{"id":23076,"date":"2017-02-05T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=23076"},"modified":"2022-01-26T13:07:36","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T18:07:36","slug":"gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/gmat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Manhattan Prep<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>\u2019s\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanprep.com\/instructors\/stacey-koprince\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Stacey Koprince<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I want to share a four-step Critical Reasoning (CR) process with you, a process that can be used on any CR problem.<\/p>\n<p>Here is the overall process:<\/p>\n<p>Step 1: Identify the question.<br \/>\nStep 2: Deconstruct the argument.<br \/>\nStep 3: State the goal.<br \/>\nStep 4: Work from wrong to right.<\/p>\n<p>Those steps might sound obvious to some people and very vague to others. I will explain each in more detail, but I want to say first that each step is there for a very important reason, and each step has been split off from the others for a very important reason.\u00a0You can find the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.manhattangmat.com\/blog\/index.php\/2011\/10\/28\/the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>full article<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on the Manhattan Prep blog, as well as additional articles that illustrate how to use this process with each of the various CR question types. Here are a few additional details for each step:<\/p>\n<p>Step 1: Identify the question. Use the question stem to identify the question. Each question type has certain characteristics; learn them.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Step 2: Deconstruct the argument. Arguments can contain up to four main building blocks: premises, counter-premises, conclusions, and background. Every argument has premises, but that is the only component common to all. In addition, some arguments \u201ccontain\u201d assumptions\u2014that is, the assumptions are not written but can be implied based on the premises and conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>Step 3: State the goal. Each question type asks us to do a certain kind of reasoning; we need to make sure we know what it is. Each question type\u00a0also has common error categories; remind yourself what they are, and you will be less likely to fall for them!<\/p>\n<p>Step 4: Work from wrong to right. This is just a fancy way of saying find and eliminate the wrong answers until only one answer is left. Your first focus is elimination; get rid of everything you know is wrong. Do not even ask yourself what might be the right answer until you have gone through all five answers once. Then compare any remaining, tempting answers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series,\u00a0Manhattan Prep\u2019s\u00a0Stacey Koprince\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. I want to share a four-step Critical Reasoning (CR) process with you, a process that can be used on any &hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/\">Read&nbsp;More&nbsp;&nbsp;<i class=\"fal fa-sm fa-angle-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series,\u00a0Manhattan Prep\u2019s\u00a0Stacey Koprince\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. I want to share a four-step Critical Reasoning (CR) process with you, a process that can be used on any &hellip; Read&nbsp;More&nbsp;&nbsp;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-05T15:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-26T18:07:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-fallback-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","og_description":"With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series,\u00a0Manhattan Prep\u2019s\u00a0Stacey Koprince\u00a0teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. I want to share a four-step Critical Reasoning (CR) process with you, a process that can be used on any &hellip; Read&nbsp;More&nbsp;&nbsp;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/","og_site_name":"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","article_published_time":"2017-02-05T15:00:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-26T18:07:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-fallback-image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/"},"author":{"name":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8239bb74f0e5086e58417043b2ff94c6"},"headline":"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem","datePublished":"2017-02-05T15:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-26T18:07:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/"},"wordCount":373,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["GMAT"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/","name":"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem | mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-05T15:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-26T18:07:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/gmat-impact-the-process-for-tackling-any-critical-reasoning-problem\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GMAT Impact: The Process for Tackling Any Critical Reasoning Problem"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/","name":"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","description":"World&#039;s Leading MBA Admissions Consulting Firm","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"mbaMission","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-organization-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-organization-logo.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"mbaMission"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8239bb74f0e5086e58417043b2ff94c6","name":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","description":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen has been mbaMission\u2019s Writer\/Researcher since 2015. She is in charge of updating and revamping most of our publication materials, ranging from the extensive Insider\u2019s Guides series, the Interview Guides, and the International Program Guides to our shorter publications, including the HBS 2+2 and Deferred Admissions Guide and numerous blog posts.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/who-we-are\/team\/erika-vaatainen\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/erikavaatainen\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/author\/erika\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}