How to Speed Up on RC Once Accuracy is Good

DogOnBuffalo

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting on the 7sage forum, although I've been here for a while.

By far my weakest section of the test is RC. I have a tendency to be super inconsistent; I can range from a –4 to a –14 on any given RC section without really knowing why. So recently, I decided to go back to the 7sage memory method (or at least a version of it that I believe suits me). That meant doing full RC sections untimed at first, but really focusing on accuracy. As a result, my accuracy drastically improved (new average –1 or –2 per section), and my time has been slowly coming down (from 50 mins to 45 mins, to now an average of 40 mins).

But now, with only 5 weeks remaining until the March test, I am struggling to get the time down to under 35 without compromising on accuracy - I tend to get through 3 passages timed with only 4 or 5 mins remaining for the fourth. Does anyone have any advice on how I can overcome this problem? Should I keep practicing the untimed sections and hope for gradual gains in speed, or is there a technique that y'all use to speed up?

Thank you to anyone who responds!

MissChanandler

What is your goal RC score for test day? I mean of course a -4 or better would be ideal, but what score on RC do you need for your overall goal score? Can you afford to go, say, -8? If so, then I would really focus on accuracy for the first three passages and not even think about the last one unless you get to it. You also don't have to do the first three passages just because they're the first three- you can glance at all of them and don't do the most confusing one.

Alex

I think RC can be really idiosyncratic in what works for people.

I used JY’s memory method + low-high res summary strategy. As for speed, what helped me was 1) watching how JY approached his sections in the live takes he recorded. These are invaluable. 2) making sure I did my best to find the answer in the passage before looking at the answer choices.

At least on the questions for which it was possible to do this. The reason is because I noticed through recording my own RC sections that a lot of my time was squandered comparing answer choices and returning to the passage to see which answer was correct.

When I started trying to find the answer first, I was able to cut some time off the backend by either finding the answer outright or POE’ing my way faster to it.

But no, I wouldn’t keep doing untimed sections at this point. A lot of getting better/faster is just becoming inured to the clock.

HTH!

Victoria.

I agree with @Alex about finding the answer in the question before looking at the answer choices. I would advise developing a process that you can rely on no matter what the passage is during the section. Mine was 1) Read passage (no marking) - don't rush but don't dawdle (you should try to think about what this means for you at this point in your studying)
2) quickly think about the main point of each paragraph - which will usually point to the main point of the passage
For questions:
1) read question
2) find answer in passage
3) read answer choices and loosely eliminate (if you're not sure it's wrong, don't cross it off - very crucial for me)
4) go back through AC's, choose and MOVE ON - this last part is what I had the most trouble with, but trust in the accuracy you know you can and have already been achieving
4a) if it's a tricky question still choose an answer and move on, but mark it to come back if you have time. I never had time during practice, but felt better doing this just in case, which allowed me to move on without regret

Hope this helps, good luck!