Product Description

Critical Reasoning (1 of the 8 books in Manhattan GMAT's Preparation Guide series) provides a highly organized and structured approach to the variety of questions in this verbal content area. The guide simplifies arguments by illustrating innovative diagramming techniques designed to increase comprehension and improve accuracy, and also details the major and minor critical reasoning question types that appear on the GMAT.

The book offers a unique balance between two competing emphases: test-taking strategies and in-depth content understanding. Practice problem sets build specific foundational skills in each topic and include the most advanced content that many other prep books ignore. As the average GMAT score required to gain admission to top b-schools continues to rise, this guide provides test takers with the depth and volume of advanced material essential for succeeding on the GMAT's computer adaptive format. Book also includes online access to 6 full-length Simulated Practice GMAT Exams at Manhattan GMAT's website.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #559327 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 251 pages

From the Publisher
Special Features:
*Each of the 8 Guides covers 1 major topic in extensive depth, providing students with many more pages-per-topic than found in all in-one books. Single-topic focus of each guide allows the student to purchase only those guides that pertain to his/her weaknesses.
*Purchase includes 6 Full-Length Computer Adaptive Online Practice GMAT Exams and Bonus Critical Reasoning Online Question Bank developed exclusively by Manhattan GMAT. Your book includes a unique access code that enables you to access these online resources.
*Cleanly-presented strategies, problems sets, and explanations with sidebars that highlight key concepts; no need to wade through cramped pages in small typeface.
*After mastering all the Critical Reasoning strategies, you can test your knowledge on arguments and passages that have appeared on past GMAT exams. These problems are contained in The Official Guides For GMAT Review (sold separately), published by GMAC, the organization that administers the GMAT. Manhattan GMAT has categorized all the Critical Reasoning & Reading Comprehension problems in The Official Guides by question type. These categorized problems have been organized into problem lists that appear in the Critical Reasoning Strategy Guide.

About the Author
Manhattan GMAT's 8 preparation guides were developed by Manhattan GMAT's talented staff of real teachers, all of whom have scored in the 99th percentile on the official GMAT. As the company focuses solely on the GMAT (no other tests), it continually updates the guides to reflect the GMAT's most current trends. ManhattanGMAT's guides offer students a unique balance between two competing emphases: test-taking strategies and in-depth content understanding. Most prep courses focus on the strategic portion of the GMAT - timing, shortcuts, etc. However, we believe that unless a student has a solid understanding of the content, the tricks won't be of any use. Therefore, we include practice problem sets that build specific foundational skills in each topic as well as advanced content that many other prep books ignore.

The nation's largest GMAT-exclusive preparation provider, Manhattan GMAT was founded by Zeke Vanderhoek. A Yale graduate, Zeke taught as a member of Teach for America at New York City public junior-high school, earned a Masters in Philosophy & Education from Columbia University's Teachers College, and supplemented his day-job by tutoring individuals in various subjects at all educational levels. Word-of-mouth referrals soon brought in a remarkably high number of GMAT test-takers, and thus Manhattan GMAT and its prep guides were born.

Manhattan GMAT's 8 preparation guides were developed by Manhattan GMAT's talented staff of real teachers, all of whom have scored in the 99th percentile on the official GMAT. As the company focuses solely on the GMAT (no other tests), it continually updates the guides to reflect the GMAT's most current trends. ManhattanGMAT's guides offer students a unique balance between two competing emphases: test-taking strategies and in-depth content understanding. Most prep courses focus on the strategic portion of the GMAT - timing, shortcuts, etc. However, we believe that unless a student has a solid understanding of the content, the tricks won't be of any use. Therefore, we include practice problem sets that build specific foundational skills in each topic as well as advanced content that many other prep books ignore.

The nation's largest GMAT-exclusive preparation provider, Manhattan GMAT was founded by Zeke Vanderhoek. A Yale graduate, Zeke taught as a member of Teach for America at New York City public junior-high school, earned a Masters in Philosophy & Education from Columbia University's Teachers College, and supplemented his day-job by tutoring individuals in various subjects at all educational levels. Word-of-mouth referrals soon brought in a remarkably high number of GMAT test-takers, and thus Manhattan GMAT and its prep guides were born.

Customer Reviews

Not the finest of the bunch
As one who teaches the GMAT for a living, has written around 250 Critical Reasoning practice questions and is presently working on a Critical Reasoning manual, one thing that I have found remarkable about the GMAT Critical Reasoning section is the lack of good guides or practice materials.

Part of this is due, I suppose, to laziness: GMAT test prep companies cater largely to the Anglo-American market, which is largely not worried about the Verbal portion. The Verbal section encompasses far more than simply language, however--this is not the TOEFL--and in order to break the 700 ceiling a firm mastery of Critical Reasoning is absolutely essential.

Manhattan GMAT's Critical Reasoning guide, like nearly every other one on the market, appears eager to reassure students that "no knowledge of formal logic is necessary" to ace the Critical Reasoning questions. That is true but unhelpful information: most people of whatever nationality are simply SLOPPY thinkers and sloppy readers and need a serious recalibration. Perhaps no questions hinge on your knowledge of the terms "modus ponens," "modus tollens," "affirmation of the consequent," or "denial of the antecedent," but most people do not realize just how many arguments contain serious flaws and accept them without thinking critically, rendering themselves unable to dig out the problem when faced with it.

Furthermore, the refusal to structure the lessons along the lines of deduction and formal logic lead Manhattan to ignore the widely accepted mathematical conventions for diagraming arguments and suggest a great many vague and confusing symbols to that end. Diagramming arguments is useful in some situations, but only if you recognize what a valid argument (modus ponens or modus tollens) should look like.

The classification of questions is okay, but the excessive focus on GMAT content at the expense of developing logical skill sets severely mars this book, as well as a great many others. Sadly, at the moment it is the best of the major prep books on the market. Clearly, the amount invested in pedagoigical development has not kept pace with the great salaries Manhattan GMAT teachers receive.

Just what you need to study for the GMAT
This and all the other Manhattan GMAT guides were really helpful in helping me prep for the GMAT. My colleagues had recommended them over other guides and I continue to do the same after getting the score I needed on my first try.

Overall, good book
Overall, this is a good book, with detailed and accurate explanations on methods and what to expect in the exam.
One thing can be improved though - the questions/quizzes. Very small portion of the questions are not really good ones.