Self-paced
Hi everyone,
I've been consistently getting -4 on RC lately and I have no clue on how to improve my accuracy, since the question types I get wrong on each practice section differ.
Has anyone else dealt with this issue and have advice to share? I'm aiming for the September test and hope to improve by then!
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9 comments
How do you even manage to get a -4, thats unreal! Any advice?
@Zanderantochow Thank you!
The first thing I had to force myself to do was become engaged with/interested in the passage. My eyes used to glaze over the text after a while, especially if the passage was a bit more complicated (science especially), but you have to really make sure you're reading everything intentionally. If I read a passage about horses being able to fly for example, in my head, I go "wow how interesting" or "I wonder why that is" and it works wonders for me lol. In essence, I have to react to the passage with faux interest to keep engaged. (Many people also say to read dense text outside of the LSAT to practice too, I think someone commented this!)
READ SLOWWWWW. Initially, I thought reading slower was going to waste a lot of time, but if you take the time to read and understand after each word, you'll speed through the questions faster than you think. Additionally, after I finish each paragraph I take notes on what the paragraph is doing (ex: introduces an argument, then discusses 2 sides of it). Once I finish the entire passage, the FIRST thing I do is summarize in my head what the passage was about in a sentence using my notes. If you're able to form an idea of the main point in your head, you're in a great position to answer the questions! Additionally, make sure to keep note of any opinions/feelings the AUTHOR might hint at or explicitly say in each paragraph as well. This is important because in many passages, the author might introduce the views of OTHER people (critics, scholars, scientists, etc.) and you HAVE to be able to differentiate between what the AUTHOR thinks and what the people mentioned think (or if they have similar views).
One thing that has helped me a lot was noticing that many RC (minus comparative) passages have a pattern. The passage will either (1) Introduce a concept/phenomenon and explain it, (2) Introduce a problem/argument and explain two sides of it (and maybe the author picks a side or gives own opinion), or (3) Introduce a common/traditional belief then show how a recent idea/discovery may go against it. This might not be an exhaustive list, but I've noticed this a lot during drilling.
RC for me took a LONG time to get better at but keep in mind that RC is essentially an open book test: the passage is always there for you to reference so don't try to memorize things. I've noticed the test makers loooooove to put answer choices that seem sooo similar to something in the passage, but when I reference my notes and check the passage it was never there! IMPORTANTLY, make sure that when you pick an answer, you can reference WHERE in the text supports it.
TL;DR:
(1) Become engaged with/interested in the passage (even if you don't care for the topic lol)
(2) Slow down when reading: understand each paragraph and understand author opinion and opinions of others, if stated
(3) I feel that RC passages have a pattern to them, be on the lookout for how the passage is set up.
(4) Don't try to memorize anything, make sure you always refer back the text.
(5) Make sure you can point to WHERE in the passage the answer you pick is supported.
I understand if this could be confusing so do reach out if I can clarify anything!
*apologies if there are any typos lol!
@Zenaida-Macroura You are a hero. Thank you!!!!
I think untimed practice has helped me a lot with RC, especially if you find that you tend to struggle with specific passage types (ie comparative, science, etc.). I will do science passages untimed and try to get a perfect score - I think if you aren't able to get questions right untimed then getting them right timed is even more difficult. I also redo passages from old PT's or very challenging passages from past sections untimed. This is good to see where you have grown but also what areas you may still be struggling with in RC.
I think reading difficult dense texts outside of LSAT prep can also help. For me, since I struggle with science passages, I've been reading a couple of science news articles every day so I can get better acclimated to the tone/topics.
@kg8888 Awesome! I'll give untimed practice more emphasis so I can work on accuracy! I noticed I don't actually read much anymore outside of practice, so this might be my sign to pick up reading again, thank you 😊!
Does your accuracy improve when you blind review ? I find BR to be the most effective way to assess what you missed and why. You can ask yourself what made the wrong answer attractive and why you weren't attracted to the right answer etc.
@ANP To be very honest, I actually don't BR 😞! I don't think it helps me much, since my BR almost always mirrors my score 😢. I do make sure to take the time to read the explanations on WHY I got it wrong, but I'm not sure what else to look at 😢.
@Zenaida-Macroura I find that there's almost always a line that directly correlates to the right AC, irrespective of question type. Are there specific passage themes you struggle with more? It's hard to say w/o more focussed data but things to consider are whether the ac is too strong, whether it just reiterates some part of the passage without answering the question, whether or not the ac is in fact consistent w the main point of the passage. I find that I miss adjectives a lot (bc I think I see what I'm looking for), so my goal is to try highlighting them moving forward. Reading for leisure has helped me the most though but idk if you do that already. These are just random ideas I'm throwing out there, you got this !! :)
@ANP These are all great ideas, thank you so much! I'll definitely need to work on making sure I can reference back to the passage when choosing answers!