Hi everyone,
I am about two weeks out from the October LSAT and I fluctuate with where I wanna be (157-161), I continue to struggle with finishing RC on time. I get about half way through the 3rd passage before I run out of time and either try to skim the next passage or just guess. Any tips? How do you guys approach RC?
Unfortunately for this PT, RC was at the very end so I was pretty burnt out. Im not sure what happened to the 1st LR section but glad it was experimental lol. 
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9 comments
Not an approach specifically to RC passages but I noticed an improvement in my reading speed and comprehension when I started substituting any phone scrolling with reading non fiction. On my commute, during my lunch break, before bed - basically whenever I'm not studying for the lsat or working (I also recently deleted social media apps that tempted me away from doing this). My whole life I thought I was a naturally slow reader but this exercise has made me realize that reading is a skill that requires practice. Now I pretty much never run out of time on RC. Best of luck!
This helped me sooo much! Not only for RC but for LR as well. Scrolling is like starting a new article every 10-20 seconds, except the articles are not bound by correct grammar and spelling. So it's not a surprise that we'd struggle more reading an article, that's bound by correct English, in its entirety.
Highly recommend for anyone looking to improve on the LSAT.
Completely agree. I started a new job in May that requires reading heavy material and I saw a crazy jump in my LR and RC because I was able to comprehend/read much faster.
I need to start reading articles outside of my interest too, I have found that i'm much slower at humanities/literature reading because I have very little interest. Thank you!
For me, practice has been the biggest thing. But you should have a general idea of what Q types trip you up the most and consider why. Did you skim the passage too much? Did you read with intent (looking for author's tone, considering structure, etc)? Or are you not understanding what the Q is exactly asking of you?
I personally drill untimed to get my understanding down first, then focus on timing. But you're not far from the exam so not sure if you can implement this now, but consider it if you plan to re-take. In my opinion, timing strategies can't be implemented very well if you lack understanding. But try to remember if a Q is taking you a while, flag it and come back to it. It's better to answer as many Qs as you can first, and then come back to the ones that will take more time.
I also found LSAT Lab's RC videos on Youtube to be really helpful. Also looking at RC tips on Reddit.
Its definitely the last 1-2 questions of a passage that trip me up the most. I will check out LSAT Lab thank you!
Personally, I found that typing key terms of each option back into articles really helped me a lot in improving RC
me too :D
What has helped for me is spending more upfront time reading the passage (3 ish mins, 4 for harder science) which then helps me to get through the questions faster. Also trusting your gut and if you can't get a question after 2 mins, flag and move on!
Yes! Need to do remember to skip a question if its taking me too long. I just never pay attention to the clock :(