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I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR

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alinomoto
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I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   20 Oct 2011, 11:55
I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR problems. They suggest a diagramming approach with 2 columns- +ve Premises on 1 side and -ve on the other, with Assumptions in brackets at the bottom and finally the conclusion on top (of course all this highly abbreviated).

They recommend doing this as it helps with better absorption of the statements and also makes sure you don't miss key words.

While this does work for me most times, I find myself struggling to complete any question under 2:00 minutes with this method. Especially when the passage is slightly more verbose.

Does anyone who is following the Manhattan guides to study have any suggestions or tips on what I can do. I do get a lot of OG questions correct using their approach but find myself averaging around 2:15-2:45, which is not good!

I would like to take it below 2:15, ideally average around 2:00. My test is scheduled in 1 month. Any help?

Thanks.



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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   20 Oct 2011, 12:16
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The CR prompts are far too short to require a diagram. I personally think it's all a waste of time. The only one that MIGHT require a diagram is the rare "Parallel reasoning" question. There's a simple strategy that works for all other CR questions. First, IDENTIFY THE CONCLUSION. Once you've done that, find the premises. If done correctly you should be able to answer every question in a short amount of time. No need to write anything down. Also, Powerscore CR Bible is much better than Manhattan CR IMO (own both).
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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   20 Oct 2011, 12:21
getienne wrote:
The CR prompts are far too short to require a diagram. I personally think it's all a waste of time. The only one that MIGHT require a diagram is the rare "Parallel reasoning" question. There's a simple strategy that works for all other CR questions. First, IDENTIFY THE CONCLUSION. Once you've done that, find the premises. If done correctly you should be able to answer every question in a short amount of time. No need to write anything down. Also, Powerscore CR Bible is much better than Manhattan CR IMO (own both).


Thanks for your suggestion. Yes, I will now try to tackle the questions without diagramming as such (but of course, still going through the steps of understanding the conclusion and the premise).

I have been reading good things about the Powerscore CR bible. I suppose I will break down and get it. My main issue at this time is trying to fit my answers within 2 minutes. Of course, I am looking to do this even with the very high # problems in the OG - my average for #118-124 was around 2:15 (got all correct though).

Thanks.
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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   20 Oct 2011, 12:30
It's all about cracking the Easy and Medium questions under 1:30... I'd say 1:30 for the easy and medium and 2 minutes for the hard ones (while maintaining a high level of accuracy) and you'll be good. Diagramming takes time to process and to write down (extra wasted 30 seconds). Make sure you have a preliminary grid setup, so that you're simply eliminating wrong answers for each question. Pre-formulating an answer before looking at the answer choices also helps both time and accuracy.
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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   24 Oct 2011, 06:44
MGMAT CR and Powerscore CR Bible are almost the same, I have both the books but i referred to Powerscore CR.
While doing powerscore CR simultaneously do OG questions too as recommended by powerscore CR Bible, with that you should be able to crack 80 to 90% of the questions without much difficulty.
And i dont think you need to write down all the details in a tabular format, just read the content carefully and before doing so read the question stem and try to prephrase the answer before looking at the answer options.
I follow this strategy and its working for me :)
Since CR question is relatively small in size compared to RC Passages its better not to waste time in writing down the content of CR, we can always refer back to the text if required.
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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   24 Oct 2011, 07:40
Yes, actually I have now stopped diagramming on paper and just do it in my head. I guess I am not as dense as MGMAT suggests as I can hold this in my head for the duration of the question.

I have found that I am now considerably faster and my accuracy hasn't suffered (if anything, I think its improving).

I am reading the CR bible now. It is a good book if slightly more garrulous.
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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink] New post   24 Oct 2011, 21:55
after you are done with CR Bible, go thro a very handy summary doc available in GMAT CLUB itself. It will be useful while revising.
All the best :)



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This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
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Re: I am wondering if people use the Manhattan guide to doing CR [#permalink]
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