Self-paced
Hi everyone! Anyone else struggling to improve their score for RC or have dealt with this before? Im seeing steady improvement in LR but RC is dragging down my scores, even though I have always been a strong reader ( or so I thought). Hoping someone can share some tips that are not just do more reading. TIA! :)
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Hi! While I'm still studying and improving, I can offer a bit of insight on what worked for me, as someone who considers himself a strong reader who also struggles/struggled with RC.
My first PT was a cold diagnostic on RC; I had never even touched a RC passage prior, and across my two RC sections on this PT, I think I averaged -7. After some drills, I can fairly consistently hit -4 or even better. Even though that's not getting me a 180, it's an improvement that I'll keep building upon.
The biggest thing for me was reading with an unbelievable amount of unfound enthusiasm. I treat every single passage like the most interesting thing on Earth. I found that being passionate about what I'm working on is what gets me the most progress, so if I can find passion - or even fake it! - for RC passages, my brain absorbs information and structures passages much more reliably. Difficult things always exist in life, but approaching them with passion and interest tricks or biases your brain to pursue growth more fervently. I've used this mentality to improve my basketball, fighting game, FPS game, writing, and language skills, amongst others, and applying it to RC has helped me a ton. With this approach, I find that even if I allow myself unlimited time on an RC passage to aim for 100% accuracy, I only really go a minute or two above target time. With more practice, pattern recognition in stems/answer options, and optimizations, I can absolutely hit target time and below even if I'm intentionally taking my sweet time.
Another trick I'm trying to implement is treating every single question in RC as a MBT or MSS question. Any answer option that purports the passage said something it didn't say is an easy elimination, generally; as are answer options that just explicitly contradict information in the passage.
Also, using the built-in search feature shaves off a good 2+ minutes of time, from each section, of having to search for words! Make sure not to press Ctrl + F but to instead use the actual search feature above the passage text, as the Ctrl + F keybind is disabled on the actual LSAT test but this search feature is, indeed, available.
Hopefully, this can give you even a smidge of help! Go crush the LSAT and get yourself a full ride!
@madeinkeaven Thank you so much for your suggestion!
Thinking bigger picture when reading an RC passage can be helpful. Looking at the structure, main point, and purpose is extremely helpful. It's easy to get bogged down in the details sometimes, but most of the questions will be about how the argument is structured rather than quizzing you on details. Of course, sometimes you'll need to know the details, but good quality low-res summaries will be there for you to look at and quickly find what you need if it pops up!
@AltanM Thank you!
Hey! A couple things led me (and many students!) to some RC breakthroughs:
RC is Just Big LR
RC still requires logical reasoning. There may be multiple answers that feel supported by the passage. Try looking at them through an LR lens. Does the passage actually support that "never" or "most" quantifier?
Conceptually
You're analyzing an argument, not assessing an article. As you encounter new information, think about how it relates to the information you've already read. Does this support earlier information? Is supported by it? Provide a counterexample? Etc.
Approach Tweaks
If you haven't already, try no look-back drilling! After you've read the passage and made your low-res summaries, challenge yourself not to refer back to the passage once you go to the questions (obviously if a question references a specific word or sentence, that's allowed). Use your low-res summaries and pre-phrasing; you remember more than you think.
I hope that helps, and happy studying!
@PhoebeHopp Thank you Phoebe for your suggestions!
i had this issue and improved by cutting down the amount of RC i did. I was following the 7sage 4 hour plan and getting overwhelmed by the amount of passages you wanted you doing. By cutting the amount in half, and just focusing on the smaller amount of passages, it helped really focus in on issues and address them. More isn't always better
@NathanRawn I am on that plan too so that might be a good idea for me too. Thank you for sharing!