LR & RC Advice/Tips/Recommendations

TJTJTJTJTJTJTJTJ Core Member
in Logical Reasoning 124 karma

The 7Sage course made me extremely proficient at LG and that was my weakest section prior to coming here. But not so much for LR or RC. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations on how to find someone or something as good as this course is at teaching LG, but for LR and RC? Already tried Kaplan, they're no good. Tried the PowerScore Bibles, no good. Tried LSAT Trainer, ehhh, gave me a slight improvement to master the first 10-12 questions for LR but not so much beyond those.

My problem with LR is that I go through the first 10-12 questions averaging -1 or -2 on a consistent basis but have a huge drop off for the next 12-14 questions thereafter and end up going -10 through -12 EVERY SINGLE TIME.

My problem with RC is that I go -2 or -3 on 6 question passages, -3 or -4 on 7 to 8 question passages and I can only finish 3 passages total and end up guessing on one passage.

I am opening to a tutor or study buddy, or anyone who can help me. I was told by someone that the reasons I am getting the first 10-12 questions for LR is because I have a strong basic understanding of LR but not an advanced understanding of LR and therein lies my problem.

BTW, I am a twice 140 scorer and my latest LSAT score was 145, a 5 point improvement. I am trying to get to a 155-160 and I have one last LSAT attempt.

Thanks

Comments

  • ledkarlyledkarly Member
    483 karma

    I recommend reading the Loophole by Ellen Cassidy. So good and easy explanation of LR. For RC spend more time reading the passage.

  • gabes900-1gabes900-1 Member
    855 karma

    I would focus on spending more time on passages and way less time on questions for RC. Spending time on passage has to be balanced, however. I would also prioritize the two RC passages with most questions first, no matter the difficulty of the passage when doing PT or timed sections. This helps you bank your time on passages with the most questions and if you are studying, blind reviewing, and analyzing well, you should be able to get maybe 80% of those questions right or more. Then, after you hit these two question-packed passages, you move on to the 5-6 question passages with less time. This way you are spending a ton of time on the passages with 7-8 questions each and then using your time efficiently relative to a passage that has 5 questions.

    Also, for LR, try literally picking out which questions you aren't even going to attempt and put your time towards questions you know you can get right. I used to try and answer every single question with focus and attention. Now, if I see a time-sinking MBT question with abstract language + a lot of conditionals, I mark it, circle the best answer choice from my skim, then try to come back to it after I have completed what I deem are the easiest questions for that particular section. In addition to this, if I don't have time on these type of questions, I just guess the best way I can with maybe 30-45 seconds of time at end of section. I usually get these wrong anyways AND they take up a lot of my time 2 minutes roughly.

    I hope this helped.

  • RavinderRavinder Alum Member
    869 karma

    I agree with the recommendation by @ledkarly re Ellen Cassidy's Loophole book on LR. The first chapter on how to do translations is very helpful with both LR and RC. I admire your persistence with self study with various books. You may want to consider getting a private tutor. I tried self study for over a year and took the LSAT 4 times and was plateaued at 162 (my initial diagnostic was in the 140s, then 153, 153, 158, 162) before I started working with private tutors. I worked with 7 different tutors in all before I found the two that worked best for me. Tutors may seem expensive but in my experience the cost is more than made up by the scholarships that you may get with a higher lsat score. After 3-4 months of private tutors I eventually got to 177. I simply could not have done that without private tutors as they gave me perspectives that got me past plateaus. I would first start with less expensive tutors such as the many good tutors available via 7 sage, which is what I did. I also worked with professional tutors such as Ellen Cassidy and Kyle Pasewark among others. I found no one tutor is perfect but rather better to work a bit with several till you find the one or two that works best for you. Feel free to message me if you want details of the pros and cons of various tutors I worked with.

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