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PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible - Proper method?

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PowerScore Critical Reasoning Bible - Proper method?

by bond0007 » Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:43 pm
Hello guys, I would appreciate some help with this.

My worst area is CR. I did the MGMAT book, but didnt have much luck. Their method of drawing a T diagram took up much time and I ended up spending 3-5 minutes per question.

I have the CR bible and I'm not quiet sure how to best use their method. So from what I have read, they say to Read the Stimulus first, and figure out the conclusion. Then the question type allows you to split into 3 families ( Prove,Help, Weaken), and then paraphrasing the answers etc..

So basically im not sure if I need to be writing some type of notes when I do a CR problem, just as i would with MGMAT?
Also for the people that have done both books, which is more helpful?

thank you!!
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by bond0007 » Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:51 pm
also should I be timing myself on the practice questions in the book?
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by sch » Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:42 am
Ive read Power Score first and then moved to Manhattan guides. For my self, I found Power Score so much more superior that I never even finished MG CR RC guides. Infact, I used to draw a summary sentences for RC questions. After reading Power Score, however, I took their comment to heart, which stated that there is no need for diagrams (except for one question type) as your brain can retain info from short passages accurately for a 3 min span. Moreover, I bought into an idea that RC - CR sections are related and have only stylistic difference between them. So, gone were the diagrams for RC! Result? I could now afford to read RC passages carefuly the first time and re-read necessary parts to answer specific questions. My RC and CR accuracy is now on par (my RC skills were far inferior to CR before adopting this approach).

For CR, the Power Score helped me a great deal too. I went over it once, and my accuracy went up by 10 percent. Thats 10 percent increase before memorizing all the question types! My experiance with MGMAT on this subject is pure dissapointment. The drills for diagrams, re-phrasing and making notes for both RC and CR took too long, overly complicated and absolutely unnecessary (rest of the MGMAT guides I hold in high regard though).

That is my experiance regarding this subject. Everyone is different, so someone may have diferent experiance regarding Power Score vs MGMAT CR and RC.
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by bond0007 » Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:02 am
sch wrote:Ive read Power Score first and then moved to Manhattan guides. For my self, I found Power Score so much more superior that I never even finished MG CR RC guides. Infact, I used to draw a summary sentences for RC questions. After reading Power Score, however, I took their comment to heart, which stated that there is no need for diagrams (except for one question type) as your brain can retain info from short passages accurately for a 3 min span. Moreover, I bought into an idea that RC - CR sections are related and have only stylistic difference between them. So, gone were the diagrams for RC! Result? I could now afford to read RC passages carefuly the first time and re-read necessary parts to answer specific questions. My RC and CR accuracy is now on par (my RC skills were far inferior to CR before adopting this approach).

For CR, the Power Score helped me a great deal too. I went over it once, and my accuracy went up by 10 percent. Thats 10 percent increase before memorizing all the question types! My experiance with MGMAT on this subject is pure dissapointment. The drills for diagrams, re-phrasing and making notes for both RC and CR took too long, overly complicated and absolutely unnecessary (rest of the MGMAT guides I hold in high regard though).

That is my experiance regarding this subject. Everyone is different, so someone may have diferent experiance regarding Power Score vs MGMAT CR and RC.
Wow thanks a ton for that writeup. I have a very short attention span/Add and its very hard for me to retain something like a RC passage, but I think that remembering the CR is a bit more doable for me.

I have to say that I agree about the MGMAT math + SC stuff being great, but the CR/RC got me in trouble with my verbal score.
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