Just can't seem to get Reading Comp

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• 5 Likes

  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  May 2016 2086 karma

  The sad truth about RC is the only way to improve, is to keep practicing. Let me qualify that. Your score on RC will only improve with practice. However, there are things that you want to look out for in RC, and methods that you can implement.
  Here's a non-exhaustive list:
  
  1) Look for structure. If you know how the passage flow, and how the paragraphs are related, answering questions becomes relatively easy.
  
  2) Go through the RC lessons again. Really try to implement J.Y.'s hook-back and hook-forward techniques. Also, provide yourself with a summary after each paragraph, then, after the entire passage.
  
  3) Don't focus too much on the small details. The LSAC knows you want to, and they like to take advantage of that fact.
  
  4) Keep yourself interested. Anyone who knows me understands that I hate art. Absolutely despise it. After the first paragraph of an art passage, I'm half asleep. Sure, I'm consciously awake, but it's like my brain has flipped me the bird and wandered off. Force yourself to stay interested. Ask questions, answer questions, laugh at the author, etc.
• 3 Likes

  GSU Hopeful Core ⭐

  May 2016 1644 karma

  Also, get to know the question types. These are covered in depth in the Trainer. Similar to LR, there are question types that have specific strategies. Once you get the hang of those and know what types of AC's to look for, you're on your way... Best of luck. I still pull whats left of my hair out over RC.
• 3 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  May 2016 edited May 2016 27900 karma

  So obviously, you’re plenty smart and have drive and work ethic. You couldn’t be performing so well in the other sections otherwise. Equally obvious, something is going horribly wrong in RC. You need to spend however long it takes to figure out what that is. Identify the problem. Ignore your scores. Stop drilling. None of that is even remotely useful to you.
  
  Sit down with your most recent PT. Go through each and every question and do two things: Label the question type, and write out, with a pencil, why you missed each question you missed. You should start seeing categories emerge. Question types are fairly straight forward, but reasons for missing a question will be a little more abstract and take a little more reflection. A few usual suspects are: Misunderstood referential phrasing, missed the main point, failed to make an inference, things like that. These may be difficult to determine for some questions. Ask yourself what would have made the answer right; this should be a helpful exercise to figure this out. Do this for as many recent PTs as you can remember your reasoning on. A pattern should emerge, and this pattern is your underlying problem.
  
  Also, what are your BR scores for RC? And I’m assuming you would have mentioned it if you weren’t finishing the section?
• 2 Likes

  Katurian Free Trial Member

  May 2016 edited May 2016 32 karma

  Are you actively reading?
  
  No, are you ACTIVELY reading?
  
  Are you just skimming the content? Do you make notes on different viewpoints, if any (Author, Proponent, Opponent, etc)?
  
  Can you summarize each paragraph into a line or two? Can you summarize the main point of the passage? Can you differentiate between argumentative passages and ones that just provide facts?
  
  Are you actively reading the text? Are you making notes on claims that seem to be unfounded? Underlining arguments?
  
  What is your methodology for studying? Are you following any guides?
  
  Personally I used the PowerScore bibles and found their tips for underlining viewpoints, conclusions, objections, etc helpful.
• 1 Like

  legal_name Alum Member

  May 2016 edited May 2016 277 karma

  I agree with all of the fantastic comments above. What makes a big difference in RC is active reading. The danger of reading often (in the world beyond LSAT) is that you let certain details slip in larger texts and sacrifice precision of facts for the bigger picture. This helps in RC but generally with one or two questions - i.e. main point, structure, or function of a paragraph. With RC, you need to predict and react to every aspect of the text as though the passage registers with you on an emotional level. I convince myself that I'm going to have to discuss the text I'm reading with someone I want to impress and am going to have to be able to pull up stats and quotes to back up my assertions. Coming into RC with that attitude really forces you to memorize and thus be able to recall location of text if not the text itself verbatim - huge time saver. Funny enough, I find that I can only conjure up that mindset on test day. I guess pressure can really help with that.
• LSAT AZTEC Alum Member

  May 2016 edited May 2016 33 karma

  Thanks for the input everyone! @"Cant Get Right" they aren't much better, around -7 or -5 depending on the section. To be fair, I tend to do BR with RC right after the test because I know that without fail it's going to be my worst section and I actually end up getting discouraged and not taking my time with it like I know I should. I am thinking about making myself take a few hours off between finishing the test and BR from now on
• 1 Like

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  May 2016 27900 karma

  The BR is definitely a problem. You won't exceed your BR scores under time, so it really sets a cap on your potential. You've really got to use disciplined BR strategies. This is probably a big contributor to why you're not improving. So make sure you're doing the following with your BR:
  
  BR with a clean copy of the test. You can't work with all your answers and annotations staring at you. There is too much pressure to try and confirm your original answer instead of really working through the questions.
  
  For BRing RC, start by rereading the passage. Take as much time as you need until you really understand it. Using a pencil, write out a summary of each paragraph, with notes on not only what it says, but on how it functions within the passage.
  
  For each question you circled, write out your BR. Write out why the correct answer is right, and why each incorrect answer is wrong. This takes a long time.
  
  Let it take as much time as it takes. Your BR is where the learning happens, so you can't rush it.
  
  Revisit the curriculum. Make sure you're reading actively and putting together the pieces as you read. At the end of each paragraph, pause and summarize. Link it to the previous paragraphs. Project forward and have at least some guess about where you think the next paragraph is going.