Which RC strategy do you prefer? Forum

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 1:25 pm

Which RC strategy do you prefer?

Spending a higher amount of time in your first read of the passage (3-4 mins on average) and (theoretically) spending less time rereading parts of the passage on the questions?

Or reading very quickly (1-2.5 mins on average) and maybe spending a little more time referring back to the passage on the questions?

Post opinions/experiences with either strategy below!

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:13 pm

I'll kick off the potential discussion, lol

I have found through drilling and a few PTs that when I spend a high amount of time on my first read, there are some pros:

I seem to able to eliminate wrong answer choices MUCH more quickly
I have to reread less of the passage
I look back at the passage a fewer number of times, and when I do look back at the passage, I seem to go EXACTLY where I need to go in the passage to reread what I need to reread.

The only real "cons" I could think of are:

It takes more time *dusts off shoulder to commend himself for a great observation*
I guess there is a danger of trying to keep too much in my head at once and it all getting jumbled in there, although this has honestly only happened once: with the waterbugs passage (although I haven't done PTs in the 50s yet, which some ppl think are harder), but other than the waterbugs passage, this hasn't been a problem for me.

ilikebaseball · Post by **ilikebaseball** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:15 pm

I've always looked back through the passage for answers. I write very vague notes and bracket all statements with specific opinions (because those opinions are likely to be referenced in a question) but other then that, my first read through is pretty quick so I can keep coming back to it. Less for content and more for structure and format the first time.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 10:56 am

Post removed.

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:07 pm

I've found that if I read slowly, I can answer most of the questions myself before even looking at the answer choices. If I read quickly, I have to go through and consider each choice and I don't already have an idea in my head of what answer I'm looking for.

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:41 am

Thanks for the feedback, Choward, Mornin, and Tskela. Great stuff. My RC is a work in progress.

If you're reading this and haven't voted in the poll yet, you should do so!

bondja · Post by **bondja** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:14 am

I'm with mornincounselor. I start off by reading somewhat slowly - a normal pace. Once I figure out whether this passage is going to give me fits or not, then I adjust. If it's going to be something I enjoy I'll breeze right by it BUT I'll take my time with the answer questions (not an abnormal amount of time but I'll double check my answers). I have a tendency of breezing through the passage and then mistakenly breezing through the questions while missing a key word in the actual question or in the answers.

My RC is a work in progress too but I've been hitting huge gains in it lately, which is nice.

izzy895 · Post by **izzy895** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 9:37 am

Thought I'd add to this and ask if anyone has seen substantial improvements in their RC say from -7 down to -3/4. I can't break the high 160s due to going -7 on in RC on Dec and June, I just can't seem to improve my RC. Just wondering if anyone was in a similar position and broke through.

I've been using the read faster strategy with almost no annotation for June, for December I did annotate.. Same result lol.

DEO3029 · Post by **DEO3029** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:35 am

I generally found it best to stick with about 3.5-4 minutes of read time...it left me very familiar with the passage but also permitted me enough time to look back when necessary

Attax · Post by **Attax** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 10:44 am

I did general reading for understanding, despite all my books telling me not to do this. It worked for me and was the key to improving my RC from about -10 to -4ish. Do what works for you, study guides are just that: guides. They aren't absolute and the strategies don't work for everyone. Find what works for you.

birdlaw624 · Post by **birdlaw624** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 11:21 am

my general strategy is to mark up very little, marking opinion indicators and writing a quick shorthand summary of each paragraph. i usually will refer back to the passage for questions i'm not positive about after i have narrowed down the answer choices. so i guess i lean towards reading faster and referring back but like mornincounselor said the passage can dictate how long i spend reading.

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:49 pm

Attax wrote:I did general reading for understanding, despite all my books telling me not to do this. It worked for me and was the key to improving my RC from about -10 to -4ish. Do what works for you, study guides are just that: guides. They aren't absolute and the strategies don't work for everyone. Find what works for you.

Attax,

When you say reading for general understanding, does that mean that you read deeply and slowly on your first read or that you go quicker and refer back heavily?

I think you're referring to the first on b/c most prep companies seem to take the "read really quickly and refer back a ton" approach.

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