RC content you're familiar with

ATLsat_2019

Hey all,

I've been going through lots of RC passages lately and I'm noticing that I do significantly worse on passages that discuss my field of study. I tend to get absorbed in the details and miss a lot of the big picture questions. I usually go about -1 on most passages but on these passages I perform wayyy worse. Anyone else have similar experiences, or any suggestions?

FixedDice

Not exactly a RC experience, but there was this LR question that tripped me up when I first started. One of the answer choices talked about how experts in my field of study aren't able to reach certain conclusions about a specific type of inquiry. As soon as I finished reading that answer choice, my non-LSAT self kicked in, almost yelling, "That's not true! That's impossible!" (think of Luke Skywalker when Darth Vader said revealed his heritage... or Jenna Bush from that one Robot Chicken sketch on George W. Bush and Star Wars). I almost subconsciously crossed the answer choice. Turns out it was the right one after all.

The moral of the story is, don't let your non-LSAT self take the rein. Inner peace...

btate87

Had that experience on LR questions so I know the frustration. The only RC passage that hit super close to home for me was the Arnold Schoenberg one. It's such a niche topic I think I lucked out. They relied a lot on the music terminology being what tripped people up and only really skimmed the surface.

ATLsat_2019

@FixedDice said:
(think of Luke Skywalker when Darth Vader said revealed his heritage... or Jenna Bush from that one Robot Chicken sketch on George W. Bush and Star Wars).

Loving the intensity here... haha!

Yeah, I guess it's totally necessary to kind of leave extraneous knowledge at the door and make sure it's your "LSAT self" answering the questions. Too easy to get excited otherwise.

ATLsat_2019

@btate87 You must be a musician also?? I haven't come across the Schoenberg passage yet but I just did the "London Pianoforte School" passage (PT24.S4.P1), which was what led me to post this. Also recently did a Louis Armstrong passage that I had a similar struggle with.

I suppose the familiarity with the terminology definitely helps, though I often find myself thinking a little too critically about what the author means.

btate87

@ATLsat_2019 Yep! I haven't seen the PT24 one - I'll check it out before June! The music LR questions I've run into have definitely caused me to go into over-analyzing mode. The LG about saxophone auditions was a much more pleasant experience haha

ATLsat_2019

@btate87 Hah, yeah at least with LG it's easy to strip all of the extra details away and focus.

keets993

Oh yeah I had that happen with the Critical Legal Studies passage since I actually know of the theory and I became more focused on the details and their accuracy as opposed to the structure. Which is how they get you. Next time it happens try to remind yourself to focus on the structure of the passage itself. I wouldn't be surprised if there are incorrect AC's that are specifically put there because they are supported/true when supplemented with outside knowledge but aren't supported by the passage.

ATLsat_2019

@keets993 yeah I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they did that intentionally. Definitely will focus on reading for structure next time I come across one like this