Reading Comp woooesss

harrismegan

For SOME reason.
I thought I was getting better at Reading Comprehension. I felt myself connecting with the passage, interested in the material, I was reading the Economist and a history magazine to increase my familiarity with that type of writing... it was going great.
About two weeks ago I scored my highest (-3).
Today. And every prep test after that, I have scored my WORST (-13).

I don't connect with the passages. I don't care about the material. And quite frankly, it scares the shit out of me every time I open RC.
Has this happened to anyone? it's a major stumbling block because I feel as if I've made vast improvements on my LR, my LG is consistently 0, but this is truly holding me back now

Matt1234567

Are you taking the newer prep tests? 60 and up? I've noticed an increase in the difficulty of the reading passages. I'm having the same problem as you though. What I'm doing to fix it is drilling at least one section of RC a day under timed conditions, looking for authors attitude, main point, theme, etc.

harrismegan

No this prep test was 52. I've heard they get harder, which makes this even worse.
I was drilling sets of 4. And I was drilling them based on my worst passages.

I think it may have SOMETHING to do with the fact that I've been studying all day, decided to do a prep test at 5 PM, and the Reading Comp was the last section.
I got -4 LR, 0 LG, -8 LR, and then -13... so I think the trend is endurance related especially.... because as I go on.. my mark gets progressively worse? And the fact that RC is my worst section and it was last probably didn't help.

I guess I'm wondering too....
What are people's strategies? Obviously RC is not my strong suit. Should I focus on 3 passages, get the most out of them, answer them to the best that I can, and then hope I get to the last one? That way... I only potentially really miss -5 questions, but I can be sure of the other answers?

Dillon PG

You can't read too much into a test result when you take it at the end of a full day of studying. I took 2 tests back to back once before as endurance training and my score dropped significantly on the second one. I think it is to be expected.

RC is also my worst, and I am in the same boat when it comes to trying to narrow the gap to -5 or less every test. I find that I can get my best score on RC when I really spend a lot of time up front on the RC passages and try to not get caught up wasting time on the tricky questions. If you can get through the 4 passages with enough time to grasp the concepts and carefully read each question before taking your best shot it can really help your score.

Also, If it counts for anything I took PT 70 today and found RC easier than PT 50-55. Difficulty might be subjective to each test taker or maybe they are harder, but either way the strategy for taking the test is the same. We shouldn't worry about it.

pjanderson5

Hey Megan, I can definately empathize with you. RC has been my weakest section and I was getting better at it. I used to get 8-13 wrong. Yesterday I drilled 4 sections and was getting 3-5 wrong on average. However, I took a PT today and got 12 wrong.

I think my performance worsens when I know I am taking a full PT. The pressure just gets to me. I think you and me both have the potential to do really well, but just get thrown off when it's not just a single section. I'm really trying to focus on spending longer than usual on the passage (4 min) and then not having to look back as much since I inherently comprehend more when I read slower. It is very frustrating, I know, but if we just keep at it we will CRUSH this thing on test day

harrismegan

awh these responses are incredibly encouraging

I will definitely start taking more time with the passage!
Good luck to both of you we can do this!

turnercm

Do the more difficult passages with the most questions first, and save the easier passages for last.

For example, my LSAT Analytics show that my weaker subjects in the past have been those regarding science and law. So, before starting on each section, I'll look at the first sentence of the passage for the subject matter, check its length, and see how many questions it has. Based on that information I decide the order in which to do the passages.

When I do that, the answers for the last passage may be more rushed, but since the passage isn't as difficult, you can get through them much faster. You can't answer questions correctly for a passage when you've run out of time to read it. So, save the easier ones for last.

This is an aside, but I also write the time down for when I want to be done with each section in the corner of the page (so if I'm starting the section at 12:00, i'll write :07, :14, :21, :28 for example, give or take a few minutes for the more difficult passages). If you don't want to do that, at least mark the half-point of where you want to be. This can help keep you from running out of time.

Also, testing in the afternoon/evening (as opposed to in the morning) can definitely have an effect on concentration! So try earlier in the day (unless you're training for the June test or an afternoon administration, in which case, you may want to try caffeine or eating healthy foods in the time before the test!)

You can do this!