I really need help with RC, people.

Tim Hortons

Hey 7Sage community,

I fluctuate between -5 to -12 on RC with little consistency, which really grinds my gears given how much I've tried to improve RC. I've honed in my notation, worked on parsing difficult argument structures in previous RC passages and even in my extracurricular reading, and avoid referencing the passage under timed conditions unless a question specifies a line or word. Can't say it's the science passages that get me specifically, since I usually find them to be the most straight-forward. I'd chalk up my RC pitfalls to two things: (1) I always run out of time -- I'm usually hitting the 30 minute mark when I'm about to start the 4th passage; (2) I find "Most Strongly Supported" questions are the ones that invariably give me the most trouble.

Bearing in mind these two issues, does anyone have any tips and tricks that have helped them improve their RC performance?

Ohnoeshalpme

Have you ever filmed yourself or gotten the timing for individual passages/questions? I think that reviewing RC footage is often valuable for diagnosing some obvious timing and strategy errors. RC success also comes from a strong understanding of the questions and the passage. I recommend doing un-timed RC sections to see if you are fully understanding the material without time constraints. If you find that you are missing questions without time pressure, you might need to seek out a tutor to understand where you are going wrong in your analysis.

TrinkSchoko

For me, it helped a lot to try finishing RC sessions in 30 minutes and lived with it as if they were real scores. The results were horrible and the process led to a lot of stress, but (1) I got to know what the worst scenario felt like and felt more composed and in control in later & in the actual test, (2) I was pressured to save time like never before and learned what kind of (time-wasting) mistakes I tended to make under extreme pressure.

Tim Hortons

@Ohnoeshalpme said:
Have you ever filmed yourself or gotten the timing for individual passages/questions?

This is something I haven't tried yet, so I'm going to give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion!

@TrinkSchoko said:
For me, it helped a lot to try finishing RC sessions in 30 minutes and lived with it as if they were real scores.

Interesting process. Did you eventually develop a timing strategy? Or did you just find that your speed and accuracy improved by limiting yourself to 30 minutes continuously?