Thoughts on RC improvement

jberger295

Taking the LSAT in Sept - just finished LSAT trainer/my 3rd prep test (65) and the one section I'm not feeling even alright in is RC. I scored a 162 on the above test and missed 12 in RC. For those who have seen improvement - how do you train yourself to synthesize the information quickly and accurately so as to be able to answer the questions that follow? Unless the content is fairly simple, I have a hard time doing the above.

Alex

@jberger295 said:
Taking the LSAT in Sept - just finished LSAT trainer/my 3rd prep test (65) and the one section I'm not feeling even alright in is RC. I scored a 162 on the above test and missed 12 in RC. For those who have seen improvement - how do you train yourself to synthesize the information quickly and accurately so as to be able to answer the questions that follow? Unless the content is fairly simple, I have a hard time doing the above.

I'm quite keen on using my mind to visualize whatever is going on in the passage and then my memory to store those visualizations. I feel like onceI have something visual for a passage in my head, I'm less likely to forget it or remember something false about the passage when I go to recall it from memory.

I practiced that and the memory method on repeated untimed sections until I was missing very few RC questions.

Cant Get Right

I think there's a broad range of strategies in RC, much more so than in either LR or LG. Make sure you have a deliberate strategy so that you have something to guide your process. You really don't want to just kinda read the passage and answer the questions and that be your strategy. Time management dictates a lot of it. If your want to spend 2 minutes in the passage, 6 minutes in the questions, you're not going to be doing a lot of work on the front end but can take your time in the questions and look back to confirm answers. If you're going to be doing 5 minutes in the passage, 3 minutes in the questions, you'll be able to really take your time getting a solid grasp of the passage, but you'll need it because you're going to have to fly through the questions.

acsimon

I think that RC section is pretty difficult in general--especially under timed conditions with the last passage about farming studies. I wouldn't worry too much about it other than to say that improving speed with certain passage times while keeping accuracy constant is really important before seeing improvements in whole RC sections. Certain passages are easier and so should be done considerably faster than others. Otherwise, you get in a situation (like in 65) where the last passage tests a lot of tricky details about its contents.--A.c.S

Alex

I think @"Cant Get Right" (my personal LSAT hero ) brings up the BIGGEST idea that is needed for one to do well on RC. The idea your plan/approach cannot simply be to just read the passage and then answer the questions. You need to have a deliberate strategy and practice mastering that strategy.