Feeling Defeat Over RC - What to Do

courtneysaunders1330courtneysaunders1330 Member
in Reading Comprehension 9 karma

I am registered for the July LSAT. For LG and LR, I tend to get 80-90% of the questions right. For RC, I am missing nearly half. It is definitely a timing issue, but also I am missing way too many questions that I do attempt. How have you improved? This is killing my score, and I am fearful this will be further exacerbated by the LSAT Flex scoring. Should I turn my focus to drilling RC sections over this next month?

Comments

  • danielbrowning208danielbrowning208 Alum Member
    531 karma

    You should absolutely drill old RC sections if you are struggling this much. Focus on reading for passage structure. After each paragraph and every sentence even, ask 'Why did the author include this?'. That will help you think about how everything fits together in the passage. I would also advocate for spending more time up front reading the passage and, in turn, spending less time on the questions.

  • Sydney VSydney V Alum Member
    17 karma

    It helped me a lot to change my mindset about RC (in addition to drilling). Instead of hating RC and dreading the sections, I told myself "Wow, I'm so excited! RC is the best!" it sounds stupid, and feels a little silly, but I saw a big difference.

  • jeff.wongkachijeff.wongkachi Member
    410 karma

    If you haven't already, try doing untimed sections with old RC. If you can't get perfect untimed, there's fundamental issues that you can fix. Understanding how you fixed those issues then applying it to timed sections can help you get more points.

    If you can already get perfect untimed, then it's probably a timing issue. In that case, start by giving yourself 40 minutes and see if that changes something. Dial it down slowly so you can build comfort while slowly increasing your speed.

  • Dkimvisionmaker11Dkimvisionmaker11 Alum Member
    78 karma

    You may also want to consider the following method: Go to “problem sets” on this website. Pick a topic (for instance, science) and work your way up from the “easiest” to the “hardest.” For instance, do two from each level of difficulty from the easiest and gradually work your way up. For the extra time I need, I simply time myself during the blind review to get a better sense of the time it would take me to complete a passage and the questions. After completing each set, be sure to thoroughly review before you move onto the next passage. In my case, I was doing okay for the easiest and easier. By the time I got to the medium, I was struggling with time and somewhat with accuracy as well. So I did two easiest, two easier, and 4 medium yesterday. Tomorrow, I plan to do 2 easier, 3 medium, 2 harder. You get the idea.

  • Lana KaneLana Kane Alum Member
    176 karma

    Another idea would be to attempt only 3 of the passages, completely leaving the 4th passage alone. Leave the one with the least amount of questions, and complete the other 3. If you can get your accuracy to 100% on the passages you do attempt this alone with help your score. Once you're in a good rhythm and hopefully getting faster, you can try adding back in the last passage. You've got time!

  • BullfroggerBullfrogger Member
    184 karma

    Try to understand every sentence you're reading and don't worry too much about time while you're reading the passages. If you understand the passage you will make up a lot of time on the questions. For me, all the advice about trying to find the main point of each paragraph was not very helpful and would cloud my understanding of the passage because that's all I would think about. Since I've started trying to understand every sentence I read, and what the author is trying to get across, I have no problem with time because the questions go quickly and I'm not missing more than 3 or 4 per section normally. Also, if there is a long convoluted sentence I translate it into my own words in my head to make sure I understand it.

  • studyingandrestudyingstudyingandrestudying Core Member
    5254 karma

    I wonder about spending more time reading the passages. And keep saying to yourself, I can do this.

  • emmorensemmorens Core Member
    1470 karma

    I was in your same position and my problem was that I was trying to cram it in before a specific date by practicing under time constraints. Regardless of when your exam is it is important to focus on accuracy over timing, even if that means not finishing some of the questions or practicing untimed. Once I applied this mindset I began JY's reading comp section in the course and my accuracy rate has increased significantly - with accuracy comes timing! Another tip that helped me was to actually practice taking the time to prove and disprove answer choices, this helped me to gain a better understanding and comprehension of what I was actually reading. I think once you try to apply this method you get quicker at it which is the key to reading comp. It has quickly become one of my favourite sections!

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