Getting worse at RC-how to fix with limited time?

joeytortellini

Having taken about a dozen PTs so far, I've noticed that I seem to be shifting from a general range of -1 to -3 on RCs to -3 to -7s. I'm currently on the Logic Games section of the curriculum and have noticed significant improvement on LRs and on the LG game types that I've gone through in the curriculum so far. True, I have yet to start the RC sections, but I am surprised because I think I should have built some RC skills since a lot of the argument breakdown/general logic lessons I've done are applicable to RC.

It could be that I am just hitting harder RC sections(the blackmail passage on PT65 was dreadful, answers right or wrong based on the tiniest of qualifications/inferences) but I think something is off about my approach-I've noticed that I feel much more constrained by time than I was before in RC, thinking 'how the hell am I supposed to read all this AND answer all these questions in 35 minutes?'. One factor I think is that I feel it is harder to 'get the right answer and move on, check later' with RC because there is less conditional logic, and finding one answer that seems right does not preclude another answer that is 'more right', unlike a lot of LR questions where there is by the rules of logic there is one clear answer'. There's more of a need with difficult RC questions to 'weigh' the appropriateness of two close answers.

I'm taking the July Flex test, and I'm aware that RC will be weighed more than usual, and I'm not jazzed about my initial greatest strength slowly becoming my Achilles' heel Since all the PTs I take are 59+, I'm wondering if I should concentrate on finishing the curriculum which is no sure thing even with full time studying, or doing more RC problem sets by themselves, even before I get to RC in the curriculum.

mhf.andrew

You might be spending too much time on the answer choices on RC. An LSAT instructor once advised me to go slower on the passages even if it means less time on the questions. The instructor's gist was that with RC, unlike LR, you cannot arrive at the right answer with close scrutiny of the different answer choices.

Chris Nguyen

I agree with @mhf.andrew . I think you're spending too much time on the answer choices. For RC, you're exactly right. There is just too much text! And going back to the passage to confirm your reasoning is wasting your time.

Try your hardest, and even spend more time if you neet to to to get a better understanding of everything that's happening in the passage. After that, don't go back (exceptions are allowed for little details that will only take you a few seconds to confirm). Use all that knowledge and aggressively answer the questions once you've made an effort to understand what the question is asking you. Then move on. You just don't have the luxury to go back and reread.

It's just the nature of the RC section to not feel 100% confident about the answer you choose. You just don't have time to go back and reread and confirm with 100% confidence. But I pick the "more right" answer choice, move on, and still come out with -2 to -4 a section because of this strategy since I didn't waste my time going back to the passage. Fight the urge and just flag it and move. If and only if you have enough time after you finished the all four passages, then you can go back to try to confirm your reasoning.

This strategy has definitely helped me achieve a better score. I hope it helps you too!