Give me your best RC tips

Comments

• studyingandrestudying Core Member

  August 2018 5254 karma

  Have you tried the RC webinars on here?
• 1 Like

  Ohnoeshalpme Alum Member ⭐

  August 2018 2531 karma

  Un-timed passage drilling - work on getting the low-res summaries perfect and you'll start to see some improvements.
• 4 Likes

  AshleighK Alum Member

  August 2018 786 karma

  Untimed, using VIEWSTAMP after every passage in BR, and depending on how you learn really getting down the low-res summaries. Personally, I've tried recalling the low-res summaries by memory and by writing them out. For me, I learn when I write and through visuals so I really found my groove by writing out the summaries on the side. The time anxiety in my mind has also really forced me to get them down to one word. I used to try too hard to make up a phrase that would jog my memory but you waste time. Some examples of words I'd use is: claim, support or + for support, arg, pheno, hyp, OPA, AA (author's arg), against, info, background etc!
• 5 Likes

  CantStopWontStop Alum Member

  August 2018 1270 karma

  Just to make sure. VIEWSTAMP is from the PowerScore Reading Comp Bible. It stands for View= the different viewpoints in the structure, S=structure of the passage, T=tone of the passage, A=arguments in the passage, MP=main point
• 1 Like

  MissChanandler Alum Member Sage ⭐

  August 2018 3256 karma

  I started doing the last passage first and it’s helped me with my timing because I think I was spending too much time on easy questions and then I was rushed for the last passage. It’s helped so far but I JUST started trying it so my mind isn’t totally made up yet.
• 3 Likes

  Louislepauvre Alum Member

  August 2018 750 karma

  Do the questions that ask for information clearly stated in the passage first. Then do the questions that involve inferences. Do the Main Point question last. After I started doing that I rarely got any questions wrong, unless I really didn’t understand the passage, but in that case, I’m screwed either way.
• Gunningfor121 Alum Member

  August 2018 517 karma

  I personally read the passage twice before jumping into the questions. For me, I get another level of understanding by reading twice that I just can't get from reading once, no matter how I do it. Give it a try and see if it helps you out!
• 2 Likes

  Redentore3337 Alum Member

  August 2018 350 karma

  Read Slower.

  That helped me a lot. Read slower, and read like a Planet Earth narrator, or like you're an Anchorman/Anchorwoman. This has helped to put extra stress on what I'm reading and has helped me understand the passage better. Really, that has helped, and then personally for me, minimal notation, just writing next to each paragraph whether its a support passage, whether its introducing a hypothesis, or counter argument, that way, you can easily go back to the passage when you need to for the questions because you know the structure of it.
• keets993 Alum Member ⭐ ⏰ 🍌

  August 2018 6050 karma

  I try to find generally one or two sentences per paragraph that sum up what the purpose of the paragraph is. It's generally stated in the paragraph itself, and so i would condense that and make it my low-resolution summary.
• AshleighK Alum Member

  August 2018 786 karma

  @July2018Taker said:
  Just to make sure. VIEWSTAMP is from the PowerScore Reading Comp Bible. It stands for View= the different viewpoints in the structure, S=structure of the passage, T=tone of the passage, A=arguments in the passage, MP=main point

  Yes
• MindyKale Alum Member

  August 2018 350 karma

  @lsatplaylist said:
  Have you tried the RC webinars on here?

  Can you point to some?
• Pride Only Hurts Alum Member

  August 2018 2186 karma

  @MindyKale said:

  @lsatplaylist said:
  Have you tried the RC webinars on here?

  Can you point to some?

  https://7sage.com/webinar/active-reading/

  The Active reading Webinar is great because it applies to LR as well.
• 1 Like

  ad_coelum Alum Member

  August 2018 285 karma

  I agree with the above comments. Reading slower and mouthing some of the words (without actually saying them aloud) helps me. I also actively use my pencil to direct where I am in the reading. This combo seems to help with understanding and focus. I write shorthand notes in the margins (as does everyone) and make sure that I understand the main purpose of the passage (esp. in comparative passages) before moving on to answering the questions. I also quickly scan the questions for specific phrases, reference lines, etc., so I can keep an eye out for them while reading. In addition to the shorthand notes, I make note of the author's use of any analogies, studies, and examples since these may pop up in the questions. Also, reading more literature outside of LSAT helps.

  These tips may be a rehash of what others have already said but it's what works for me!
• Bamboosprout Alum Member

  August 2018 edited August 2018 1694 karma

  Honestly, I think you're probably at the stage where general advice won't be of any use to you. You have to get scientific about your approach now. Start dividing your passages into subcategories, such as genre(science, arts, law, etc), difficulty, and style(educational, confrontations, back and forth, referencial, etc). Especially for the hard passages, try to understand how the style is different and label them. I am in a similar situation to you, and had trouble finding how to improve more. Recently, I have identified that history and law passages correlated with lower scores, because there are terms or ideas I don't understand, and that highly referencial and back and forth passages are harder for me because I lose track of what the MPs and purposes are. Simply having this knowledge has given me the ability to try to fix it, after all, the first step to fixing a problem is knowing the problem. I don't know any specific advice on how exactly to do it, but I simply did more of them, and in the last two PTs, have reduced the errors my RC sections by 2. So maybe give that a try?
  Good luck, hope this helps.