Reading RC Questions Before The Passage: A Viable Strategy for the LSAT FLEX

T14SteelBeam

The purpose of this post is to share what I believe to be a helpful tip/strategy in the context of RC within the LSAT FLEX.
It can be tried by those who are looking to improve their RC scores or improve the consistency of their RC performance through a new strategy. I am certain it will not work for all, but I am equally confident that it is likely to be helpful to some. I would like to know the thoughts of test takers who have done (or give it a try after reading this) and to hear their feedback. Thanks!

Recently I have begun reading RC questions before getting into the passage as a new strategy to see how it would effect performance. In my so far experience, it has yielded positive results, including -0 scores in RC. Afterwards I searched online for general advice and to my surprise most sources recommended against this on the basis that "it is difficult for most people to remember multiple questions while reading through an RC passage." I believe this premise may no longer be true for the following reasons.

1.) Reading the questions first can prime your memory for what is important in the RC and help you read through 'fluff' faster.
2.) Total memorization isn't necessary. Partial, functional memorization can be helpful, and could be possible for many.
3.) Most sources that I found arguing against reading the RC Questions first predate the LSAT Flex. We now have the ability to do something that analog test takers could not. Use "Ctrl + F" to search for the key terms from the questions in the passage. Do it and quickly highlight them before reading the passage. For anyone unaware, using "Ctrl +F" is allowed by LSAC and is possible to do on official PTs and on the LSAT Flex itself.

I find that the above strategy can be quite helpful especially in denser passages. It to helps you focus on what is and is not important to pay attention to. To qualify what I mean by reading the questions first, I mean skimming them quickly looking for key terms/excerpts that they will ask you to either define, explore the relationship of, or make an inference about. Since you can use "Ctrl+F" to find these terms in the passage, you could highlight them right away and trust that the text in relation to these terms may be highly relevant. From there, you can speed through the passage and understand the general message for big picture questions, and spend more time on the areas that you have marked and that you know shall be helpful in ascertaining correct answers.

WouldRatherBeEating

You mentioned getting -0 in RC, was that uncommon for you before using this strategy? (i.e. what amount of improvement did you see, generally?)

T14SteelBeam

Good question and I certainly see the value in discussing that. On average my RC score would be in the -3 to -1 range, but I have hit -0 a fair number of times. That said, I will still occasionally have an off day in the -6 to -4 range. My goal in trying out this strategy (which admittedly is still on a trial period) is to eliminate those off days and get my score range tightly in a -1 to -0 average. I have only used this strategy for a whole RC passage once so far, and that yielded a -0. While it is totally possible that this was an anomaly/fluke, I felt a strong sense of confidence throughout the entire RC passage and even skipped my typical blind review because I strongly believed each question had been answered correctly. I would attribute extra confidence to the benefits of the strategy (better understanding of which subjects in each passage were important prior to reading the passage itself.) I look forward to putting it to the test again soon.

WouldRatherBeEating

@sfbunting1 said:
Good question and I certainly see the value in discussing that. On average my RC score would be in the -3 to -1 range, but I have hit -0 a fair number of times. That said, I will still occasionally have an off day in the -6 to -4 range. My goal in trying out this strategy (which admittedly is still on a trial period) is to eliminate those off days and get my score range tightly in a -1 to -0 average. I have only used this strategy for a whole RC passage once so far, and that yielded a -0. While it is totally possible that this was an anomaly/fluke, I felt a strong sense of confidence throughout the entire RC passage and even skipped my typical blind review because I strongly believed each question had been answered correctly. I would attribute extra confidence to the benefits of the strategy (better understanding of which subjects in each passage were important prior to reading the passage itself.) I look forward to putting it to the test again soon.

Thank you! That's right around where I am, so I'll try this strategy and update. One thing to mention that you may or may not know (I didn't at first) is that if you practice your RC on Lawhub , they highlight some of the words they refer to in the passage (unlike in 7sage). This is how it is on the actual flex as well.