35 minutes on RC, how do you manage your time to finish all the questions

faddy878faddy878 Alum Member
in General 47 karma

RC is my strongest area right now, I am scoring 20 questions correct on average. Unfortunately, my speed is very low, I am only able to do two passages in 35 minutes. English is my second language btw. Please share if anyone has tips on how to improve on time.

Comments

  • hatelsathatelsat Alum Member
    9 karma

    I would recommend to get into the habit of reading longer articles from the first to the last word. The speed probably is because you are not used to reading longer, sometimes rather complicated, sections of text, which are often very specific in nature. Do you read the economist, NY Times or similar publications? if not, start doing that and I am sure your reading speed will improve

  • faddy878faddy878 Alum Member
    47 karma

    @hatelsat yes I do read similar publication and in my graduate program I was reading longer/full books in various areas of political science.

  • SamiSami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor
    10806 karma

    @faddy878 said:
    RC is my strongest area right now, I am scoring 20 questions correct on average. Unfortunately, my speed is very low, I am only able to do two passages in 35 minutes. English is my second language btw. Please share if anyone has tips on how to improve on time.

    A big part of RC is staying focused on the big picture. Do low resolution summaries after reading each paragraph and connect that summary to previous paragraphs. If you don't know how to do low resolution summaries the core curriculum does an excellent job at that. Also, you have to move on from questions. If reading a passage takes you 3-4 minutes, then you cannot spend more than 40-50 seconds per questions. Try to force yourself to not get stuck on questions and waste time that you should be spending on another passage.

    I also recommend reading on your own about topics that gave you trouble in RC. An interested and knowledgeable reader is more likely to outperform a non reader that's not curious about the material.

    Lastly, attend the free RC workshop that @"Daniel.Sieradzki" will be hosting. It will give you tips and ideas on what your RC strategy should look like.

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