Perfecting Reading Comp Tips Forum

[SecondWind]

Tag! Trying it out here in a couple weeks and I'll give you feedback.

[sublime]

..

[stray]

Honestly think that this type of method is extremely helpful if you have like 2-3 months and you can read at least an hour or two a day (so yeah there is a commitment but its probably much less for people who have a decent reading foundation). I know a lot of people say that its hard to really improve RC and sometimes reading articles from things like the Economist isnt worth it but I think its worth a try. Personally, I literally never read for pleasure - AT ALL. The only time I read anything in print is for school, so my RC is pretty damn poor I'll say (even in HS sparknoted the fudge out of the classics). But last year I pledged to read a shitload of economist/wall street journal articles and tried reading it in a manner that I would read LSAT passages (authors point, viewpoints and all that BS) and within a few weeks to a month you REALLY do notice a significant difference. I was actually pretty shocked. After about a month and a half I stopped cause I'm a lazy idiot, but going to pick it up again until a DEC test. So if you guys are actually behind in RC, JUST TRY IT. If you are in undergrad your school def has subscriptions online, so take a look. If you are as bad as me, dont get discouraged if you fail to retain a lot of the information at first, but if you keep at it, it will get better. I especially like this because OP put up an actual process to the learning, so you aren't just reading but have a tangible method to follow. I feel like some of the test prep companies would be well advised to include this type of method when teaching RC because I do think its often overlooked. Personally I used the Manhattan RC book and its gives a good foundation for how to attack passages and question and now I'm just going to use this method for the next few months.

1) Wall of text

2) WSJ? Comeon......

3) I may try it, but anytime I am reading an Economist article, I feel like that time would be better spent drilling RC passages.

1) No ones forcing you to read it, just trying to help.
2)What is wrong with WSJ?
3) Also, this is, I will say, mainly for people who need/want to do more than the RC material and probably are further behind than others in RC.

[SecondWind]

Honestly think that this type of method is extremely helpful if you have like 2-3 months and you can read at least an hour or two a day (so yeah there is a commitment but its probably much less for people who have a decent reading foundation). I know a lot of people say that its hard to really improve RC and sometimes reading articles from things like the Economist isnt worth it but I think its worth a try. Personally, I literally never read for pleasure - AT ALL. The only time I read anything in print is for school, so my RC is pretty damn poor I'll say (even in HS sparknoted the fudge out of the classics). But last year I pledged to read a shitload of economist/wall street journal articles and tried reading it in a manner that I would read LSAT passages (authors point, viewpoints and all that BS) and within a few weeks to a month you REALLY do notice a significant difference. I was actually pretty shocked. After about a month and a half I stopped cause I'm a lazy idiot, but going to pick it up again until a DEC test. So if you guys are actually behind in RC, JUST TRY IT. If you are in undergrad your school def has subscriptions online, so take a look. If you are as bad as me, dont get discouraged if you fail to retain a lot of the information at first, but if you keep at it, it will get better. I especially like this because OP put up an actual process to the learning, so you aren't just reading but have a tangible method to follow. I feel like some of the test prep companies would be well advised to include this type of method when teaching RC because I do think its often overlooked. Personally I used the Manhattan RC book and its gives a good foundation for how to attack passages and question and now I'm just going to use this method for the next few months.

1) Wall of text

2) WSJ? Comeon......

3) I may try it, but anytime I am reading an Economist article, I feel like that time would be better spent drilling RC passages.

1) No ones forcing you to read it, just trying to help.
2)What is wrong with WSJ?
3) Also, this is, I will say, mainly for people who need/want to do more than the RC material and probably are further behind than others in RC.

I agree with him on the WSJ. The WSJ is intended to be swiftly and easily read (supposedly written at an 8th grade level). Business is all about brevity. I wouldn't necessarily say the WSJ is "dumbed down", but I would argue it's more simplified to accomplish the goals of brevity and readability. This is not what the authors of the LSAT have in mind when they choose which passages to use for the exam. The Economist (definitely has had articles appear as passages) or Scientific American (not sure on this one) are more similar to what you will find on the LSAT than the WJS.

[crestor]

Honestly think that this type of method is extremely helpful if you have like 2-3 months and you can read at least an hour or two a day (so yeah there is a commitment but its probably much less for people who have a decent reading foundation). I know a lot of people say that its hard to really improve RC and sometimes reading articles from things like the Economist isnt worth it but I think its worth a try. Personally, I literally never read for pleasure - AT ALL. The only time I read anything in print is for school, so my RC is pretty damn poor I'll say (even in HS sparknoted the fudge out of the classics). But last year I pledged to read a shitload of economist/wall street journal articles and tried reading it in a manner that I would read LSAT passages (authors point, viewpoints and all that BS) and within a few weeks to a month you REALLY do notice a significant difference. I was actually pretty shocked. After about a month and a half I stopped cause I'm a lazy idiot, but going to pick it up again until a DEC test. So if you guys are actually behind in RC, JUST TRY IT. If you are in undergrad your school def has subscriptions online, so take a look. If you are as bad as me, dont get discouraged if you fail to retain a lot of the information at first, but if you keep at it, it will get better. I especially like this because OP put up an actual process to the learning, so you aren't just reading but have a tangible method to follow. I feel like some of the test prep companies would be well advised to include this type of method when teaching RC because I do think its often overlooked. Personally I used the Manhattan RC book and its gives a good foundation for how to attack passages and question and now I'm just going to use this method for the next few months.

1) Wall of text

2) WSJ? Comeon......

3) I may try it, but anytime I am reading an Economist article, I feel like that time would be better spent drilling RC passages.

1) No ones forcing you to read it, just trying to help.
2)What is wrong with WSJ?
3) Also, this is, I will say, mainly for people who need/want to do more than the RC material and probably are further behind than others in RC.

I agree with him on the WSJ. The WSJ is intended to be swiftly and easily read (supposedly written at an 8th grade level). Business is all about brevity. I wouldn't necessarily say the WSJ is "dumbed down", but I would argue it's more simplified to accomplish the goals of brevity and readability. This is not what the authors of the LSAT have in mind when they choose which passages to use for the exam. The Economist (definitely has had articles appear as passages) or Scientific American (not sure on this one) are more similar to what you will find on the LSAT than the WJS.

this

[stray]

What do you guys think of magazines like the Atlantic? I like the structure, but the material is kind of enjoyable, so I dont know if it is best to to stay away from that.

[crestor]

What do you guys think of magazines like the Atlantic? I like the structure, but the material is kind of enjoyable, so I dont know if it is best to to stay away from that.

for me personally the economist has been a life saver. but above all else i was reading the actual magazine and not online. my results were shit when i was reading online. you're not taking the test online? so whats the point of reading the fucking thing online.

btw to people who get limited 5 articles for a week, just clear your browsing history. if you have sensitive shit (lol), then install another browser and do it over and over again to print out economist articles.

[Shamatha1]

Tag

[haus]

What do you guys think of magazines like the Atlantic? I like the structure, but the material is kind of enjoyable, so I dont know if it is best to to stay away from that.

While I do find the Atlantic to be interesting, I think that Smithsonian might be a better choice.

[Theopliske8711]

NY Review of Books ftw. I really recommend it.

[paglababa]

promising. tag.

[mornincounselor]

Post removed.

[Dr. Dre]

bump for OCT and DEC lsat test takers

[RobertGolddust]

This might help: http://www.academicjournals.org/journal ... _Education

(googled this, if your still in undergrad (like I am) its probably better to pick one up from a professor.)

I Never really gave it a try for the LSAT. But I went through a phase last year where I read academic journals for a couple months and I think it helped me with my RC game.

Academic articles have a different structure than LSAT passages, but they are extremely dense. I imagine if one read academic journals for a three months stretch, with a dictionary near by, their verbal skills would increase a bit.

[AAJD2B]

This might help: http://www.academicjournals.org/journal ... _Education

(googled this, if your still in undergrad (like I am) its probably better to pick one up from a professor.)

I Never really gave it a try for the LSAT. But I went through a phase last year where I read academic journals for a couple months and I think it helped me with my RC game.

Academic articles have a different structure than LSAT passages, but they are extremely dense. I imagine if one read academic journals for a three months stretch, with a dictionary near by, their verbal skills would increase a bit.

Thanks Robert!

[Dr.Zer0]

Tag

[casparks]

.

[M.M.]

Tagskatini

[pobsy]

tagging!

[John Winger]

Tagging. Can't wait to try it.

[pobsy]

What do you guys think of magazines like the Atlantic? I like the structure, but the material is kind of enjoyable, so I dont know if it is best to to stay away from that.

for me personally the economist has been a life saver. but above all else i was reading the actual magazine and not online. my results were shit when i was reading online. you're not taking the test online? so whats the point of reading the fucking thing online.

btw to people who get limited 5 articles for a week, just clear your browsing history. if you have sensitive shit (lol), then install another browser and do it over and over again to print out economist articles.

HA! thank you SIR!

[Hotguy]

What do you guys think of magazines like the Atlantic? I like the structure, but the material is kind of enjoyable, so I dont know if it is best to to stay away from that.

for me personally the economist has been a life saver. but above all else i was reading the actual magazine and not online. my results were shit when i was reading online. you're not taking the test online? so whats the point of reading the fucking thing online.

btw to people who get limited 5 articles for a week, just clear your browsing history. if you have sensitive shit (lol), then install another browser and do it over and over again to print out economist articles.

Exploiting websites/newspaper like a master. I love this new generation of future lawyers.

[paglababa]

I pretty much read manhattan LSAT RC book front to back. I started doing full sections as prep from older tests. I was generally going anywhere between -2 to -7(at worst) and very frustrated that there was no magical improvement like LR.

Anyway, I suggest you keep doing full sections, and make sure you do the RCs in the modern tests (60s) before your real exam.

I would try to be done with my first two passages by 15 mins. If I was past this (especially if it was 20 minute mark) I would super skim the following passages. Spend 2.5 mins on reading passage. I only underlined key words related to people shifts (i.e., this critic, this author, these proponents, ect). If you are underlining more, you are wasting time and focus.

I pretty much read for structure to the point where when it came to questions I could pretty much tell where in the passage I could find that answer. You must spend the most of your time on questions.

Anyway, I magically went -0 on RC on the October sitting. HTH.

[Ahamilton]

What do you guys think of magazines like the Atlantic? I like the structure, but the material is kind of enjoyable, so I dont know if it is best to to stay away from that.

for me personally the economist has been a life saver. but above all else i was reading the actual magazine and not online. my results were shit when i was reading online. you're not taking the test online? so whats the point of reading the fucking thing online.

btw to people who get limited 5 articles for a week, just clear your browsing history. if you have sensitive shit (lol), then install another browser and do it over and over again to print out economist articles.

isn't this illegal? :\:\

[Jayrent]

Thanks. Tagging