If you keep rereading RC passages, or flipping back to them on every question, this class is for you.
I'm running a free live class every Saturday, 9 to 10am Mountain (11am ET / 10am CT / 8am PT). It starts October 17 with a two-week RC series, then a new skill each week after that. Only 10 spots for now, so it stays small enough for real discussion.
Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/soq1FwpWTQaHV-zwg2eb6A
Can't make it? Register anyway and I'll send you the recording.
Week 1 (Oct 17): Reading RC for reasoning structure. Most people read passages for the details, then get lost when the questions ask about the argument. I'll teach you to read for structure instead: whose view is whose, where the author lands, and what each paragraph is doing. Then we'll work a real passage together and break down the misses live.
Week 2 (Oct 24): Attacking the RC question stem. Once you can see the structure, the next place points leak is the stem. You read it, decide what it's asking, and go hunting for the wrong thing before you've looked at a single answer choice. A stem pointing at the whole passage means the answer won't hinge on a small detail, so you shouldn't need to go back. A stem pointing at one sentence means the opposite. I'll teach my routine for reading stems, then we'll run real questions together.
Free RC Handouts
I've put together RC handouts that cover everything in this two-week series. Comment below and I'll send them over, whether or not you can make it. And tell me which RC question type reliably costs you the most. I pick future topics from the replies.
About Me
My name is Tanner. I studied harder for the LSAT than anything in my life, reviewed every question, put in the hours, and my score stayed flat. The problem was blind spots I couldn't see on my own. I eventually went from a 151 to a 177, and I've spent the four years since coaching over 1,000 hours one-on-one. I also went through most of college not knowing I had ADHD, so I spent years assuming I was lazy when I just learned differently than I was being taught. That's why I now specialize in coaching students with ADHD, and it shapes how I coach everyone. Most students don't need to grind harder. They need to find the one thing holding them back.
It's usually narrower than they think. One student understood RC passages fine but kept missing the questions about the whole passage. Every time, she'd go searching for the one sentence that proved her answer, and on those questions there usually isn't one. That habit was keeping her at a 172. Fixing it got her to a 176, and it's exactly what we'll work on in Week 2.
One-on-One Tutoring
If you find the class helpful and want one-on-one tutoring, I offer a free 20 to 30 minute consultation. After that, coaching is $180/hour, and if you decide not to continue after your first session, I'll refund it 100%. Text 801-645-3233 or email tanner.call@law.byu.edu.
Register for Saturday's class: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/soq1FwpWTQaHV-zwg2eb6A
8 comments
I’d love the handouts, thank you! Function and author agreement questions cost me the most, especially on science passages. I sometimes focus on the line itself instead of the surrounding context.
Thanks! I just emailed the handout to everyone registered for the class. If for some reason you did not get the email let me know. Function and author agreement questions are a big part of Week 2. But as a quick tip: on function questions, read the line, but answer from what its paragraph is doing in the whole passage.
Hi! Very excited for this. Your post states every Saturday but the Zoom link specifies to sign up for only one day. I’m interested in both Oct 17 & Oct 24 - is there any harm in me signing up for both? Would also greatly appreciate your RC handout! Thank you in advance.
RC is my strongest when I’m not under a time pressure - otherwise, it’s my worst. I commonly miss questions like PT128.S1.P4.Q24.
Hey stoked to see you tomorrow! I tried to change the Zoom meeting so that hopefully you should be good for both class sessions, but I am new at these kind of zoom meetings so if you are still having troubles let me know. Also if you are struggling with time on RC it is generally because you think you need to understand the passage better than you actually do, and I'll go more into detail about that tomorrow.
Thanks! Just signed up. The RC passage type I struggle with the most is probably comparative and would love if you could cover those specifically.
Great looking forward to having you there tomorrow! And after the first passage I plan on showing how to do this for comparative passages. But as quick tip I will say that students who struggle with comparative passages it's usually because they think they need to understand Passage A and Passage B. When in reality that will only get you 50% of the points. The other half of the points come from understanding the relationship between Passage A and Passage B. I will explain that bit more tomorrow but let me know if you have any questions!
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So tomorrow we will go over a passage with an analogy question, but next week when we go over attacking the RC question stems, we will go over it in more detail. But as a quick tip I think the best thing you can do is to try and spend more time on your anticipation for analogy questions. You won't be able to anticipate the answer, but you can have a really solid idea of what the answer needs to do. Even something like "It will need to take a big thing and show how it applies to a smaller thing" can be incredibly helpful.