New RC

Comments

• dennisgerrard Member

  April 2017 1644 karma

  Did you do the timed RC section for early PTs?
• TheoryandPractice Alum Member

  April 2017 1008 karma

  I noticed the same thing. I think earlier RCs are easier. And also, PTs 62-63 happen to be especially hard. PTs in 70s less so.
• 1 Like

  TheoryandPractice Alum Member

  April 2017 edited April 2017 1008 karma

  My theory is that the passages are not necessarily harder but the questions are. The answers are more subtle and require more in-depth understanding of the passage as a whole. Inference Qs are particularly tougher as well.

  I noticed that my passage reading time stayed relatively the same (from the old to recent PTs,) but answering the Qs have been taking longer in the newer PTs. For example, I'd usually carefully read the passage within 4 min, and in older PTs, solve most of the Qs within 30 seconds each. In the RCs 60s and up, the Qs take longer to answer. So you gotta either practice understanding the passage more in depth or practice answering the Qs faster by eliminating trap answer choices quicker.

  I think it's a matter of making subtle adjustments in answering Qs and aiming for a higher understanding of the text, which will generally take time.
• 1 Like

  TheoryandPractice Alum Member

  April 2017 1008 karma

  There are 3 likely scenarios of why ppl respond differently to the difference btw older and newer PTs

  1) Those who don't notice the difference btw older and more recent PTs are prob already accustomed to striving for a higher understanding of the text.

  2) Or, in a more unlikely case but also very possible in the CC phase- is that they are understanding the passages at a bar below both older and recent PTs and therefore the scores will not manifest differently

  3) But if we were understanding at a level just to get by (and not be penalized) in older PTs, that level of understanding might not be enough for the more recent ones.
• 1 Like

  danielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  April 2017 4181 karma

  @TheoryandPractice said:
  My theory is that the passages are not necessarily harder but the questions are. The answers are more subtle and require more in-depth understanding of the passage as a whole. Inference Qs are particularly tougher as well.

  Totally agree with this, though I'm not sure the questions are "harder" - though they very well may be. They're certainly in some ways different than Q's in older PTs, which makes identifying correct ACs harder if you've prepped with older PTs (as just about everyone does).

  There have been great discussions on this very topic in the past. I've been trying to find them but haven't been too successful thus far. I'll keep looking!
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  April 2017 23929 karma

  You're not alone.

  I definitely do better on the older RC myself. I haven't taken a ton of newer PTs yet, but I think what helped me most was to spend all the time I needed during BR to break down each passage and figure out exactly why I was missing questions.

  I agree that the newer RC questions are harder because the correct answers are more subtle. I find that my POE skills are much better on the older exams and I am way more likely to spend time stuck between 2-3 answer choices I can't eliminate on the newer exams.

  The good news is that I am getting better with practice and exposure to the newer tests!
• 1 Like

  jaefromcanada Alum Member

  April 2017 315 karma

  @dennisgerrard I did them all timed, yes. Sometimes I'd run out of time but I'd try and keep it strict as much as possible.

  @TheoryandPractice I've been keeping up with your theories on the newer LSATs and your RC guides in general. Do you have any tips on reading with better understanding? I'm going to try and slow down and annotate better and active read.

  @"Alex Divine" I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone. Thanks for the bit of a reassurance. Do you have any suggestions other than BR to get more exposure to the new PT's without wasting PT's?
• 2 Likes

  TheoryandPractice Alum Member

  April 2017 1008 karma

  @jaefromcanada Hey! I think the key is patience. We are getting rid of an old reading habit of 20+ years and are trying to build a new one. I think we just need to train so much to the point that it becomes so natural for us to read each paragraph and summarize it before moving onto the next. Summarizing takes time in the beginning, but I think it becomes quicker as we practice.

  I think the classification technique (identifying the central theme and classifying is various aspects) I've written about in the original strategy post might be helpful...I developed that so I can have an easier time summarizing and do it as fast as I can.
• dennisgerrard Member

  May 2017 1644 karma

  Just had a hard time on PT58 RC #3