Post: #1

I have a cousin who is looking to develop mastery in critical reasoning (understand he wants to ace GMAT) and has sought my advice. Partly to help him and partly out of my own interest in this field, what are the best resources out there to achieve mastery in critical reasoning skills?

Post: #2

Abraham Lincoln read Euclid for this:

Quote:At last I said,- Lincoln, you never can make a lawyer if you do not understand what demonstrate means; and I left my situation in Springfield, went home to my father’s house, and stayed there till I could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid at sight. I then found out what demonstrate means, and went back to my law studies.

But in all seriousness I would just take a Princeton review course in his place.

Post: #3

(06-03-2016 07:41 AM)storm Wrote:  Abraham Lincoln read Euclid for this:

Quote:At last I said,- Lincoln, you never can make a lawyer if you do not understand what demonstrate means; and I left my situation in Springfield, went home to my father’s house, and stayed there till I could give any proposition in the six books of Euclid at sight. I then found out what demonstrate means, and went back to my law studies.

But in all seriousness I would just take a Princeton review course in his place.

Thanks for your response, Storm.
My intention is not just to help out my cousin but to also master critical reasoning skills myself(I currently do not have interest in preparing for GMAT). Hence, this thread need not be restricted to GMAT preparation.

Post: #4

GMAT, GRE, and LSAT prep are good ways to improve critical reasoning skills.

Also, your cousin can take some philosophy and logic courses online. I'm sure several big-name American universities have free stuff on youtube.

Critical Reasoning is a very broad term. It would help to know what his goals are and where he is at in life currently. I can then give you/him some more focused advice.

Post: #5

(06-03-2016 01:03 PM)John Quincy Wrote:  GMAT, GRE, and LSAT prep are good ways to improve critical reasoning skills.

Also, your cousin can take some philosophy and logic courses online. I'm sure several big-name American universities have free stuff on youtube.

Critical Reasoning is a very broad term. It would help to know what his goals are and where he is at in life currently. I can then give you/him some more focused advice.

Thanks for your reply, John. As far as my cousin is concerned, he simply wants to ace the GMAT(get as close to 800 as he can). As he keeps saying, he wants to "make GMAT my bitch." He is a hard working chap, for what it is worth.

As for myself, I have lost touch with mathematics over a good amount of time (10 years). I want to regain knowledge of mathematical methods, that may be used to solve reasoning and logic problems.

Post: #6

http://www.gmatclub.com/forum plenty of free resources to practice critical reasoning

Post: #7

Goel:

For you, I would recommend watching lectures on youtube, on math and economics. There are good online courses in math on the Univ of California - Irivine (UCI) and MIT youtube channels. I'm sure there are plenty of resources for Econ as well, but am not familiar with them.

One thing to keep in mind: critical reasoning can be developed (and should be developed) not only through mathematics, but also through the study of philosophy, politics, and so on. To pursue that option, I would recommend you read Mark C. Henrie's short book, A Student's Guide to the Core Curriculum. Then start reading the books he mentions. (Caution: This is a multi-year project and requires immense willpower and dedication).

For your cousin:

1. VERY IMPORTANT: Pick a GMAT center in a good location. My buddy took the GMAT in a university that was bordering the ghetto in his city. The noise levels were crazy and he bombed the test. Then he took it again, in an upscale suburb. It was much better and his score went up by 150 points.

2. Don't only use Princeton Review. The questions are way too easy. Use kaplan as well. I've heard Shawn Berry is pretty good too. Practice Practice Practice. Do at least 8 sample tests just as you would the real one.

Post: #8

For test prep spend the money on a course. And then spend the time preparing, as opposed to taking the test right after schooling. Most prep courses start a month out from the test date. I'd do take one three months prior, then weekly timed practice exams. All those tests are easily gamed. And going by my classmates, he'll deal with lots of dullards.

Your question?

The finest minds, the ones that were open and had the least tunnel vision, philosophy majors that did a lot of rhetoric and argument. They tend to have heard the arguments and the meta levels of everything, and can nail you to the wall on your preconditions and unspoken premises. It can actually be a little to have a discussion with them if they're too into Socrates mode. If more liberal arts majors took philosophy seriously... le sigh.

I've known/worked with plenty of physicists, mathematicians, and engineers in my former life - they were all very trapped in that world view. Programmers being the worst. Tradesmen are more aware of the politics and social dynamics of things.

So see if you can find an intro class that has writing and an oral component. You need the feedback from a professional and experience with others.

Reading philosophy books on their own has other value, but the ability to go back and forth or to tackle issues under pressure is not one of them

WIA

Post: #9

Formal logic or figuring out how to write mathematical proofs would be essential to developing advanced critical reasoning skills.

Too many people bloviate trying to be clever, simply getting the bare bones of communication mastered (math) would put anybody far ahead of the pack on the GMAT.

Post: #10

This reminds me of a study conducted to test whether practicing chess tactics improved mental capacity in all areas of thinking (aside from just those associated with chess). According to the results of the study, subjects who practiced chess and chess puzzles intensely just ended up being good at, well, chess - the skills did not translate to other areas of faculty like math, general memory, reasoning, spatial coordination, etc...

I think that the best way to ace the GMAT is not too waste time but to just study for the GMAT. Start well ahead of everybody else and spend extra time on the analytical reasoning sections if thats the weak spot.

Post: #11

From what I remember, the GMAT is mostly reading comprehension. The math part of it is for toddlers.

Post: #12

(06-14-2016 07:43 PM)se7en Wrote:  This reminds me of a study conducted to test whether practicing chess tactics improved mental capacity in all areas of thinking (aside from just those associated with chess). According to the results of the study, subjects who practiced chess and chess puzzles intensely just ended up being good at, well, chess - the skills did not translate to other areas of faculty like math, general memory, reasoning, spatial coordination, etc...

I think that the best way to ace the GMAT is not too waste time but to just study for the GMAT. Start well ahead of everybody else and spend extra time on the analytical reasoning sections if thats the weak spot.

My cousin is actually quite good at reasoning. He is actually preparing for other examinations as well(including CAT- which is the Indian equivalent of GMAT). Critical reasoning is the constant/common factor in all these examinations. Hence, he is focused on getting super strong at that.

Post: #13

(06-14-2016 04:10 PM)Hades Wrote:  Formal logic or figuring out how to write mathematical proofs would be essential to developing advanced critical reasoning skills.

Too many people bloviate trying to be clever, simply getting the bare bones of communication mastered (math) would put anybody far ahead of the pack on the GMAT.

Yeah...thought so.

Post: #14

iTunes is a free program that gives unlimited access to iTunes U, basically classroom videos and lectures from about 700 colleges and universities worldwide. You do not need an iPad or iPhone to access the material.

I found a number of courses on critical thinking and other related topics from hundreds of schools. Just be aware that some of the courses come from institutions with a SJW mentality.

Post: #15

(06-03-2016 07:29 AM)Goelsaab Wrote:  I have a cousin who is looking to develop mastery in critical reasoning (understand he wants to ace GMAT) and has sought my advice. Partly to help him and partly out of my own interest in this field, what are the best resources out there to achieve mastery in critical reasoning skills?

Critical reasoning skills are mostly IQ dependent. His personal horsepower will mostly determine his ability to reason. In other words, he's mostly as relatively good as he's going to be. Though, you can correct small mistakes in reasoning logic and learn some tricks and shortcuts for doing problems on standardized tests. Those tests are game-able to a degree. Though, scores will largely reflect IQ. In other words, someone isn't going to propel themselves from the 50th percentile to the 90th through studying unless they're brain is still developing and they are relatively uneducated to start.

In short: it is worth it to study, but don't expect miracles and "mastery" if you aren't already flirting with it and are only missing some tools and familiarity.

Post: #16

Let me weigh in a bit, I took it not that long ago and scored over 700 on the test.


The verbal section is fairly generic. I'd actually recommend studying for LSAT materials over GMAT. Most adcoms also put significantly less weight on the verbal thant he math.

Math is also quite beatable but there is a catch. It relies heavily on high school geometry tricks and Calulus 1 level numerical properties.

Not a problem? It's a huge problem because unless you've been working in a math or engineering field you simply haven't used the kinds of math the GMAT uses.


The best way to improve is simply practice. A lot. The only way you're going to bring back your old problem solving ability is to exercise it. I particularly recommend gmatclub.com sine they have a huge selection of sample questions ranging all difficulty levels.