-15 to -20 on RC. Need Advice. Taking November exam

Comments

• 1 Like

  patsfan2000 Member

  November 2021 48 karma

  i am struggling the exact same way in regards to reading comp and will also be taking the exam on sunday. i am trying to improve in however i possibly can. try and make sure you are really good with LG and LR so you don't have to completely rely on your reading comp results
• 6 Likes

  ShaheerH Member

  November 2021 38 karma

  November is a bit short to build a method that works for you, but I usually have been going -4 or less, typically less. I think the thing that helped me most was reading for View, Structure, Argument, and Main Point, rather than trying to actually fully understand what's written or the concepts in front of me. If you look at the RC questions, most of them have to do with the different views, the structure or organization of the passage, arguments that are raised, or the author's main point.

  A lot of people struggle because they try to actually understand the entire passage, and sometimes that's possible, but more often it's a time sink and will just confuse people. If you try not to get too in-depth, and focus on reading it a little more abstractly, being able to recognize those things I mentioned, you can answer most questions (and know where to find the answers to questions that ask something specific), than if you read and have no real gameplan. You don't even need to notate much either, just try and get a mental note on where these things are, and practice your first few passages doing this untimed and slowly start timing yourself more. You'll likely find a drastic change.

  And if you can't even find those things I mentioned untimed, then that tells you that you need to start from square 1 and build up. The good thing is that RC, as with any other part of the LSAT, is incredibly learnable, and if you don't do as well as you'd like, you can always retake the exam. Do your best, but hopefully this gives you a direction to go in. All the best!
• funtobeemily Alum Member

  November 2021 83 karma

  Powerscore Reading Comp really helped me improve my score from -15 and my best on my recent PTs are -5. It will help you lookout for what it asked often and give you strategies on how to approach the questions and a reading strategy. I still struggle the most with the comparison passages but it helped me improve my RC score fast.
• geroneatherly Member

  November 2021 23 karma

  For me reading comp studying hasn't been exactly taking LSAT sections. I am in a Masters program so I find the assigned reading is dense enough to count as studying. So the advice I can give you is read dense sections of books that don't relate to anything and try to see how much you remember without taking notes. Philosophy is my go to, but geological journal articles are also helpful.
• 1 Like

  ledkarly Member

  November 2021 483 karma

  Dont take the November exam - why "waste" an opportunity knowing that you will most likely have to do it again in January.
• annaemurphy279 Core Member

  November 2021 99 karma

  I suffer from a similar problem and I am also taking the LSAT on Sunday. At this stage of the game, there is too little time left to make huge leaps and bounds with RC. As someone earlier mentioned, focus a lot of your energy on practicing LG and LR! Tighten up those two sections and the blood RC will take won't cost you as heavily. And just remember, KEEP YOUR COOL! Do not do what I did back in April and have an anxiety induced heart attack when I couldn't remember how to set up a game boards from LG. I laugh now, but man I totally froze to the extreme. Best of luck to you on Sunday, may we all do well!
• gabes900-1 Member

  November 2021 855 karma

  How long are you taking on passages vs questions? Are certain passages giving you trouble? Are you assuming to much about the passage and not staying in a MSS/MBT mindset?—80% of the questions have a MSS feel to them, in my opinion. This requires the reader to not make any assumptions about passage. Read it, absorb structure, points, views and evidence. And hit the questions without presuming anything.
• LuxxTaboo Core Member

  November 2021 212 karma

  @gabes900 said:
  How long are you taking on passages vs questions? Are certain passages giving you trouble? Are you assuming to much about the passage and not staying in a MSS/MBT mindset?—80% of the questions have a MSS feel to them, in my opinion. This requires the reader to not make any assumptions about passage. Read it, absorb structure, points, views and evidence. And hit the questions without presuming anything.

  I'm taking like 7 to 9 minutes on the paragraph and then another 7 or so minutes on the questions. I'm only able to finish 2 reading comps sometimes 3 during timed. I don't make any assumptions as I read the paragraph, but once i get to the questions I have trouble with all the most strongly supported.
• LuxxTaboo Core Member

  November 2021 212 karma

  @ShaheerH said:
  November is a bit short to build a method that works for you, but I usually have been going -4 or less, typically less. I think the thing that helped me most was reading for View, Structure, Argument, and Main Point, rather than trying to actually fully understand what's written or the concepts in front of me. If you look at the RC questions, most of them have to do with the different views, the structure or organization of the passage, arguments that are raised, or the author's main point.

  A lot of people struggle because they try to actually understand the entire passage, and sometimes that's possible, but more often it's a time sink and will just confuse people. If you try not to get too in-depth, and focus on reading it a little more abstractly, being able to recognize those things I mentioned, you can answer most questions (and know where to find the answers to questions that ask something specific), than if you read and have no real gameplan. You don't even need to notate much either, just try and get a mental note on where these things are, and practice your first few passages doing this untimed and slowly start timing yourself more. You'll likely find a drastic change.

  And if you can't even find those things I mentioned untimed, then that tells you that you need to start from square 1 and build up. The good thing is that RC, as with any other part of the LSAT, is incredibly learnable, and if you don't do as well as you'd like, you can always retake the exam. Do your best, but hopefully this gives you a direction to go in. All the best!

  This is very helpful, I will try to approach RC using more of this abstract method for these next few days. Thank you
• LuxxTaboo Core Member

  November 2021 212 karma

  @funtobeemily said:
  Powerscore Reading Comp really helped me improve my score from -15 and my best on my recent PTs are -5. It will help you lookout for what it asked often and give you strategies on how to approach the questions and a reading strategy. I still struggle the most with the comparison passages but it helped me improve my RC score fast

  How long did it take you to get through the book? Did you also use powerscore book for LR?? I'm really bad at that too so I am wondering if powerscore may be good for both.