Timing

Nick Pischulla

Hi everyone!

I've recently been doing lots of timed RC passages and notice that when I look at the time breakdown for the passage, I see the target setup time is typically 1:45 - 3:00 minutes, but never longer. My typical "setup times" are in the 3:50-5:00 minute range and then spend 3-4 minutes on questions, whereas the target question time is anywhere from 5-7 minutes.

Is this what everyone is doing? I'm struggling to understand how JY or whoever sets the target setup time is going through these passages and comprehending them well in that quick of a time. I've never thought I was a slow reader, but these setup times are making me think otherwise.

Any tips or thoughts?

Thanks!

Matt Sorr

There is nothing wrong with what you're doing. To answer your first question ("Is this what everyone is doing"): No, not everybody is reading the passages in 1:45-3:00 minutes. Some people are, but many aren't. In RC, more than in the other sections, what matters is finding what works for you, regardless of what others are doing. As you pointed out, you may be spending more time on the passage(s) than some people, but you're also getting through the questions significantly faster. Assumedly this is because you're more familiar with the passage and don't have to reference it as much. As long as you're yielding the results you'd like, or steadily progressing towards the results you'd like, you should stick to what you're doing. I have heard from a bunch of 170+ scorers who prefer spending more time on the passage upfront so they can go through the questions quicker.

If you aren't seeing the results you'd like/you're often running out of time in RC, it may be worth attempting to speed up your reading or take more of a "skim" approach. If not, however, keep doing what you're doing.

Chris Nguyen

Definitely agree with @"Matt Sorr". And I'm one of those people that love spending time in the passages! For RC, my goal is to understand the passage. Not to get through the passage as fast as possible. I'm usually about where you're at when I'm reading the passage—I average about 4 minutes per passage read, but sometimes I can definitely go up to 5, especially if it's a hard passage. Yes, that means I have less time in the answer choices, but I've found that because I understand the passage so well, I can afford to go quick in the answer choices.

There are strategies out there that emphasize reading the passage in 1-3 minutes and going back to the passage often. If that works for you then great, but I don't think you have to change your strategy if what you're doing now right now is working!

If you want to discuss more about timing strategy, you can schedule a free consultation with one of our in house 7Sage tutors! Here's the link to do so: https://calendly.com/7sage-consult/7sage-tutoring-free-consult?utm_source=DF_C

Nick Pischulla

Thank you both for responding! I figured to stick with what works for me, but was still taken aback when I saw this and wanted to make sure it's not something I should be super concerned about.