To pre-think or not to pre-think?

Question

So the jury is out on whether one should pre-think (assumptions) on CR - some experts (such as E-Gmat) tout it as a game changer, while others (TTP and Gmat Ninja) advise against it. I personally prefer not to pre-think on CR lest I be cognitively biased, but I wanted to know what is the approach that other test-takers prefer and follow. I look forward to hearing from you - thank you!

RishS94 · Answer

While reading question stem, you'll definitely have some thoughts at given scenario. That will get well balanced with practice!

AjiteshArun · Answer

This is very true. I don't normally recommend making a conscious effort to identify possible answers or a couple of assumptions during the exam (takes too much time). But yes, it is practically impossible to avoid having some initial thoughts after reading the stimulus.

Themightyknight · Answer

all these concepts arent tailor-made for all 
its upto you to choose which is right for you 
work 20-30 qns on both methods go with the one u really feel comfortable

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Hi ElenaFerrante,

You are correct that we advise against rethinking. We discuss it more here:

GMAT Critical Reasoning: 8 Essential Tips

RetaketheGMAT · Answer

Here's my answer to a similar questions from exactly 1 year ago. Hope you find it useful.

KarishmaB · Answer

I don't believe in pre-thinking. But it is important to evaluate the argument very properly before jumping on to the options - else you will end up work matching which is disastrous for medium and hard questions. If that is what you call pre-thinking, then it makes sense. 
 
So you break the argument down into its components and evaluate what the author has given - premises and his conclusion. You will see that he has jumped the gun on the conclusion (since we are talking about inductive arguments in CR). So now you go to your options and know what you are looking for - not exactly but say "I am looking for something that tells me that A is good" etc.

You are not wasting time trying to guess what the answer would be - but you know what to expect. This is called "de-constructing the argument" and involves substantial thinking. But it saves you time while evaluating the options.

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To pre-think or not to pre-think?

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