Science

joseph.bryden

RC seems easy on many passages, but when Science comes up and all these crazy words are thrown around, I get lost and frustrated. Any keys or tips to overcome this? I can never seem to wrap my head around whatever I am reading.

MissChanandler

I think one thing that can happen is people recognize that it's a science passage and go "omg no I hate science and I don't understand it" and then that throws you off for the whole passage. So maybe try pretending like you love the science passages. Another thing to remember is that it's okay to not understand every word that you read when you're doing timed drills/PTs. To get more comfortable with science-y passages, I would make note of the words/concepts that you don't understand (maybe just highlight them as you read when you're not on a time crunch) and then after you're done with the passage and questions, google the words and concepts that gave you the most trouble. While it may be unlikely that you'll see that same exact topic come up again, you'll grow your confidence and I think having more familiarity with a subject will help you to understand future passages.

Ohnoeshalpme

Science is usually a challenge for me too. I have done a lot of economics research, literary analysis and argument evaluation in my education so I feel pretty comfortable with those passages. But science is one of those things that I was never particularly interested in or exposed to. I think the LSAT knows that about a lot of students who want to become lawyers. There's very little that most of us are familiar with in this realm so they can do a great job to confuse us or get us caught up in the minutiae. That being said, I think that science RC passages are often some of the easiest passages. Often they discuss fairly simple topics with fairly clear cut outcomes in fairly simple language. The idea, however, is to not get too distracted by the details. After you read the passage, you don't want to know the intricacies of the science behind something that was discussed in paragraph 2 for example, because it probably means that you spent a considerable amount of time to reach understanding. This tendency to try to understand what we are reading on a deep level comes most to play in the RC Science passages. They take advantage of our inclination to internalize useful and complex information. Unfortunately the LSAT doesn't test this ability, they want to see that you are able to extract the core message from the passage but leave the superfluous details behind. I think that these passages definitely are an exposure thing (most of the test is) and you learn by doing. Just start working on every RC Science passage from 1-50 and work through them methodically, giving thought to your mistakes along the way. Don't rush for time for the first 30 or so, just casually go through but time yourself. You will eventually become more efficient and capable of finishing these with confidence and with speed. it just takes practice and familiarization.

samantha.ashley92

Most of the time, very detailed definitions are thrown in to trip us up. I read a passage today that threw in three definitions in back-to-back sentences. The passage was about the polarity of the ocean floor so... I wasn't exactly engaged lol. If that isn't written to make you panic, idk what is. I learned recently that important terms will be elaborated on in the rest of the text. Just don't freak out if you don't know what a term means. Sometimes, it won't be explained for a sentence or two. You can spend a lot of time looking through what you already read in hopes that it will make sense, or you can keep reading. Chances are, if you just keep reading, things will start to make sense.