I still cannot improve on Reading Comprehension.

miguel6zavala

I have read the Reading Comprehension bible, LSAT Trainer, and Voyager's guide on TLS.com. I still can't improve on reading comprehension. I keep missing 8-10 questions every time. With just a couple of days I am freaking out. I wanted to take the September LSAT but this is the only thing scaring me for the test and I really do not want to take the December LSAT. Are there any other tips that you all have. Maybe I am just not cut out to do well in Reading Comp.

Will Edwards

Miguel, how long have you been working on this? Seems like you have used a lot of different programs and I feel like that might be part of your problem. If you skip around on programs, you'll never give any of them the chance to succeed. Reading Comp is hard and improving it is the hardest of all LSAT tasks. I feel like there aren't easy lessons to learn or tips that will make your score go up.

Where are you scoring on a whole? That is the only thing that really matters. With two weeks left you are much better off focusing on LG's or LR than Reading Comp.

If you do wait, or decide to retake, my advice would be this:
1. Figure out if there are particular subjects that are hard for you, then go read some books (not articles) about those subjects.

2. Try picking up some extra-hard or esoteric books and read those, including all the notes. If you pick up Plato's The Republic, for instance, and you read the notes, you will be flipping from your place to the back of the book every minute or two. This is going to force you to remember what you were reading in the first place (which is going to be something ridiculous about whether you should hire a shoemaker to tame horses or something) and put it together about why some Greek word has 3 different meanings, one of which applies here. If you are from a Western background, maybe pick up The Analects (Confucius), it will make you learn all sorts of different names and concepts just to make sense of the work. Again read all the notes. All this makes you better at retaining what you read, staying focused through hard reading and picking up on new concepts (it'll also broaden your horizons and is quite enjoyable).

3. Figure out a way to make notes that makes sense to you. It has to make sense to you. You can try on others' styles, but in the end you have to break them all into pieces and take the pieces that work for you and make your own thing. Maybe you are excellent about remembering details and you need to pay attention to tone and voice or the other way around. Maybe you need to make notes of each. Personally I underline what I think are important details and make notes of the structure of the passage. But you have to figure out what works for you and that takes time and practice and repetition.

I know that's a ton. The obstacle is the way. Good luck.

miguel6zavala

Will, Thank you so much for everything you wrote. In Logic Games the most I miss is only 1 and In Logical Reasoning it is around 5-6. Reading comprehension is what I was hoping would improve, but it is hard. I think I will take your advice and focus on LG and LR just to make sure that I can stay consistent. This Saturday I will drill RC with a single strategy and just try and get ready for test day. Thank you again for your help and I will focus on staying consistent on LG and LR.

[Deleted User]

Listen to Will

He is the expert. This guy is missing around 1-3 questions on a consistent basis on RC, even from very recent Prep Tests.

Will Edwards

Miguel, I'm glad you found my advice helpful, I know it was somewhat of a rant. Seems like you are doing well on the rest of the LSAT, so let that be a confidence boost to you. We are all working on something in these last couple of weeks before the test, you can bet I'm trying to get my LG score more consistent. If you want to talk through some RC passages feel free to personally message me. Best of luck!

T - I hope your endorsement means you rocked RC in your last PT!

shinny117

Hey Will- what would be your advice on timing? While untimed, I barely miss any questions, but while timed, it's a mess... Any tips for ensuring speed while maintaining accuracy?