Drilling RC

miriaml7

I have been focusing a lot of my studying on LR and LG and have neglected RC for quite a while. I am looking to complete at least one RC passage a day. However, I do want to make sure that I am being strategic about my game plan. In order to get there, I have a few questions that I am hoping to get some input on.

1. Should I revisit RC strategies? (e.g. memory method)
2. How should I select passages to drill? I intend on working through PTs1-35, but I am not sure if I would gain more from choosing random passages or from targeting the tougher passages (i.e. 4/5 star passages)
3. The few passages that I have done so far, I have done untimed. Am I doing myself a disservice by doing this? Should I be timing myself every single time I drill a passage?
4. How do you properly drill an RC passage? Ideally, what should that process look like?

I greatly appreciate any input.

Logician

Depends, I would do RC passages untimed until you can score what you want in them. Be very analytical and focus on the structure, and definitely try incorporating the memory method. Once you’re able to score what you want untimed, you can switch to timed work, you’ll have BR for your analysis.

Again, this is just my opinion and how I went about it.

Good luck!

Lets Get Dat Score

I've found that doing full sections + blind review has been pretty helpful for Reading Comprehension, since managing pace, shifting between disparate topics, and keeping short-term memory very active are some of the challenges of the section.

kilgoretrout

If you're just starting out, you could do it untimed just to get a hang of things. I struggle with RC and for me personally, my biggest issue is finishing in the allotted time. So, I wouldn't recommend staying untimed for long, as you do need to practice getting things done fast enough. Another thing I'm trying to do is to drill easier passages, so that I can get those finished quickly during the real test and have more time to focus on the tough passages. With the harder passages, some of the questions might be designed to just be a time sink, or you could just have a really low chance of getting the right question anyways, so IMO it's best to train to get as many easier points as you can -- kind of like the low hanging fruit. Good luck!

miriaml7

I appreciate your insight! @Logician @lsat2020c @kilgoretrout