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Hey guys, I'm finding that my timing on LR is absolutely killing me. I'm getting -3 per section, which is where I want to be, but it's taking me 50 minutes per section. On the easier questions I'm able to go pretty fast, but once I get to about question 15 I can feel myself taking longer and longer to answer the questions. I end up narrowing the answers down to 2 and then I find myself going back and forth between the 2 for a while. Any suggestions on how to increase speed? I'm not taking the test until February, but this timing is getting me somewhat frustrated.

Can a brotha get some help up in here?!

Bump

Well getting -3 a section untimed is encouraging - but understand without the extra 15 mins you give yourself that -3 is likely to turn into a -6/-9/-10 very easily.

Do the LR Bible. Take some LR sections untimed so you can learn to apply that knowledge, then move to timed .

How many you miss in 50min is completely pointless. Rotate between reading question and stimulus first, for some reading question first seems to help move things along.

Sandro777 wrote:Well getting -3 a section untimed is encouraging - but understand without the extra 15 mins you give yourself that -3 is likely to turn into a -6/-9/-10 very easily.

Do the LR Bible. Take some LR sections untimed so you can learn to apply that knowledge, then move to timed .

Thanks. I'm about 3/4 of the way done with my testmasters course and I have gone through alot of the LR bible. I feel like my foundation is strong, it's just when I get to those two answers that I have narrowed it down to I'm having trouble picking the right one which bogs down my time.

I just got the LR Bible and plan to read through it, but generally I do very well on LR. Usually -1 or -2 per section, I just want to make those consistent -0s. Anyway, what I found really helped my performance was pre-phrasing a lot and just circling the answer that immediately jumped out at me. If I'm not 95% confident that the answer that jumped out at me is perfect, I will circle it lightly to go back to it later. If I'm not confident at all, I will circle it darkly (picked the circling up from someone on here, can't remember who). |This allows me to finish the section with 10 mins or more to spare, which I use to go back and revisit all of the questions I've circled. I find that this lets me reapproach each question with a fresh mindset and see things I may not have seen the first time. Hope this helps!

I read on LSAT blog that an approach could be that when you get to question 15, go to the last question, and work your way up because the questions towards the end are also easier. That worked for me. It allowed me to get as many done. Although, I finish within time these days though

Simple but often-ignored advice:

1)Use a highlighter. Not a pen. A Highlighter. It will improve your reading speed greatly, and help you outline the format of the passage as you read rather than have to stop.
2)Use an analog watch and ensure that you average no more than 9 minutes per passage. If its a passage with a lot of questions, give yourself 9. If its not, give yourself 7 or so.
3)Practice with bubbling scantrons. This will remove a minute from your 35 minutes. This is an extremely valuable minute.
4)Do the passages with the most questions first. Simple advice. Most people will suggest that you should rather look for the passage that is easiest. WASTE OF TIME in my opinion. It's the LSAT. My best advice for choosing sections is just to man up and do them in order. If you see that you are behind schedule by 2 minutes or so after section 1 or 2, then start prioritizing based on number of questions per remaining passage.
5)Just do a whole lot of practice. That's the best advice anyone can give you. RC is arguably the hardest section to improve upon for the test because it just comes down to how you read, and after 20 x years there's only so much catch-up you can do against people who have been reading the economist since they were 2 years old. That said, it IS doable. So practice, practice, practice. Use a highlighter. Time yourself efficiently. Practice correctly. Test smartly.

mst wrote:Simple but often-ignored advice:

1)Use a highlighter. Not a pen. A Highlighter. It will improve your reading speed greatly, and help you outline the format of the passage as you read rather than have to stop.
2)Use an analog watch and ensure that you average no more than 9 minutes per passage. If its a passage with a lot of questions, give yourself 9. If its not, give yourself 7 or so.
3)Practice with bubbling scantrons. This will remove a minute from your 35 minutes. This is an extremely valuable minute.
4)Do the passages with the most questions first. Simple advice. Most people will suggest that you should rather look for the passage that is easiest. WASTE OF TIME in my opinion. It's the LSAT. My best advice for choosing sections is just to man up and do them in order. If you see that you are behind schedule by 2 minutes or so after section 1 or 2, then start prioritizing based on number of questions per remaining passage.
5)Just do a whole lot of practice. That's the best advice anyone can give you. RC is arguably the hardest section to improve upon for the test because it just comes down to how you read, and after 20 x years there's only so much catch-up you can do against people who have been reading the economist since they were 2 years old. That said, it IS doable. So practice, practice, practice. Use a highlighter. Time yourself efficiently. Practice correctly. Test smartly.

Good advice on Reading Comprehension strategy. I will try this and see. However, OP was seeking for advice on LR. Irony

Ouch. Very embarrassing. And you quoted, so no way out of this one, haha. As far as LR, the advice on here is solid. The 17-23 range are usually the hardest. Skip past them if you're wise, and come back, but either way, every question has to be answered. So if you are self-disciplined, just do the questions in order. Bubble in as you complete each set of 2 pages. And no section rewards endless practice like LR. They can only think of so many question types. Do enough sections and pretty soon the sections turn in mad-libs...