Quick Tip

Using Scratch Paper

On your official test day, you’re allowed 5 blank sheets to use as scratch paper. You’re also allowed to use 8.5 x 14 in. scratch paper (aka legal size), not just your regular 8.5 x 11 in. printer paper. Those extra 3 inches give you over 25% more room! 

Discussion

Blind Reviewing Reading Comprehension

Sometimes the RC section can be difficult to blind review—especially the passages. But to have a chance at answering the questions, an understanding of the passage is crucial. Outlined below are steps you can follow to get the most out of your RC blind review process.

First reread the passage paragraph by paragraph and write a 1- to 2-sentence summary of each paragraph. Be sure to include the author’s intentions in writing the paragraph, as well as the content involved. 

Then, compare and contrast the differences of your understanding between timed conditions and untimed conditions. Ask yourself questions like, “How could I understand a sentence like this better under timed conditions?” or “Is this something I need to worry about under time?” The point here is to fine-tune your process under timed conditions to get as much out of the passage as possible. 

Sometimes, my knee-jerk reaction would be to say, “I should be able to understand everything under time!” While that might be nice, it’s likely an impossible task. Blind review is the time to dig a really deep hole and go through the passage really carefully, but you shouldn’t expect yourself to be able to dig that deep all the time. Instead of digging a 100-foot hole, though, maybe you can dig a 50-foot one with the practice you’ve done under blind review.

For example, a common thing students will do is look up words to hard vocabulary that they will probably never ever see again, like scientific terms such as “choledocholithiasis.” Under timed conditions, you can stare at “choledocholithiasis” for hours and still have no idea what it means, and unfortunately, you don't get a dictionary on test day (it’s an illness dealing with the gallbladder, if you’re wondering). Instead of looking up the definition of the word under blind review, I would ask myself, “Is there any way I could understand this word using the other words surrounding it?” or “Does the meaning of this word affect the passage at all?”

The more you improve on the LSAT, the more you have to take into consideration timing factors to increase your score. Blind review can be a powerful tool to help students reflect on such timing factors to maximize their scores. 

If you’re interested in learning more, we’re offering a live course that’s starting this Saturday, August 6th specializing in Reading Comprehension. You can check it out here: https://7sage.com/lsat-live-class/