Critical Reasoning

hello,

I've a problem with C.R. questions, when i read the question i tend to take note like i read in MGMAT materials but it's time consuming, but if i didn't take note like Veritas book says i get lost in the question and i find myself need to read it twice before i really get the premise and the conclusion, please help me which method is better should i practice myself to solve effectively with or without taking notes.
Thanks

My vote?

NO notes.

Want confirmation? I can't think of one of my students who uses notes for CR, and most of them totally ace CR, eat CR for LUNCH.

Those prompts are relatively short, and if you really get what's going on in the argument I don't think you really need notes to understand and recall it all easily. Meanwhile, so what if you have to read them twice. I personally read them, two, three, four times sometimes, and basically never get a CR question wrong.

The thing is to read the prompts until what they are saying is crystal clear to you. Then once you see EXACTLY what is going on, go to the answer choices armed with that awareness.

If you felt naturally inclined to use notes, I wouldn't shoot down doing that, but if you don't, I don't see any reason to force yourself to.

Could not disagree with Murray more!!! (Multiple exclamation points of disagreement! )

Notes are ABSOLUTELY essential to hold yourself accountable to breaking down CR arguments properly, and ensuring you are (1) not reading the argument too quickly, (2) not taking anything for granted, (3) thinking on your own about WHAT each piece means, and (4) coming up with your OWN answer BEFORE reading the answer choices.

Most people don't take notes because they don't know HOW, and they think notes = copying down the CR question verbatim.

If you are getting CR correct 100% of the time and not using notes, then great. You must be Sherlock Holmes and I an envious of your brain-power.

If you are only getting 80% accuracy or even lower, then you need to spend some time with a scratch pad and develop a methodical paper-based strategy. You're missing these question because you don't know how to break them down.

It is absolutely not enough to simply read the paragraph and move on to the answer choices "armed with that awareness." You need a written-down prediction, a solid expectation of WHAT the correct answer should look like, so you can measure each answer choice against it, and use process of elimination.

I have been tutoring the GMAT for almost a decade, and have worked for companies such as Kaplan, Grockit, and Veritas Prep. Time and time again, students succeed in CR when they understand how to use the scratch pad as a weapon.