RC Section is killing me.

[Boulanger07]

The RC section has been giving me quite some trouble. I will usually miss at least one question per passage and am constantly feeling like Im rushing and will usually not complete the section in time. Before I read the RC bible, I could usually complete a section and miss about 5-6 questions. This was before i really started studying for the LSAT and when I did this I never took notes on the passages as I read them. Now, using the bibles advice, I take notes as I go. This I feel bogs me down and distracts me from the passage, but I have found that the notes can be quite useful.

What I'm really looking for is a happy medium. Where I take notes less frequently than the bible suggests, but still taking some notes to help when referring back to the passage. Has anyone else had these issues? What sort of notes should I mainly focus on? and any other general advice on the RC section would be much appreciated.

[bleu]

The RC section has been giving me quite some trouble. I will usually miss at least one question per passage and am constantly feeling like Im rushing and will usually not complete the section in time. Before I read the RC bible, I could usually complete a section and miss about 5-6 questions. This was before i really started studying for the LSAT and when I did this I never took notes on the passages as I read them. Now, using the bibles advice, I take notes as I go. This I feel bogs me down and distracts me from the passage, but I have found that the notes can be quite useful.

What I'm really looking for is a happy medium. Where I take notes less frequently than the bible suggests, but still taking some notes to help when referring back to the passage. Has anyone else had these issues? What sort of notes should I mainly focus on? and any other general advice on the RC section would be much appreciated.

Start over. The rc bible didnt work for me either, sure notation is great but its too structured.
I would just read the sections slowly with out time, experimenting with notation (notation you like) then when you start getting 90% 100% accuracy start picking up the pace. Go over each answer choice and explain why it is wrong to help you become familiar with common tricks and trends. Personally i think the lr bible helped me more with rc than the rc bible.

[3|ink]

I'm also having trouble with RC. I'm getting an average of -1 per passage. However, I don't think that taking notes would really help. Personally, I think there are very few things that you should bother making note of.

1.) Concessions
2.) Points of contrast and agreement in dual passages
3.) Those weird examples that come out of left field

I think that these are the most commonly questioned points on RC. The rest is understanding the ideas and who holds them. That's something that isn't worth writing down.

[kazu]

I underlined / highlighted things that I wanted to be able to find afterwards, and I developed my own little system (circle people's names, brackets around the "weird examples", etc). I didn't mark central ideas etc because there was no need to, I knew it was already in my mind anyhow. Worked pretty well for me. Practice definitely helped - by the end I was doing all of this without really having to think about it, and I could go back to the passage if necessary and immediately find what I wanted. I also implemented them one by one - at first I wasn't doing any notation at all, but after doing a few RC sections I would think "hey would it be easier if I noted this?", try it out, & if it helped I'd stick with it. And repeat. You really need to play around & figure out what works for you. Since there are over 200 LSAT RC passages out there, you have plenty to work with

[Adjudicator]

RC is the most problematic section for me, too... it's just so subjective sometimes. Analytical and logical reasoning are basically structural, but RC sometimes just interprets things in a way that I don't agree with.

Sometimes I miss something, and then go back and I don't agree with the "right" answer even when I know what it is.

Oh well, though. I guess I'll just keep practicing.

[RPK34]

RC is the most problematic section for me, too... it's just so subjective sometimes. Analytical and logical reasoning are basically structural, but RC sometimes just interprets things in a way that I don't agree with.

Sometimes I miss something, and then go back and I don't agree with the "right" answer even when I know what it is.

Oh well, though. I guess I'll just keep practicing.

I completely agree. There are times the correct answer doesn't seem completely right.

From someone who HATED RC and was getting -4 to -6 per section and is now at 0 or -1, here's some advice:

Circle names, important concepts, etc. They are very often mentioned in questions and being able to locate them very quickly inside of the text saves time.

The questions of "the texts mentions which of the following" should be something you get with 100%. Often times, the answer choice is copied almost word from word from the text. Don't miss these.

Once you get a question you get stuck up on, go back through the text. Often times, the ones I missed were pretty easy to see once I read back through the text.

There were always 2-3 per section that I never completely agreed with the answer. However, I always found that my answer was definitely wrong. When you get to one where you have it down to 2 answer choices, don't try to prove one of them is correct, try to prove one of them is wrong. The correct answer choice has still sometimes seemed a little wishy washy, but the other 4 were definitely wrong. Go into the text and prove one is wrong.

Also, just a little tip that helped me a bit. Don't skip the last sentence of the passage. I always kind of skimmed the last sentence, which was problematic because I often found some of the answer choices used phrasing that was only used in the last sentence. Probably more or less a trick by LSAC.

Hope that helps.

[thechee]

I struggled for a while with RC, but eventually found a method that worked really well for me.

I made a ton of marks, circles, and highlights while I read, but found that I never really went back to them to answer questions. What I ended up doing was marking and highlighting in a way that was more geared toward maximizing my understanding of a passage while reading it. For example, underlining qualifiers, linking subjects and verbs, and being sure that I was aware of which point of view was being expressed in any given sentence/paragraph. This helped me stay focused during RC, and also ensured that not a single detail fell through the cracks. You only need to hold the information in your head for 5-7 min, so making marks to come back to isn't always necessary, IMO.

[dominkay]

I think notes are overrated. In LR, the key is to give yourself enough time to read the passage and really comprehend what's being said. Like in LG, the more work you do up front, the easier it is on the back end.

[RFKScott]

I think notes are overrated. In LR, the key is to give yourself enough time to read the passage and really comprehend what's being said. Like in LG, the more work you do up front, the easier it is on the back end.

Do you mean underrated?

I am really having trouble with RC and I just need to keep drilling and have intense review. For most of you that struggled at first but stayed with it, did you feel something click in your mind after doing so many? Does the predictability of the RC section become almost second nature?

[dominkay]

I think notes are overrated. In LR, the key is to give yourself enough time to read the passage and really comprehend what's being said. Like in LG, the more work you do up front, the easier it is on the back end.

Do you mean underrated?

I am really having trouble with RC and I just need to keep drilling and have intense review. For most of you that struggled at first but stayed with it, did you feel something click in your mind after doing so many? Does the predictability of the RC section become almost second nature?

I meant overrated. RC is not as formulaic as LG; there are so many things they could ask that I don't note-taking is all that beneficial. I think it's most important to do the mental work of comprehension.

[Sell Manilla]

Wait, we can bring highlighters?

[youknowryan]

Wait, we can bring highlighters?

Yep.

[kazu]

Wait, we can bring highlighters?

Yep... although a lot of people don't use them at all, for me incorporating them into my LG/RC process helped tremendously.

[3|ink]

Wait, we can bring highlighters?

Yep... although a lot of people don't use them at all, for me incorporating them into my LG/RC process helped tremendously.

Actually, this gives me an idea.

Just out of curiosity, how did you use them in LG? I'm wondering if a highlighter would be effective for marking random variables and inferences.

[bleu]

think of all the time you are wasting picking up/putting down a highlighter.

[Sh@keNb@ke]

think of all the time you are wasting picking up/putting down a highlighter.

+1

[kazu]

Wait, we can bring highlighters?

Yep... although a lot of people don't use them at all, for me incorporating them into my LG/RC process helped tremendously.

Actually, this gives me an idea.

Just out of curiosity, how did you use them in LG? I'm wondering if a highlighter would be effective for marking random variables and inferences.

think of all the time you are wasting picking up/putting down a highlighter.

+1

Honestly it didn't take more than maybe 2~3 seconds per section, max. Probably because I used them sparingly, on purpose. Also time wasn't that much of an issue when I started using them b/c I was already down to 25~30 minutes per section, and I was looking for a way to minimize mistakes.

In LG I highlighted any rules that I found difficult to diagram clearly, so I didn't use it on every section. It served as a reminder since I sometimes forgot to "check" my answer with any rule that wasn't clearly/concisely represented on my diagram.

Just because LSAC allows them doesn't mean you have to use them, but I personally found them useful.