Time v/s Accuracy on RC

conraddnoronha

Hi guys,

I've reached a precarious situation in which my performance on the RC has become a trade-off between time and accuracy. If I try to run through the passages quickly, I tend to get many answers incorrect. If I try to spend more time on each question, I generally increase my chances of getting those questions right but I find it difficult to finish the last passage (not necessarily the 4th one). Does this happen to anyone else? How can I resolve this conundrum?

JustDoIt

Hi! I was in your shoes not too long ago. The priority needs to be to know what's going on the passage. Not to understand it but to comprehend. So what I did first was I started at around 4:45 for the passage (yes I know this a little long) and the more passages I did the more comfortable I got and kept knocking a few seconds off. Depending on where you are in your studies I would say that it is important now to just focus on comprehending the passage before you get to speed. You should never feel like you're rushing through a passage. Once you comprehend the passage, the questions will go much quicker because you'll recognize what you read and you'll know where to look for the answers (if necessary).

conraddnoronha

Hi @JustDoIt, thanks! Also how long did it take you to go from 4:45 to under 3:30?

LSATKingsman

A couple things I think might help you.

1. Ideally you aren't spending time on the questions but instead on the passage. If I don't know where to find the answer or have a good idea of what the answer is for a question I move on right away. The Question is the "Bridge to the passage" If I can't understand the bridge then I certainly don't understand that aspect of the passage thus I won't waste my time trying to figure it out.

2. Set goals. My most eye opening experience for RC was the day I set 4 timers and forced myself to move on every 8.75 minutes. You see you will never finish in time if you don't truly understand just how much time you have i.e. what the pace is.

3. If you don't know the question then move on and come back to it after you have done the other questions for the passage. I can't tell you how many times I have changed my MP answer because of this or returned to answer it and have it take me 15 seconds instead of the 2 minutes I would have spent looking back at the passage.

4. Structure Structure Structure. If you don't understand how the passage operates you won't score well. It really is that simple.

5. You HAVE to see and give every questions a chance if you want to maximize your score. HAVE too. HARD passage have EASY questions and EASY passages have HARD questions. You HAVE TO get the low hanging fruit.

Keep practicing and reviewing and continue to set goals. It isn't easy because if it was everyone would get a -0. Keep it up.

conraddnoronha

Thanks @LSATKingsman