Powerscore GMAT Critical Reasoning Bible 2020: A Comprehensive System for Attacking GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions!

==== 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)

This is book really a great source of CR for GMAT. I was having big problem with the critical reasoning part of the test. As I can see clearly for now is that, I havent not chosen the right book or source to study. This book has contributed a lot to my knowledge by detailed and clear explanations and hints given by the writers. In addition, this book is very useful because it underlines common mistakes and misundertandings of test takers. Thank you very much indeed.

I have covered almost all popular books in the market like Official Guide, Kaplan , Barrons ,Princeton ,Kaplan 800 and was looking for more practice questions and decided to buy this book.The questions in the book are really in the tougher category and lots of teasers which u may get wrong unless u r reallyyyy sharp. Explanations are very natural and feels like ur attending a class . looks the author was teaching GMAT prep students since many places he mention that his students got this answer and argued like this etc etc. I would recommend this book if u have run of popular books and still looking to perfect ur score.

Some of us are innately good at critical reasoning and find the GMAT CR questions a breeze. For the rest of us there's the CR bible. This is by far the most comprehensive book availble to simplify CR questions. It provides excellent strategies for each of the question types found on the GMAT, as well as, general strategies which are a great for increasing both speed and accuracy. The the text does have a few areas for potential improvement. Namely, it could include a cross-reference for the OG guides and published LSAT CR questions. Additonally, some of the strategies are poorly developed and provide very few practice questions. For additional practice, I highly recommend getting the LSAT exams. There are several of these available from the LSAC website. The first section of these exams contains CR questions, which are very similar to what you'll find on the GMAT. Howard Spencer EES Executive English Solutions Chile 700PLUSGMAT Chile

I was a bit hesitant to get this book, because I was leaning more towards the Manhattan set of books. However, after reading endless reviews from others, I decided to get Powerscore Critical Reasoning book. Delivery was slow, as they held up my shipment for 4 days without processing the payment. Lord only knows if they could not locate the book in their gigantic warehouses. Nevertheless, once the payment was processed, the shipment was quick. However, I did not like it that the book was not plastic shrink-wrapped. The book arrived with the back cover and few pages slightly wrinkled, suspiciously due to water exposure (perhaps rainwater?). These problems are related to Amazon and I just wanted to highlight them. Problems aside, the book is actually quite good. I never knew how to decipher some of those cryptic Critical Reasoning questions (some answers seem similar) and this 'Bible' will give you the clarity and even strategy to attack these questions. I find myself improving on the basic and popular questions on 'Must be true' and 'Strengthen/Weaken' topics. Good buy, good content.

This book is great if you want a high score (high 700s) and don't have a ton of time to study. I only had one month to study for the GMAT and wanted books that would really maximize my time studying for my weaker areas. It was easy enough to read and understand so I was able to cover it over a weekend (albeit with not many breaks). I imagine it would be even more effective if you have more time to study. The structure used for types of questions was extremely helpful for me in getting the tougher questions right more often. I used this book along with the Powerscore Sentence Correction Book. A few more practice problems would have been nice. I found the PowerScore questions to be harder than the OG ones. I also bought the Official Guide and the EZ Advanced and EZ Logic and Stats.

The placing of paragraphs, examples, and sub paragraphs are off. For example, when it mentions an example to the "left," the example will be on another slide, or somewhere random on the current page. I have messed with the display options for hours, and found no fix to the formatting issue. I have used many ebooks for college, and can say there is something wrong with this one. I wish I would of just ordered a paper copy.

After reading the review of this book in many places, I searched for this in several bookstores in Singapore but could not find anywhere then I brought the kindle version from amazon. Now, I know why everyone recommends this book. This is a must have for all GMAT takers. I was able to improve my verbal from 36 to 40 after reading this book. My first GMAT score was 690 and I moved to scored 740 after just going through this book. My CR accuracy improved from 50-60 to 95-100%.