RC is holding me back from a 170. Please, could use some advice

Harvey Spector

Hey all,
So yeah long story short, im doing quite terrible on RC. Im averaging about -9ish, on my last PT i got -11 on RC but still finished with a 164 because i did well on the other sections. I really want to tighten my RC up to at least getting something like a -5 average, is that too much to ask for?! For those who are good at RC, or who improved quite a bit, could you offer me some advice?

shresthayasmeen

Hey!!!
For a while I was struggling with RC (-11 to -9 usually).Literally I changed one thing in my RC and am now at like a -3 average (sometimes even -2). After each paragraph, I force myself to stop and recount what just happened. Similar to the 7sage method except I do not write anything down. For example, I read the 1st paragraph and in my head I'm like "ok... there is this woman author who wrote about blah but did not get the credit she deserved." It was as simple as that for me. The 7sage method I believe recommends you do not look at the passage when reminding yourself what it was about but I ALWAYS look at the words I highlighted when I am giving myself my brief overview after each paragraph.
For the comparative passages, I always read passage 1 first, answer the questions or eliminate answer choices I can and then do the same for passage 2. It is so much easier for me to only keep info of one passage in my head at a time.
If you need any more explanation of what I said, feel free to message me!
Good luck

Harvey Spector

@shresthayasmeen

I like that method a lot! Ill try it out, thanks so much!!

daniel.factor97

I'm in the same boat as you, Harvey. Let's do this together.

-Mike Ross wannabe

Tempore Novissimo

@"daniel.factor97" said:
I'm in the same boat as you, Harvey. Let's do this together.

-Mike Ross wannabe

I don't like it but I guess I'll be Louis here. I'm also in the same boat and will definitely try this method out! RC is going to get LITT Up.

musumecibjj

omg im literally on the same boat as you! games im perfect, Logical reasoning 2-4 wrong my freaking problem is just reading comp holding me back -______- ! I always averaged -7 or -8 but today just took a PT and hit -4!!! There is hope for us!! Lets keep pushing forward and crack that 170!!!

omw2_95th_percentile

@johnjyoo said:

@"daniel.factor97" said:
I'm in the same boat as you, Harvey. Let's do this together.

-Mike Ross wannabe

I don't like it but I guess I'll be Louis here. I'm also in the same boat and will definitely try this method out! RC is going to get LITT Up.

Be Donna.

meganday2121

It is totally possible! I hit 170 this weekend (still riding that high tbh), and I'm averaging -5 on RC. But I did not start that way! I highly recommend the method of writing down a super brief summary of each paragraph after you read it, and live by JY's rules of spending more time upfront on the passage to get more accurate on the questions. Also, one of the somewhat seemingly more trivial advice that has helped me is to pretend like you are interested in the passage and are trying to learn something from it. I find that I do better on the passages that I find more interesting than a boring Science one about like corn and rice. But even if I pretend like I really want to learn about corn or whatever, I find myself recalling the information more. Best of luck and it is possible!!

DINOSAUR

@meganday2121 Can you share how you cheat your brain into thinking the passages are interesting?

meganday2121

@DINOSAUR I can't do it for all of them (hence that corn passage reference lol), but I think what helps me is to find something even remotely interesting in the passage. I'm not a science person at all, which I bet is a lot of us here as if we were science people, we wouldn't be trying to be lawyers! But I like history, so if the science passage has something historical, I try to look at it from that way, or if it's about the environment, I can get invested in that. I'm also a huge trivia fan, so I can think about it as gaining something trivial that might help me in the future. And when that doesn't work, I tell myself I only have to be interested for a short period of time. Again, it doesn't always work, but it helps!

RachelZane-180

@"Harvey Spector" Hey Harvey, Rachel here. I am struggling with reading comprehension as well. I was discouraged at first but the slow improvement is helping. I am frustrated because my other sections are more than great, and I keep getting asked "so how are you finding logic games? hard eh?". I am actually obtaining close to full marks in logic games and feel weird that reading comprehension is my lowest because it appears that it is less common to struggle in this area. What I began doing is reading each passage and creating a quick summary in my brain and on paper. I also focus on sentences that I read but make 0 sense because when reading novels or textbooks it can be easy to skim sentences that are difficult but in reading comp it is crucial to understand everything written. I also automatically look for patterns (especially when there are two paragraphs) and I look for unfamiliar words. I have noticed that time and time again questions arise that specifically ask me about what an author means by a word that while reading seemed to stand out. I hope this helps and I hopefully you realize you are not alone!

zgnewquist

Honestly, your best bet is to take your time and read for comprehension as much as possible. Everyone I know that scored a 172 or higher took 3.5-4 minutes to read the passage making sure that they understood everything. As you read, make sure you understand each sentence and make a mental translation as you are going. The only thing you have to worry about this method is time, but when I did this I typically got -3 to -4 on the RC section as opposed to when I read it quicker I got -9 to -11 on each RC section. I think I had a good day when I took the June LSAT and scored a 177, but reading for comprehension is 110% the way to go.

Best of luck!

Defender

RC is ALL about the author. The author has a purpose. Know where they stand on the info they convey. The convoluted info “attaches” or falls into memorable places when you can pinpoint the author’s presentation and stance.

What is the author saying? But more importantly, what is the author doing?

Imagine the author as an aggressive obnoxious attorney, or that self-conceited professor who just goes on and on about the global importance of the most niche subject/artist/movement, or think of them as the scientist who thinks their work is superior to yours in every conceivable way. I honestly think this helped me. I started reading the passages with uber skepticism and combativeness.