Breaking 165+

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• 4 Likes

  Matthew524 Member

  August 2016 651 karma

  Hey! I wanted to tell you I started my diagnostic with a 142. I am now averaging a 167. What really helped me get better at RC is going back to the passage when I am unsure. I try to find an explicit line that supports the question or try to find support for it. Do not make any assumptions about the passages which helped me a lot.
• 3 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 23929 karma

  @Saldamando150
  
  Hey Sal,
  
  So to break into the mid-160s to 170s, I think it is really important to develop consistency and accuracy at a different level than when you are in the lower 160s. After all, we are talking about the difference of getting 20-25 questions wrong, compared to more like 10-15.
  
  For LR:
  You need to have a consistent strategy based on your understanding of the different LR question types. You need to be able to quickly AND confidently eliminate answer choices, at least 3-4 of them. And when you inevitably get stuck between two, you need to have a strategy. Also implementing good skipping strategies seem to be something testers in this score range have developed as well.
  
  For LG:
  You need to know when to skip answers, and when to draw out hypotheticals. You also need to be very efficient with your ability to prioritize the key rule(s) of a game. And just basically have a set plan to attack any particular type of game. For a long time when I was stuck in the high/ low 150s, it was because I lacked the skills I needed for specific types of grouping games, for example.
  
  For RC:
  I think finding a method that works for you and making it your own is important for RC. I haven't really prepped for RC yet, so I don't have a lot of advice for this section. I will say that I think those who do well in RC are better able to prioritize what to read and how to read the passages, i.e., for structure and not details. Also, blocking inferences seems important as well. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful here.
  
  Don't worry if you plateau for a bit in the mid-to-high 160s though. It is very common. To be honest, I think a lot of people who eventually score in the 160s spend a lot of their prep in the 160s trying to hit the 170s.
  
  I'm not scoring in the 170s yet, so feel free to take all this with a grain of salt. There are others on here who are and will be able to give more specific advice
• nantesorkestar Alum Member

  August 2016 edited August 2016 431 karma

  Nicole Hopkins' RC notation webinar helped me immensely. Her method really gets you to gauge structure, while making it very easy to refer back to the passage.
• Saldamando150 Member

  August 2016 edited August 2016 89 karma

  @nantesorkestar Thanks I'll definitely look into that webinar
• 2 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @Saldamando150 Here is the Nicole Hopkin's RC intensive link:
  
  This is basically the only thing I've used to help with RC so far, and it helped me go from missing like 10 to missing 5 on RC. @"Nicole Hopkins" knows her RC front and back.
• nantesorkestar Alum Member

  August 2016 431 karma

  @Saldamando150 After watching the video, definitely practice the notation method on some RC passages you've already done. It takes time to pin down but for me, it worked wonders and RC is my weakest section.
• Saldamando150 Member

  August 2016 89 karma

  @"Alex Divine" thanks bro!
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @Saldamando150 Anytime my friend, anytime!