RC is ruining my life

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• 4 Likes

  Legally Dark Blonde Member

  December 2019 425 karma

  Hi there!

  I just wanted to say that I am in the same boat. I am halfway through the RC and its still kicking my ass. One thing that has helped me a bit is to look for patterns in the answers to different question types. For example, the answers to questions that talk about what can be inferred from a time prior to a phenomenon I have found to be cookie cutter. The answer is not explicitly stated, rather, you must look and see what has been occurring post phenomenon and infer that it wasn't happening prior. Also, I'm noticing that attention to minor details is critical. Do not eliminate an answer choice unless you are certain that the all of the words for that selection are plausible. Overlooking one tiny word could cause you to answer incorrectly.

  You got this! Don't ever give up! If you need to talk to someone feel free to message me.

  Nicole
• 3 Likes

  cooljon525-1-1 Alum Member

  December 2019 917 karma

  RC was also my worst section by far and tanking my score on every PT. I realized I was not comprehending the passage very well which would cause me to miss a lot of points. During BR, I started to read the passage for as close to 100% understanding as possible and sometimes spent 15-20min reading it and I felt like this approach helped me.

  Even though all passages are different, if you practice reading for as close to perfect comprehension while BR'ing then as time goes on you will notice yourself understanding more of the passage under time pressure. MSS/inference questions really have to do with understanding and those were the hardest for me because most of the time you can't just point back to the passage at a specific line number and find the answer.
• Jay Hawlader Alum Member

  December 2019 105 karma

  Hey I was really terrible in RC as well. I would sometimes get 80% right next day I’d get 50% right it’s my most unpredictable section by far. Then I got a suggestion from an LSAT instructor who said that I should try focusing on the three passages with the most questions first and this actually really helped because I understood the passages by far much more comprehensively and in result I got a consistent 75-ish percent correct which is fine for me that’s exactly where I wanted to be because just the way I work I wasn’t able to consistently be able to understand and read all four passages. You should give it a shot. It especially helped because I would always go in with no real game plan for RC but now there’s a game plan and gives me some confidence.
• 2 Likes

  taschasp Alum Member Sage ⭐

  December 2019 edited December 2019 796 karma

  Usually (but not always), the issue isn't how to answer the question; it's how well you read the passage.

  Spend more time on the passage upfront, and the questions will become easier. Don't keep reading unless you fully understood what you just read. Force yourself to make sense of everything you read, and connect it all together, taking pauses to think about it and let it stick in your head. Then, once you've done that, the questions should be (at least in relative terms) a breeze.
• umich101 Alum Member

  December 2019 364 karma

  In the same boat -- following this ~