This really helped me on RC, just try slowing down. Instead of speeding through it to answer every question, really just focus on the content and answer the first three passages. Work on getting every single question right, and just throw away the last passage. You can still guess those bubbles, but even if you get them all wrong you're automatically at -6/-7 vs -10/-15. I've found this technique to not only improve my accuracy, but also my speed.
Now I find myself reading through the passages at a slower rate, but understanding them at a much higher level. As a result, going through the questions is much quicker and more accurate. I think with a little practice you'll find taking your time to thoroughly understand the passage upfront really pays off in the end, and you'll work up to a fast enough speed to complete all 4 passages.
There’s a lot of reasons people do poorly in RC, and each one of them has a unique solution. What’s going wrong exactly? That’s not always an easy question to answer, but it is vital to examine. Do you have any ideas on that?
Those are the steps that were taught to us in the CC so those are the steps that I take when approaching the LR questions.. those don't help that much with RC though. I am only missing about 6-8 over the two LR Sections. My main weakness is RC where i end up missing anywhere from 10-15 per section. I have read a couple of other posts on here that have several different ways for approaching RC passages and questions, I am going to try variations of those methods to see if they help. thanks.
Hi @mmccoy796!
If you are missing 10-15 per RC section, I think you benefit a lot from attending J.Y.'s live RC sessions happening this month!:
6 months of solid heavy technical reading (the economist, academic journals etc) might improve your RC and cause you to break through that plateau, -10 / -15 on RC suggests deep issues though, it might take a while to fully correct.
Your average score in reading comprehension makes me think it is spilling into your LR section and causing you to get more questions wrong in this area. Usually the students with average RC scores get hit down by the curve breaker LR questions for the same reasons they are scoring lower in RC. Reading comprehension is a skill that takes years of focus to cultivate. It can be done but as you likely already know RC is a tough egg to crack.
Those are the steps that were taught to us in the CC so those are the steps that I take when approaching the LR questions.. those don't help that much with RC though. I am only missing about 6-8 over the two LR Sections. My main weakness is RC where i end up missing anywhere from 10-15 per section. I have read a couple of other posts on here that have several different ways for approaching RC passages and questions, I am going to try variations of those methods to see if they help. thanks.
RC is a lot more involved, but try to think of passages as longer form arguments that will actually sometimes argue against themselves.
I have a portfolio of LSAT work that documents notations I make in RC if you're interested. It may be of some use to you to see examples.
I mean, when you approach an LR stimulus, what steps do you take in order to understand it?
For example, I do this:
Identify argument
Identify conlusion
Identify premises
Identify counter-premises
Identify question stem
Identify gap(s) in argument
Identify ways to close gap(s) in argument (prephrase)
Answer question
The LSAT really is a game. We can't both expect to read like we're used to reading everywhere else and expect to do well on the LSAT. I don't think you have this mentality or anything, but sometimes people are such efficient readers that there would/should be no reason for them to question the effectiveness of their default reading mode. The vast majority of us have to change the way our brains process information a bit to really conquer LR/RC.
It sounds like you lack an organized approach for LR. Can you describe your generic, untimed approach to LR questions?
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10 comments
This really helped me on RC, just try slowing down. Instead of speeding through it to answer every question, really just focus on the content and answer the first three passages. Work on getting every single question right, and just throw away the last passage. You can still guess those bubbles, but even if you get them all wrong you're automatically at -6/-7 vs -10/-15. I've found this technique to not only improve my accuracy, but also my speed.
Now I find myself reading through the passages at a slower rate, but understanding them at a much higher level. As a result, going through the questions is much quicker and more accurate. I think with a little practice you'll find taking your time to thoroughly understand the passage upfront really pays off in the end, and you'll work up to a fast enough speed to complete all 4 passages.
There’s a lot of reasons people do poorly in RC, and each one of them has a unique solution. What’s going wrong exactly? That’s not always an easy question to answer, but it is vital to examine. Do you have any ideas on that?
@mmccoy796 said:
Those are the steps that were taught to us in the CC so those are the steps that I take when approaching the LR questions.. those don't help that much with RC though. I am only missing about 6-8 over the two LR Sections. My main weakness is RC where i end up missing anywhere from 10-15 per section. I have read a couple of other posts on here that have several different ways for approaching RC passages and questions, I am going to try variations of those methods to see if they help. thanks.
Hi @mmccoy796!
If you are missing 10-15 per RC section, I think you benefit a lot from attending J.Y.'s live RC sessions happening this month!:
https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/15999/rc-review-pts-58-65-all-rc-sections-may-3rd-june-2nd-9pm-midnight-edt
6 months of solid heavy technical reading (the economist, academic journals etc) might improve your RC and cause you to break through that plateau, -10 / -15 on RC suggests deep issues though, it might take a while to fully correct.
Your average score in reading comprehension makes me think it is spilling into your LR section and causing you to get more questions wrong in this area. Usually the students with average RC scores get hit down by the curve breaker LR questions for the same reasons they are scoring lower in RC. Reading comprehension is a skill that takes years of focus to cultivate. It can be done but as you likely already know RC is a tough egg to crack.
@mmccoy796 said:
Those are the steps that were taught to us in the CC so those are the steps that I take when approaching the LR questions.. those don't help that much with RC though. I am only missing about 6-8 over the two LR Sections. My main weakness is RC where i end up missing anywhere from 10-15 per section. I have read a couple of other posts on here that have several different ways for approaching RC passages and questions, I am going to try variations of those methods to see if they help. thanks.
RC is a lot more involved, but try to think of passages as longer form arguments that will actually sometimes argue against themselves.
I have a portfolio of LSAT work that documents notations I make in RC if you're interested. It may be of some use to you to see examples.
.
I mean, when you approach an LR stimulus, what steps do you take in order to understand it?
For example, I do this:
Identify argument
Identify conlusion
Identify premises
Identify counter-premises
Identify question stem
Identify gap(s) in argument
Identify ways to close gap(s) in argument (prephrase)
Answer question
The LSAT really is a game. We can't both expect to read like we're used to reading everywhere else and expect to do well on the LSAT. I don't think you have this mentality or anything, but sometimes people are such efficient readers that there would/should be no reason for them to question the effectiveness of their default reading mode. The vast majority of us have to change the way our brains process information a bit to really conquer LR/RC.
.
It sounds like you lack an organized approach for LR. Can you describe your generic, untimed approach to LR questions?