Need advice to go from -4 in RC to -0

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• 1 Like

  Scott Milam Member Administrator Moderator Sage 7Sage Tutor

  December 2021 1342 karma

  It depends on what you are missing and why! However, I do have a general tip:

  Consistently scoring -1 or -0 on RC requires that you read very quickly. Most of the clients I’ve tutored who were capable of that score finished RC with plenty of time to clear their flags and still have 30-60 seconds to spare. Increasing your speed while maintaining accuracy is the key to RC mastery.
• 2 Likes

  Britt Ajaj Member Sage 7Sage Tutor

  December 2021 81 karma

  I agree with Scott's general tip! I would also recommend that you read, read, read! Go out in the world and grab a book and read it! This will help with reading speed and general knowledge, too!
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  Lizardking-1 Member

  December 2021 364 karma

  I am not consistently scoring -0 in RC, but my last timed PT was -0, and I score plenty of -2's/-3's.I've noticed that I struggle with art and cultural passages. Spending more time with these in BR helped. I got a subscription to NY review of books to try and emulate the style of these passages. This is where I have to agree with Brittney. I started reading so many articles after starting LSAT prep. I read for a few hours early in the morning and this has seriously helped a lot.
  Aside from this, JY's RC method is really useful, and I think spreeder is a tool worth using.

  https://www.spreeder.com

  Best of luck.
• 2 Likes

  KevinLuminateLSAT Alum Member

  December 2021 edited December 2021 984 karma

  @kareenarsatia

  I'll echo the advice to do more (difficult) outside reading. Not only will this improve your reading ability, but it will also give you familiarity with a broad range of topics, which is surprising helpful throughout RC and LR. I think Quanta Magazine, Aeon Magazine, and the Harvard Law Review blog are great sources for outside reading. AL Daily is also a great source. And, not to get political, but it helps to read stuff you may disagree with. Perhaps publications like Quillette or Areo Magazine may be useful for that purpose.

  Regarding reading speed, my advice my differ from Scott's, depending on what is meant by reading quickly. I scored -0 on official RC and typically spend about 2.5 to 4.5 minutes on reading a passage (35-minute section timing). I don't intentionally try to limit myself to that range, but it just happens to be that reading the passages well takes that long for me - usually the easier passages take 2.5 to 3.5, where as the harder ones take 3.5 to 4.5. If you're consistently going over this time, I do think it may help to look for ways to read more efficiently. But if your average passage reading time is under 2.5 to 4.5 minutes, I actually think you may benefit from slowing down.

  The last piece of advice I'll leave now may be obvious, but just in case it isn't: Make sure to keep track of vocabulary and phrasing that has thrown you off before and try to understand what the LSAT means by those words. I'm sure you'll recall times you've avoided a correct answer because you thought something about the way it was worded was inaccurate and then silently fumed when you saw that it was actually correct. What did the phrase actually encompass (according to the LSAT) and how is that different from what you were thinking was required to support that phrase?