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2 Likes
Need help with RC
TexAgAaron
Alum Member
So I'm getting ready for my 2nd attempt in November and while RC does take time to get better, I really want to make at least a little improvement. I've been hanging around the -10 to -12 mark and can't seem to get past it.
I struggle with the balance between seeing the forest and not seeing enough details. I don't make it to the 4th passage but I will skip one if I can't seem to catch on. I try not to get bogged down in details but then it seems I miss important info and then I'm sunk. If I could even just get it down to -7 or -8 that is a win for me. Just seemed to hit a wall here. Any thoughts are appreciated!!!
Comments
Are you skipping the really hard questions? If you skipped two per passage and got the rest correct, that would give you your -8, and it would give you more time to hit all of the passages. Are you usually missing a certain questions type, like inferring author perspective or something like that? If you can figure out a pattern and just skip that question type it might help you. What sort of notations do you make?
I'd start by untimed drilling. At -10, you are likely struggling to grasp the nuance of every passage and you're rushing through before you can learn anything from them. Take your time, try to reach 100% certainty and see where you are scoring. This will give you a baseline of the desired level of understanding that you can get from a passage. Then over time, from a combination of untimed and timed drilling you can move your untimed score and your timed score closer together.
Thank you for the response! The infer questions are usually my weakest ones. I have worked on just reading the question and if I don't see it off the bat I just move on. Though the other habit I'm having a hard time with is just being stubborn on other questions when I'm having trouble but telling myself I can figure it out.
Thank you for responding! I have started going back to untimed drills. My BR vs timed does not have a lot of difference right now which is concerning. I know the overall structure is very important but I don't feel like I'm catching enough details to get down to the inference stuff. But when I slow down to catch some more of the details my time well....slows down haha and I am struggle to even get to read the last passage. It's like I'm on a seesaw.
I recently made a post about how I went from not finishing the section to usually having 5-7 minutes left over in about 2 weeks. Hopefully it can give you some ideas on how to improve.
https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/17669/my-decent-strategy-for-rc
My method might be a bit too demanding for you right now though. If you're at the -10 point, I think the highest return per time commitment would be perfecting the memory method, and develop your own active reading technique. I am also a strong believer that a successful reading should not be bogged down by details, and my own active reading focuses on attitude, purpose, and MOR. For me, reading for structure is what helps me remember details. For example, if a question asks about X, I can usually recall that X was mentioned in the premise for the other person's argument. This is a skill that you will likely develop after doing the memory method for all the passages in the first RC lesson in the core curriculum.
Do you remember what type of inference questions you have trouble with? For example, there are attitude, agreement/disagreement, MP, title, or classic MBT questions. I think for each of them, there is a slightly different focus when doing your active reading. For example, attitude questions require paying attention to words that show emotion or bias or personal thoughts of the author; MP questions require paying attention to the structure of each passage and how they connect; agree/disagree questions require paying attention to arguments and claims of both the author and other perspectives; and MBT questions, you just have to get lucky sometimes. Hahahaha
If you're looking to gain something in the neighborhood of 4 points, I think developing a timing strategy that allows you to finish the section is probably the way to go. You may miss a few questions you wouldn't have otherwise, but you will likely make up the difference with change on the back end. I've also found that making this adjustment and being a little more aggressive in the questions commonly leads to improvements in accuracy. It seems paradoxical, but it often forces people into the right balance between forrest and trees. So just do the math and act on it:
Start by allowing yourself a comfortable read and go from there. I'm a slow reader and have to budget four minutes for each passage read.
4 minutes x 4 passages = 16 minutes.
35 minutes - 16 minutes read time = 19 minutes questions time.
19 minutes ÷ 27 questions = about 42 seconds per question.
That turns out to be pretty aggressive, especially when you consider that there will be several questions which will definitely require more than 42 seconds. To attempt those questions, you've got to earn that time. To do that, you're going to have to be willing to move on without confirmation on many questions you're less than 100% confident on. Fortune favors the bold!
You'll get there! RC is all about understanding the trends and fine-tuning your strategy.
@"Cant Get Right" Thank you for the suggestion! Did you supplement it with the memory method too or is it kind of a natural memory method in itself?
@Ohnoeshalpme Thank you for the encouragement! I appreciate your help!
I think it functions to calibrate MM. It's the framework for the method more than the method itself. That said, MM--along with most other LSAT methodologies--works best once you internalize it and stop thinking about it, aka when it's a natural process. Learn it so well that you do it even when you're not making a deliberate effort to. That's the goal, and timing strategy, I think, will help to nudge you in the right direction on that.
Thank you. I haven't dipped in to the MM too much but maybe that is the way to go for me. I'll play with it a bit more. Planning to take a PT soon so I'll start giving it a go! Thank you for the advice!!!
Yeah, definitely take a look at the MM. @"Cant Get Right" has it exactly on point when he mentions its effectiveness is only at its best once you stop thinking about it. After doing the MM for a while, you internalize many things. It's not magic, but it is pretty miraculous. Once you get the hang of it, you basically discard it and never look back, and develop your own "active" reading method.
I think timing strategies are more end-game, because they tackle more of the logistical side of the test, rather than the core competence, but if the Nov test is the end goal, and time is short, then yeah, definitely work on your timing. It will reap a substantial reward for relatively little effort.
Definitely practice untimed, and don't burn through PTs. Once you start getting a little better than the score you want untimed, move to timed. For example, if your goal is -7, practice untimed until you can get like -4. You will continue to get better as you practice timed, but you have to know how to answer the questions before you can do them under time pressure and with less time.