The Official December 2014 Study Group Forum

[Rhymes With Wolf]

That's how it's taught by practically every company out there.

Well, shows you what I know. I have the books, I always just skip/gloss over/don't read the RC stuff.

[nlee10]

That's how it's taught by practically every company out there.

Well, shows you what I know. I have the books, I always just skip/gloss over/don't read the RC stuff.

lol. Yup.

Even though I know this so-called RC method, I sometimes find myself not actively reading on some RC passages. All about that effort doe.

[Shakawkaw]

Can we all collectively agree ITT that RC is by far the worst section?

I wish I could post a gif in response...YIS.

[alpha kenny body]

READING FOR STRUCTURE!

Psssh, this guy. Where have you been?

I forget, is that how it's taught in the Trainer?

I'm pretty enigmatic, so it's hard to say when I'll post on here. Plus, I copped a foreclosed home and I started doing renovations. Between that, smashing dimes, and studying, my time is rather sparse until December. That's how it's taught in the LSAT Trainer and Manhattan LR. LSAT Trainer explained it better with better examples and drills.

[jrdavila09]

READING FOR STRUCTURE!

Psssh, this guy. Where have you been?

I forget, is that how it's taught in the Trainer?

I'm pretty enigmatic, so it's hard to say when I'll post on here. Plus, I copped a foreclosed home and I started doing renovations. Between that, smashing dimes, and studying, my time is rather sparse until December. That's how it's taught in the LSAT Trainer and Manhattan LR. LSAT Trainer explained it better with better examples and drills.

Your a beast for taking on so much responsibility. Please smash a dime for me. I'm engaged and while my fiancé is a dime, I just can't touch other dimes anymore. Your mankind's last hope!

[JDman]

Who else is far from ready? December is quickly approaching and I MEAN QUICKLY, I don't seem to feel ready at all! Anyone else feel this way?

[20171203]

.

[nlee10]

Who else is far from ready? December is quickly approaching and I MEAN QUICKLY, I don't seem to feel ready at all! Anyone else feel this way?

Agreed. Haven't even started on timing yet, still working on accuracy.

Yeah, I need to work on timing. My accuracy has really improved a lot untimed...I still need to shave a few minutes off of LG and LR though.

[Wieters]

Am I really missing some important way of drilling/improving on RC here?

READING FOR STRUCTURE!

This is very true (as far as the passage goes), but takes awhile to fully realize.

I can also add that it is very important to understand exactly what the question stems are asking. Whereas LR/LG stems are pretty straightforward, RC questions are less easy to classify. Let the question stem dictate your focus; it will often lead you to the right answer if you let it.

Assuming you have good comprehension skills, there's nothing really involved in RC. They're just seeing how well you can demonstrate your understanding of a passage as it was written, which is a skill you'll need in law school when different parties are assigned diverging opinions and your first task is to understand each.

For RC, text and task.

[Rigo]

[Wieters]

Am I really missing some important way of drilling/improving on RC here?

READING FOR STRUCTURE!

Are you sure? Kaplan says specifically not to do this.

Not sure if flaming, but for you or anyone else interested this is the single most important thing you can do for RC.

Don't read it looking for main points and background information or any of that crap, but read it in such a way that you are critically interested in why every paragraph and even sentence has been included in the context of the passage as a whole. Nothing is included by accident.

[Rigo]

[Rigo]

[nlee10]

Anyways, 45 days.

We can do this guys!

[Wieters]

The question I had was in regards to REVIEWING RC passages in MEANINGFUL ways. I know to read for structure.
I can reattempt LG after watching 7Sage.
I can reexamine LR problems and see where I made a wrong turn in my thought process.
For RC, if I get something wrong, all I say is "whoops." Is there anything you guys do with the passage when you miss questions? As of now I drill new passages and tell myself I'll do better next time, but am I missing a step when reviewing missed RC problems on passages I've already read? I doesn't seem fruitful to redo from scratch a passage you just did but maybe it is. You tell me.
As of now, I don't really see anything meaningful I could/should do when reviewing RC passages and questions I just attempted.
My RC scores aren't even THAT bad, but they're stubbornly around -4 to -6ish. Granted, I've put the least amount of effort into RC out of all the sections just because improving is so hard to come by (self fulfilling prophecy argument in play).

Anyways, 45 days.

This isn't a problem unique to you. Imo RC is about sustained excellence in comprehension for 35 minutes without mental wandering and an eye toward why everything has been included in the passage. This is really hard to do upon review because the passage is already purposefully boring. This is made worse when you have already read it because naturally you're less inclined to be discerning and instead only focus on those parts you have predetermined to be important.

This isn't going to be earth-shattering, but I would say that you should just try to buckle down when you do new RC passages. Possibly remind yourself of what it is that you need to do on RC and actually do it. Make that mentality a habit.

[Wieters]

Who else is far from ready? December is quickly approaching and I MEAN QUICKLY, I don't seem to feel ready at all! Anyone else feel this way?

Agreed. Haven't even started on timing yet, still working on accuracy.

Unless you want to delay a cycle or settle for a score beneath your potential, start working on timing yesterday (assuming you're applying to begin 2015; if not, ignore this). If you still need work on accuracy, do it alongside timing. If you're not ready for this then honestly ask yourself how long you will need to get accuracy down (has to be soon) and reevaluate whether you should take LSAT in December.

[ugg]

Post removed.

[Rigo]

[Wieters]

discerning

That's a really good word choice. I will really remind myself to be discerning and efficient when tackling each passage. I definitely do better with a "less is more" notation style and mindset.
Thanks Wieters & welcome to the thread.

I am the same re. less in more and often find it useful on RC to sit back and let the passage come to me. The actual point of the passage or bit that makes it clear to you might not reveal itself until the third paragraph, for example. It's easier to see this if you don't latch onto anything and instead take a birds-eye view throughout.

Thanks for the welcome. Took in September and convinced myself that LR section that actually counted was experimental. Got double wrong on that section as I did with other three combined. So, I'll be here until December.

[msp8]

The question I had was in regards to REVIEWING RC passages in MEANINGFUL ways. I know to read for structure.
I can reattempt LG after watching 7Sage.
I can reexamine LR problems and see where I made a wrong turn in my thought process.
For RC, if I get something wrong, all I say is "whoops." Is there anything you guys do with the passage when you miss questions? As of now I drill new passages and tell myself I'll do better next time, but am I missing a step when reviewing missed RC problems on passages I've already read? I doesn't seem fruitful to redo from scratch a passage you just did but maybe it is. You tell me.
As of now, I don't really see anything meaningful I could/should do when reviewing RC passages and questions I just attempted.
My RC scores aren't even THAT bad, but they're stubbornly around -4 to -6ish. Granted, I've put the least amount of effort into RC out of all the sections just because improving is so hard to come by (self fulfilling prophecy argument in play).

Anyways, 45 days.

RC is my weakest section. I spend a good chunk of time blind reviewing, examining each answer choice carefully. Primary objective is to ensure I go -0 on the blind review process. I write down why I've eliminated each choice and a small summary of why I've chosen a certain answer choice, as well as why I struggled to answer quickly/correctly (if I did). I also re-read the passage, of course, and see what elements I seemingly skimmed and what parts I extracted well.

Then on the actual review, I work through the logic of each word in the answer choices that I took longer than 45 seconds to respond. As cliche as it is, I really do try to internalise the phrasing of it all. To me, RC is just an extended LR in some respects, and so I treat the review process similarly as I do for LR.

I'd like to spend more time on the passage itself, breaking down the wording of it all, but I belabour the above process to such an extent that I'm sort of tired of the passage by that point.

I'm sure you've done/are aware of all of the above, but I've seen good improvements by doing this. Granted, I think my difficulties with RC were different than most people's.

[msp8]

Maybe because it's so predictable. There will never be a minority passage that isn't positive and so on.

Watch there be a negative minority passage in Dec.

[hopeboaltberkeley]

The question I had was in regards to REVIEWING RC passages in MEANINGFUL ways. I know to read for structure.
I can reattempt LG after watching 7Sage.
I can reexamine LR problems and see where I made a wrong turn in my thought process.
For RC, if I get something wrong, all I say is "whoops." Is there anything you guys do with the passage when you miss questions? As of now I drill new passages and tell myself I'll do better next time, but am I missing a step when reviewing missed RC problems on passages I've already read? I doesn't seem fruitful to redo from scratch a passage you just did but maybe it is. You tell me.
As of now, I don't really see anything meaningful I could/should do when reviewing RC passages and questions I just attempted.
My RC scores aren't even THAT bad, but they're stubbornly around -4 to -6ish. Granted, I've put the least amount of effort into RC out of all the sections just because improving is so hard to come by (self fulfilling prophecy argument in play).

Anyways, 45 days.

Dirigo is there a particular type of RC question u struggle with. The section tends to be one of my better ones so I haven't done much rigorous studying for it, however I definitely find the close-reading-type questions (e.g. "All of these were mentioned by the author as examples of ___ EXCEPT") to be more difficult than the ones that ask you to pick up on more general issues (e.g. the main point or the author's attitude). The third type of question I can think of draws your attention to a particular line of text (e.g. what does "___" mean in line 32). The line questions are also close reading questions, but at least they tell you where to look for your answer.

The three types of questions require different types of work on the part of the reader. So maybe figuring out which gives you more trouble is a place to start a more focused RC review?

[lawjag2015]

Folks,

Every time I do a LR section I get 0-2 wrong, every time I do a RC I get 0-3 wrong, and in the September test I got -5s and -6s!! I am going to start doing these two in <30 mins and see what I get.

LG is where I know that I am weak. I have never looked at my mistakes in games, let alone redrilling the ones with mistakes. I have never finished a section in less than 31 minutes. Most of my sections take full 35 minutes. So, all these need to corrected. I need to finish LGs with -0 in <28 minutes. That's the target.

So I might just do one long PT (8 sections) a week, do one section a day for LR and RC. The rest of the time is for LG!

[WorldsCollide]

Redo games, lawjag! Especially games/types that give you trouble!

Speaking of games... checking in after being awake for an hour and forty... finished an LG section that literally kicked my butt. Things are not looking too great =,(.

[waterandparchedearth]

Checking in for my first day of morning PTs. Will be starting PT34 at 8:30 and finishing it untimed. We'll see how it goes. To be honest, I'm still kind of shocked that I managed to get out of bed before 8.