Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible

good book!

Let me add a brief about me so that you can better decide how to use this review. I have a GMAT score of 770 and have been teaching GMAT for the last three years, including 19 months at a US based GMAT prep firm. I have read Manhattan CR book and Powerscore CR Bible for the CR section (I was told not to waste time by reading any other book on CR). I think the primary confusion for test takers also lies between these two books since both have good reviews. So, I'll share my understanding about these books in comparison to each other. In a gist, I would say that for an Indian or for any non-native, I would recommend Powerscore CR very highly over Manhattan CR. Now, let's come to why. 1. Powerscore covers fundamentals of GMAT CR in much more detail (in terms of number of pages and content) than Manhattan CR. Now, unlike natives who start learning CR from their primary school (My friend in the US has a daughter studying in 3rd class, and she is learning some of the basic concepts of CR.), non-natives do not have fundamentals of CR in place. So, non-natives require a book which focuses more on building fundamentals rather than just teaches different concepts tested on GMAT. Analogically, non-natives need pillars to build their building while native already have pillars in place. This need of non-natives is satisfied by Powerscore, and not by Manhattan. Actually, all Manhattan books are written for natives. They have 5 books for Quant and 3 books for Verbal, reflecting the needs of natives who are stronger in verbal and weaker in quant than non-natives. 2. The process of answering questions, a critical element to succeed in GMAT and actually all aspects of life, is way better and more in-line with the purpose of GMAT in Powerscore than in Manhattan. The difference is especially important for non-natives. The difference is that powerscore emphasizes more on understanding and digesting the argument (the book also asks the student to prephrase the answer before looking at the option statement) while Manhattan emphasizes more on quickly solving the question (many a time proving detrimental to the non-natives who try solving the questions without completely understanding the stimulus). The prephrasing recommended in Powerscore helps a lot in better understanding the arguments and the underlying reasoning (and in my experience in the GMAT prep space, this prephrasing - which I and my previous company also recommend - helps non-natives greatly).

I used it to study for the GMAT

This is an excellent and thorough grounding in techniques to conquer the GMAT CR sections. I am yet to reap the rewards but feel that there is a clear and effective methodology described here. There are exercises and a definite breakdown into question types and approaches. I haven't seen the Manhattan guide for CR, but this was more highly recommended and doesn't really need supplementation except with the usual OG books. I also invested in the Veritas books and online course which are on a par with this, as well as the other MGMAT guides. Stick with MGMAT, this for CR and lots of online practice!

==== 2015 UPDATE ==== Powerscore released a new 2015 edition of the book. It has had some updates - several chapters have been completely updated with new overview, examples and new problem sets. Navigation has also been improved. It has grown too by about 70 pages (in part due to having more white space and in part due to content). Not a light book at 370 pages but definitely very very comprehensive overview of pretty much everything. Don't expect to see too much fluff, the book gets right to it. Though after MGMAT has improved their CR book (currently in its 6th edition), I would have given this book 3-4 stars, the latest revision seems to provide a good alternative to the Veritas Prep/MGMAT books. ==== 2009 Review ==== Though pretty similar to Manhattan GMAT book, it offers more practice questions in the book and has a slightly better overview of the Critical Reasoning questions. ~~~ Strengths: ~~~ 1. In-depth overview of the Critical Reasoning strategies and approaches to questions 2. Clearly divides the CR question types and provides specific strategy for each type as well as the pitfalls and common errors. You will also get to know how the CR questions are made. 3. Good quality GMAT-like practice questions 4. Created by the authors of the best LSAT books (LSAT logic section is much harder than CR on the GMAT; there is actually a decent amoount of overlap in this book with the LSAT book). Speaking of which, for extra hardcore (and absolutely not necessary but still), you can get the PowerScore LR book (comes with quite a few LSAT questions) ~~~ Weaknesses: ~~~ 1. Could use more practice questions (more than mgmat though); you will need to find another source of CR questions such as GMAT Official guide 12 or the verbal supplement to the Official Guide (though the verbal OG has questions on the easier side) 2. Some explanations are too convoluted 3. No tests or online excercises/additional content ~~~~ My Suggestions ~~~~ - Read explanations to every question. Even if you got a question right, it does not mean, you solved it correctly (that is you used the correct approach or found all the shortcusts). You will be surpised sometimes and will pick up helpful tips even from explanations of questions you answered correctly - Follow the actual strategies (DUH). This is probably the most common mistake people make - they start inventing their own approaches. Don't do it until you have a high verbal score. If you don't, just follow! - If you don't have any Manhattan GMAT books, you want to get at least one, as each comes with access to 6 online CAT tests (these tests are worth the purchase). There is not a whole lot of value to get both Powerscore CR and MGMAT CR; the content is by large the same. Good luck on your GMAT! BB, Founder of GMAT Club GMAT 750 (q49, v42)