What's good reading material to prep for RC?

I think short (reading comp passage length), well written, and dense (and somewhat boring?) passages are best. I recommend the Wall Street Journal and the Economist. Try to pick articles that don't interest you for the best practice! For science passages, something like Scientific American would probably be a good choice.

Really, any well written material will do the trick, though - and not just for RC, but also for critical reasoning and sentence correction.

It's interesting because you said that increased reading leads to improved performance on CR. How is this so? I know of the benefits it produces for RC and SC, but I'm curious as to how it augments CR proficiency.

I've been reading a lot of Edgar Allen Poe lately, does that count ?

Yeah I only mentioned Poe because his diction and vocabulary is somewhat archaic... boring he is not! I like the suggestion regarding The Economist and all the other aforementioned publications.

How can reading help you on CR? In addition to just developing better verbal skills in general...

If you read well written material, you'll see how others formulate persuasive arguments. Think critically about what you read - what's wrong with the author's argument? Can you poke holes in it? Getting practice at answering those sorts of questions will certainly help you in CR.

The passages that can be the toughest to wade through, for many business-minded students, are the science ones, because you're probably not as familiar with the terminology. A passage about "fossils" might not grab you as much as one about "revenue models" or "fluctuating interest" might. That's why we often encourage our students to read science articles in preparation for the GMAT. Being familiar with the terminology allows you to focus on the content you're reading, as opposed to slowing down every time the passage defines something.

I completely agree with the nods given to Wall Street Journal and Economist. They can help you on RC and CR for the reasons mentioned, AND you can start formulating some great "back-pocket" examples for your Issue Essay on the AWA.

Read as many Issue prompts as you can, and you'll see the same sorts of themes running through many of them. Also, as you read, keep an eye out for potentially usable examples that are related to these themes.

ladistar, I for example try to read a passage from Science Daily news daily, doesn't happen all the time, but I try
I am also a NYT subscriber, but I guess it's no really reresantative, their writing, since it's not dense or boring