Any tips for RC?

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• 6 Likes

  sheridjw Alum Member

  December 2020 936 karma

  Merry Christmas to you too. I was in a similar situation with RC until not too long ago. I was consistently -10 to 12. Honestly everything changed for me when I started working with @lexxx745 for tutoring. He is amazing and just walking through a few practice passages helped a ton. Could not recommend Albert anymore highly!

  I understand not everyone can afford tutoring. So another thing that I began doing in conjunction with tutoring that has helped tremendously is reading Economist articles. I am not just reading for pleasure though. I apply the “memory method” while doing so. I read the first paragraph summarize in my head, read the second and summarize the first and then the second paragraph, read the third and summarize first second and third paragraphs and so on. I do this for about the first five paragraphs since that is the typical length of an RC passage and then I write those 5 summaries out to test my memory. I then start over again if there are any remaining paragraphs in the article. I have found this has improved my short term memory and recollection of details so much. My last few RC scores on pt’s have been -4,5 and 6 just by doing this for about 5 or 6 articles a day. It also has exposed me to some dense stuff which has made reading certain RC passages far less difficult. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful. RC was so frustrating for me for so long, I just started experiencing decent scores on the section thanks to the above things, hopefully it will help you too!
• 1 Like

  Flex King Core Member

  December 2020 83 karma

  What I started doing not from too long ago was to ignore what is on the books and skim the question stems and answers first (in less than a minute) THEN get into the passage doing the usual (summarize P in my head). I used to do -6~-8 and this seems to be a better method for me as I know what parts I need to concentrate on. I know reading articles and such would help more than this trick but I hate reading in general. Try it out and see how it goes
• lexxx745 Alum Member Sage ⭐

  December 2020 edited December 2020 3190 karma

  @sheridjw said:
  Merry Christmas to you too. I was in a similar situation with RC until not too long ago. I was consistently -10 to 12. Honestly everything changed for me when I started working with @lexxx745 for tutoring. He is amazing and just walking through a few practice passages helped a ton. Could not recommend Albert anymore highly!

  I understand not everyone can afford tutoring. So another thing that I began doing in conjunction with tutoring that has helped tremendously is reading Economist articles. I am not just reading for pleasure though. I apply the “memory method” while doing so. I read the first paragraph summarize in my head, read the second and summarize the first and then the second paragraph, read the third and summarize first second and third paragraphs and so on. I do this for about the first five paragraphs since that is the typical length of an RC passage and then I write those 5 summaries out to test my memory. I then start over again if there are any remaining paragraphs in the article. I have found this has improved my short term memory and recollection of details so much. My last few RC scores on pt’s have been -4,5 and 6 just by doing this for about 5 or 6 articles a day. It also has exposed me to some dense stuff which has made reading certain RC passages far less difficult. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful. RC was so frustrating for me for so long, I just started experiencing decent scores on the section thanks to the above things, hopefully it will help you too!

  Thanks! I love the economist
  I wasnt an avid reader at all so reading everyday helped. Idk i also pretended they were lsat passages and tried to read them as similar as possible
• _iamnw96 Alum Member

  December 2020 437 karma

  I did a full, timed 35-minute section 5 days/week for... about two months (took a 2-week break in between bc too much RC lol). I tried to BR as thoroughly as possible after I completed every section. I also actively engaged with material (asking questions such as: why is the author writing this, what's their point, what's their attitude on this topic).

  I can't say I'm a RC-pro still, but I feel much more confident now than I ever did in the past. It takes consistent effort, but the rewards are worthwhile.