Any tips on RC

Donotdisturb26

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Habeas Porpoise

Hey! It's great that you're seeing improvement! If you're feeling exhausted, I wonder if maybe you're taking too many tests in a week? It would help if you gave a little more info for RC specifically, too: Are you not finishing all the passages, or are you not accurate? Both? How is your RC BR looking?
I'm a pretty slow reader, too, but after a certain point it seems to come down to strategy since it's difficult to change reading speed over a short period of time. I'm actually still working on my own strategy, but key advice would be to read for structure (rather than focusing on too many details). As a disclaimer though, RC is my best section as I've always been a pretty avid reader (LG on the other hand, ugh), but I struggled to finish three of the four passages every test. It might depend on where you feel you need to improve in RC, but since my issue was/is mostly timing, I'll try and speak to that.

What's helped me so far is to first accept that my reading pace isn't as much the issue as I wanted to tell myself it was. My first problem was that I focused on details and would get frustrated and keep re-reading if I didn't understand something. Another issue was that the time pressure would interfere with my focus (so I'd have to reread things because in the middle of the sentence I'd suddenly wonder if I was spending to much time/circling the wrong stuff and suddenly I'd be at the end of a line and have no idea how I got there). Lastly, I wouldn't skip questions that were difficult or confusing, sitting on them and wasting time I could be using to answer other questions. Tackling these issues has really helped me with timing.

To address them, I started taking RC sections untimed. I usually run a stopwatch instead of a timer, and lap after the passage and after completing the questions. Then I write down my times for each passage/set of questions, BR, check answers, and watch explanations for any question I missed or had doubts on. Then, it's evaluating strategy to see where my strategy failed/could be improved, and to identify other weaknesses, changing things in order to improve timing/accuracy, and repeat. Through the entire process, reinforce reading for structure and not getting hung up on tiny details. If you can, recording yourself really helps pick out where your strategy might have fallen through. The first video I took of me doing an RC section was painful and cringeworthy -- I made so many bad decisions timing-wise. It was jarring and was what made me sit down and focus my drilling.

Also, note whether you struggle with certain subject types and focus on drilling that particular subject matter (you can use the Resources > Question Bank to find RC sections by subject). Outside of the LSAT, maybe spend some time reading magazines/books or listening to podcasts/watching documentaries related to that subject matter. For science, I recommend shows like PBS's NOVA, magazines like Scientific American or WIRED. For Economics/Business, NPR's Planet Money, The Economist. Arts/Literature: The New Yorker. Opinion pieces from accredited news sources are also great in general to try and pick apart arguments. I remember J.Y. also recommending aeon.co, though I haven't read as many of the articles there. These are all supplemental though, and real RC passages are most helpful, but sometimes it's nice to take a break. Just search around and try and broaden your overall understanding, it will help you for both LR and RC. I believe part of it is also psychological; having read a couple articles on the chemical composition of Jupiter's rings or the way in which planetary activity affects weather patterns across the globe, a (hypothetical) passage on the impact two neutron stars colliding has on spacetime doesn't seem as daunting and foreign (how many bets that's going to be a future RC passage?).

Strategy itself seems to be pretty individualized from what I hear -- some people like annotating, others prefer the Memory Method from the CC, and others something completely different. It's a good idea to try them out, combine them, and tweak your strategies until you find what works for you. You can check out past Webinars on RC, or search through the discussions and see what others have recommended for questions related to RC strategy.

Hope these tips are even a little helpful!

TheMikey

I was a very slow reader for RC as well. Never finished it on time either. What I honestly did was force myself to read faster. Yeah, it's hard but possible, you just need to drill a crap ton. you have to notice the stuff that seems to be most important that allows you to just simply know structure, and with that in mind, I was able to read a ton faster. I would say I went from reading a passage in 4 mins to now being able to read passages in about 2:40 to a bit over 3 mins. so I gained about a minute per passage or so, but that now allows me to get to more questions and actually finish on time. If you don't read for structure, you need to be. I've always known to read for structure and not try to retain details but I was always stubborn and once I fixed this mindset I was able to go faster.

About you feeling exhausted. It's normal to feel tired with this test, but if you did drastically worse than usual than you may be burnt out. take some time off if you think this is the case

ltownsjr

So I just wanna start off by saying that I'm not an expert at the LSAT. I've been studying for a long while with little test day results, especially on logical reasoning. ( although my practice scores have been reasonably good) I will say this, RC has turned around for me. I got a 148 on the September LSAT, but I got +18 on RC. That basically saved my score. I still have some improvement to make,but I'm really encouraged with how far my RC score has come. For me, I was very similar to habeas porpoise and you in that I'm a slow reader. I was good with reading and understanding what I read when I was growing up, but of course the LSAT was a different beast. So because a lot of good information has been said already, I won't waste time repeating it. Slowing down, doing untimed sections, focus on the structure of the passages are all important. I will add something to it however. At times people may have a foggy understanding (like I did) of what looking for the structure of an LSAT passage means in terms of the actual execution of it.

When you look at the structure of a passage, focus on the points that are emphasized in the passage. These points are often indicated by the same argument indicators that happen In LR. (Examples: Thus, therefore, in addition, for example, also, because, furthermore, but, as a result, however, yet, etc.) These should serve as road maps for you. If you see one of these indications, slow down and make sure you understand those parts and how they relate to the overall main point of the argument. A lot of the time, the main point will often be signaled by one of these indicators. These are where the answers will most likely come from or be around. When you go back and look for answers to verify your chosen answer, this is where I believe you should look first. You also need pay attention to strong language. (Should, require, without, unless, must, etc) I don't know if you circle words, but I find that it actually helps me to stay focused on the entire structure of the argument.

Most of the time I only circle those words and it allows me to tie everything together. I think at that point you can basically call what I'm doing the memory method. At each point, I'm using each indicator word as a reference point for the next set of information, which then builds on another. So if I see an argument that has the word "thus" in it,I think about the point that's being made and what the reasoning is for it. In a short amount of time, I have the point that's being made and the reason for why it's being made. I do it again for the next paragraph or point, still circling the words that I know to be important, and then I tie it back to the overall structure. At times I think they try to fool the test taker by adding an excessive amount of argument indicators. It can be confusing, you may be tempted to circle too many words which may basically point to the same idea, but that's when you have to use your judgment to figure out what's pertinent to the overall structure and argument of the passage. For me doing those things got me to the point where I wasn't worried about how slow I read. It was simply a matter of focusing on the points that I knew would matter most and filtering out everything else.