score of 38 or the 38th percentile? Those results mean very different things. If you earned a Scaled Score of 38, then you did really well in that section and you don't really have a big "weak area"; if you scored the 38th percentile, then you're likely losing serious points in all 3 Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR).

On average, CR questions should take about 2 minutes to solve, but that does NOT mean that you should answer all of those questions in 2 minutes or less. Certain CR prompts will require more time and effort (up to 2.5 minutes or more of disciplined reading and work). If you're just now practicing new CR tactics, then it's unlikely that you would master those Tactics and use them in the most efficient way possible (with just 2 days of practice).

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, I'd like to know more about your studies overall and timeline/goals:

1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 16:07
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DensetsuNo
HiLine
DensetsuNo
To sum it up it's something like this:
1) read the question (and understand the question type)
2) comprehend the pieces that make up the argument (premise, conclusion etc.)
3) "state the goal" or rephrase what the problem wants you to find
4) eliminate answers till there's one left standing

Clearly step 2 (and 3) are really long and not that fruitful...

Their basic message is not to read the argument more than once, and in order not to do so they make you jot down notes while you read it.
Besides they provide approaches to ≈ 10 different question types, which are variations of the 4-steps approach.

Actually it ís step 4 that is really long. Instead, you should try your best to answer the question before looking at answer choices, and then look for the answer choice that resembles your own answer. Analyzing wrong answer choices is time- and brain power-consuming, and you do not have much time and brain power to spend.

The first 3 steps are very important. If you do not understand the argument, it will be very hard to answer the question.

I don't really know what to answer you, I totally get the point I just find really hard to "squish" the first 3 points in 60-90secs (I might do it if I don't write much down). Anyway I'll spend more time on the CR and see whether with time and practice those things will come naturally...

Thanks for the tips,
Densetsu \(:)\)
Show more

You are welcome.

I would start by figuring out what an argument is, what a conclusion is, what premises are, and what assumptions are, and then have someone experienced walk you through a few examples to see how you can go about dissecting an argument. Maybe Manhattan GMAT does a good job at providing examples, maybe not, I don't know. Most GMAT arguments can be dissected in under one minute.

Also, keep in mind that it is almost inevitable that your score go down when you are learning a new strategy. When you are learning, do not time yourself until your accuracy has improved. One step at a time.

Posted from my mobile device
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 07 Jun 2016, 23:39
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi Densetsu,

To start, when you say that you scored 38 in Verbal, do you mean a Scaled Score of 38 or the 38th percentile? Those results mean very different things. If you earned a Scaled Score of 38, then you did really well in that section and you don't really have a big "weak area"; if you scored the 38th percentile, then you're likely losing serious points in all 3 Verbal categories (SC, RC and CR).

On average, CR questions should take about 2 minutes to solve, but that does NOT mean that you should answer all of those questions in 2 minutes or less. Certain CR prompts will require more time and effort (up to 2.5 minutes or more of disciplined reading and work). If you're just now practicing new CR tactics, then it's unlikely that you would master those Tactics and use them in the most efficient way possible (with just 2 days of practice).

Before I can offer you the specific advice that you're looking for, I'd like to know more about your studies overall and timeline/goals:

1) How long have you studied?
2) What materials have you used?
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)?

4) What is your goal score?
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT?
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School?

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

Hey Rich,
38 scaled, 81th percentile. \(:)\)

I know it isn't bad per se, but I feel like a more structured approach to CR would give me an edge to break the 40 barrier.

1) How long have you studied? I'm in my third week
2) What materials have you used? The OGs, Magoosh and Manhattan Sentence Correction and CR
3) How have you scored on each of your CATs (including the Quant and Verbal Scaled Scores)? Just took one scoring: (43, 38)
4) What is your goal score? ~730
5) When are you planning to take the GMAT? August the Third (scheduled a second one for August the 30th)
6) When are you planning to apply to Business School? Starting September
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 08 Jun 2016, 00:04
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HiLine


Also, keep in mind that it is almost inevitable that your score go down when you are learning a new strategy. When you are learning, do not time yourself until your accuracy has improved. One step at a time.

Posted from my mobile device
Show more

You're right, I'll try to give it more time, I just felt I was wasting so much time focusing on CR only that I wanted to speed it up! :?
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 08 Jun 2016, 17:31
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Hi Densetsu,

Since you've been studying for just 3 weeks, many of the 'issues' that you're facing are understandable. Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so the simple answer to your situation is that you have not put in enough time and effort yet to have mastered everything that you'll face on Test Day.

Given the Q43/V38 that you scored on this one CAT, you might want to shift the focus of your studies over to the Quant section (while still getting in some Verbal practice). With a Test Date on August 3rd, you have plenty of time to continue studying and improving, but you might find that you need more time to pick up those missing Quant points than you think you do.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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DensetsuNo
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Critical Reasoning - Manhattan Approach? 09 Jun 2016, 07:46
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EMPOWERgmatRichC
Hi Densetsu,

Since you've been studying for just 3 weeks, many of the 'issues' that you're facing are understandable. Many Test Takers spend 3 months (or more) of consistent study time before they hit their 'peak' scores, so the simple answer to your situation is that you have not put in enough time and effort yet to have mastered everything that you'll face on Test Day.

Given the Q43/V38 that you scored on this one CAT, you might want to shift the focus of your studies over to the Quant section (while still getting in some Verbal practice). With a Test Date on August 3rd, you have plenty of time to continue studying and improving, but you might find that you need more time to pick up those missing Quant points than you think you do.

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

Yeah, I'll do that.
Plus, I'll read the CR book in the breaks, leave the RC alone and "refresh" the grammar whenever possible.

Thanks Rich.
Let's hope for the best!

Densetsu
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