RC stamina Forum

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goldenboy514

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RC stamina

Post by goldenboy514 » Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:49 am

Really really struggling in prep to stay attentive during rc drilling. The passages are so boring and when the discussion goes from classical black jazz musicians, to waterbug wing traits, to Victorian era philanthropy I wanna shoot myself.

Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?

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Typhoon24

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Re: RC stamina

Post by Typhoon24 » Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:01 am

What helped me was first convincing myself that I was not reading these articles for fun. My duty was to break down 4 passages in 2-3 minutes each, noting things like its structure, tone, and purpose along the way. This all-business-no-pleasure approach makes it feel more like a workout and less like a chore. The rest is getting myself hyped over how well I can do on a section (time vs accuracy). Ultimately, RC is the most hated section on the lsat--especially for people who study. It won't get better over time, you just get more used to it.

bp shinners

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Re: RC stamina

Post by bp shinners » Thu Jun 20, 2013 12:30 pm

goldenboy514 wrote: Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?
Considering the articles on the LSAT are taken from The Economist-style publications, it might just be a mental thing :)

There are two routes. The first is to drum up your interest in the subject matter (this is my route). The passages on the LSAT are largely from academic publications, so the stuff in them represents actual information. I don't care about Victorian philosophy enough to take a class on it. However, I REALLY like being a know-it-all, and 3 paragraphs on Victorian philosophy teaches me just enough on it to sound smart if it ever comes up in a conversation. That comparative drilling mud passage? Boring. But I sounded like a genius during the BP oil spill. If you can manage to convince yourself that you're learning some obscure info that you can use to impress someone at some point in your life, they tend to be a lot easier to get through.

The second route is to treat it as a challenge not for the content, but just as part of the test. If you do that, and focus solely on the information that's important for questions, you can usually get through the passage without it being a slog. You don't need to focus on and memorize every fact - you just need to have a big-picture view of the passage and focus on the small details that are likely to show up in questions. I use this method when taking the test, even though my approach to the material is more aligned with the first approach from above. You can see what I mean by focusing on the big picture and on the details that are likely to show up on questions by taking a look at a sample of the RC Markups we include in our course: http://www.scribd.com/doc/147673587/PT3 ... xplanation

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TheMostDangerousLG

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Re: RC stamina

Post by TheMostDangerousLG » Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:04 pm

goldenboy514 wrote:Really really struggling in prep to stay attentive during rc drilling. The passages are so boring and when the discussion goes from classical black jazz musicians, to waterbug wing traits, to Victorian era philanthropy I wanna shoot myself.

Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?
Drilling RC sections is rough. While I can do logic games sections for hours on end without blinking, I found it a lot harder to do RC section after RC section. For me, it definitely help to break up drilling RC with other study activities. I'd do an RC section, then a set of LR Qs or a couple logic games, then another RC section. Doing a couple of RC sections in a single sitting, even if split up by other activities, still helped me build up stamina.

Don't be afraid to take a break if needed (it's a waste of study material if you're just going to half-ass it out of boredom or stare at it with glazed eyes), but try to push yourself to at least be able to complete RC passages in full sections at each go.

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Otunga

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Re: RC stamina

Post by Otunga » Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:12 pm

TheMostDangerousLG wrote:
goldenboy514 wrote:Really really struggling in prep to stay attentive during rc drilling. The passages are so boring and when the discussion goes from classical black jazz musicians, to waterbug wing traits, to Victorian era philanthropy I wanna shoot myself.

Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?
Drilling RC sections is rough. While I can do logic games sections for hours on end without blinking, I found it a lot harder to do RC section after RC section. For me, it definitely help to break up drilling RC with other study activities. I'd do an RC section, then a set of LR Qs or a couple logic games, then another RC section. Doing a couple of RC sections in a single sitting, even if split up by other activities, still helped me build up stamina.

Don't be afraid to take a break if needed (it's a waste of study material if you're just going to half-ass it out of boredom or stare at it with glazed eyes), but try to push yourself to at least be able to complete RC passages in full sections at each go.
I did three RC sections more or less consecutively the other day. I was pissed because I wasn't hitting 0 to -2 on any of them (which I was hitting on the previous six or so sections that I did). Instead, I got -3, -4 and -3. I considered trying for 0 to -2 on the fourth one, but was like....I doubt it'll improve from here. Basically what I'm saying is that I don't think it's advisable for anyone relatively early in their prep to drill RC like that. I think we all have moments where we're frustrated and want instant LSAT gratification while we're studying, but it is a waste of material.

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TheMostDangerousLG

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Re: RC stamina

Post by TheMostDangerousLG » Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:23 pm

Otunga wrote:
TheMostDangerousLG wrote:
goldenboy514 wrote:Really really struggling in prep to stay attentive during rc drilling. The passages are so boring and when the discussion goes from classical black jazz musicians, to waterbug wing traits, to Victorian era philanthropy I wanna shoot myself.

Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?
Drilling RC sections is rough. While I can do logic games sections for hours on end without blinking, I found it a lot harder to do RC section after RC section. For me, it definitely help to break up drilling RC with other study activities. I'd do an RC section, then a set of LR Qs or a couple logic games, then another RC section. Doing a couple of RC sections in a single sitting, even if split up by other activities, still helped me build up stamina.

Don't be afraid to take a break if needed (it's a waste of study material if you're just going to half-ass it out of boredom or stare at it with glazed eyes), but try to push yourself to at least be able to complete RC passages in full sections at each go.
I did three RC sections more or less consecutively the other day. I was pissed because I wasn't hitting 0 to -2 on any of them (which I was hitting on the previous six or so sections that I did). Instead, I got -3, -4 and -3. I considered trying for 0 to -2 on the fourth one, but was like....I doubt it'll improve from here. Basically what I'm saying is that I don't think it's advisable for anyone relatively early in their prep to drill RC like that. I think we all have moments where we're frustrated and want instant LSAT gratification while we're studying, but it is a waste of material.
Oh yeah, definitely not early in your prep. I think section drilling is for late in the game. I forget most of the people I'm talking to are early into October and December studying instead of late into June studying.

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goldenboy514

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Re: RC stamina

Post by goldenboy514 » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:47 pm

TheMostDangerousLG wrote:
goldenboy514 wrote:Really really struggling in prep to stay attentive during rc drilling. The passages are so boring and when the discussion goes from classical black jazz musicians, to waterbug wing traits, to Victorian era philanthropy I wanna shoot myself.

Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?
Drilling RC sections is rough. While I can do logic games sections for hours on end without blinking, I found it a lot harder to do RC section after RC section. For me, it definitely help to break up drilling RC with other study activities. I'd do an RC section, then a set of LR Qs or a couple logic games, then another RC section. Doing a couple of RC sections in a single sitting, even if split up by other activities, still helped me build up stamina.

Don't be afraid to take a break if needed (it's a waste of study material if you're just going to half-ass it out of boredom or stare at it with glazed eyes), but try to push yourself to at least be able to complete RC passages in full sections at each go.

Ya i agree. Alotta times after doing 2 or 3 RC passages i feel like I should reward myself because im so burned out. Instead of goen to watch TV or eat out of boredom, I often find myself doing a LG or 2. I actually do LG as fun sometimes. I know it sounds crazy, but for me LG are a breathe of fresh air away from RC

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goldenboy514

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Re: RC stamina

Post by goldenboy514 » Thu Jun 20, 2013 9:49 pm

bp shinners wrote:
goldenboy514 wrote: Even the articles in the economist are much more enjoyable. After I read two of these grueling sections I often feel like I need to walk away for a minute because they're so agonizing.

Any suggestions to overcome struggles?
Considering the articles on the LSAT are taken from The Economist-style publications, it might just be a mental thing :)

There are two routes. The first is to drum up your interest in the subject matter (this is my route). The passages on the LSAT are largely from academic publications, so the stuff in them represents actual information. I don't care about Victorian philosophy enough to take a class on it. However, I REALLY like being a know-it-all, and 3 paragraphs on Victorian philosophy teaches me just enough on it to sound smart if it ever comes up in a conversation. That comparative drilling mud passage? Boring. But I sounded like a genius during the BP oil spill. If you can manage to convince yourself that you're learning some obscure info that you can use to impress someone at some point in your life, they tend to be a lot easier to get through.

The second route is to treat it as a challenge not for the content, but just as part of the test. If you do that, and focus solely on the information that's important for questions, you can usually get through the passage without it being a slog. You don't need to focus on and memorize every fact - you just need to have a big-picture view of the passage and focus on the small details that are likely to show up in questions. I use this method when taking the test, even though my approach to the material is more aligned with the first approach from above. You can see what I mean by focusing on the big picture and on the details that are likely to show up on questions by taking a look at a sample of the RC Markups we include in our course: http://www.scribd.com/doc/147673587/PT3 ... xplanation
Really like this mentality. I try to do the same but need to really think about it when Im drilling. I often did this in undergrad where I would read a few pages of a dense philosophy reading and chime in the conversation to sound like I knew what Im talkin about

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Re: RC stamina

Post by bp shinners » Fri Jun 21, 2013 2:18 pm

Otunga wrote:I did three RC sections more or less consecutively the other day. I was pissed because I wasn't hitting 0 to -2 on any of them (which I was hitting on the previous six or so sections that I did). Instead, I got -3, -4 and -3. I considered trying for 0 to -2 on the fourth one, but was like....I doubt it'll improve from here. Basically what I'm saying is that I don't think it's advisable for anyone relatively early in their prep to drill RC like that. I think we all have moments where we're frustrated and want instant LSAT gratification while we're studying, but it is a waste of material.
Not to say you can't improve, but going -3/-4 on RC is really solid. I've worked with a lot of students in the 170s, and they lose their points, for the most part, in RC. You obviously want to try to get it down, but even top-scorers don't always hit -0/-1 regularly. You can still get a 175+ with a -3/-4.

I'd keep working to get more consistent and aim for that -0/-1/-2, but also celebrate getting it down to -3/-4.

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UnderrateOverachieve

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Re: RC stamina

Post by UnderrateOverachieve » Fri Jun 21, 2013 2:22 pm

Chew up half of a tablet of Adderall five minutes before the section starts?

Kidding, kind of.


Are they timed trials? Timing yourself might get a little adrenaline going and make it easier to get through the practice work. Definitely is not "boring" on the real thing when you know your future depends on it.

RoaringMice

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Re: RC stamina

Post by RoaringMice » Fri Jun 21, 2013 2:47 pm

As some others have implied, I treat them like a game. It doesn't matter what the topic is, or whether or not I'm interested in it. It's about the game of picking them apart, the analysis, the application of techniques to do well on this section of the test; not at all about the topic or etc. Perhaps if you focus on the section like that, it'll be a bit less snooze-worthy.

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