reading comp since ~'05 a lot harder...? Forum

[LSATNeverAgain]

so things were going well... been studying for the June test and on the early PTs like 17-37 i was averaging 171 with a standard deviation of 3.5 now i got into the recent tests 45+ and I'm struggling. PTs 45-55 ive averaged 168... on PT 54 and 55 I got 164... reading comp killed me on both of these (like -11 and then -6). there seems to be a marked increase in RC difficulty with tests since '05 and I really noticed it on these most recent 2. LR got harder too... but im able to manage that a bit better but still not like the old tests.

am i imagining stuff or did they get harder? advice...? im really worried about the june test now.

[JD2014]

I think adding comparative reading in 2007 was part of an effort to make RC more difficult, which was offset by easier games sections.

While games getting easier is probably partially subjective, I don't think there have been any non-standard games (e.g. that weird radar game on PT 15) in a while.

[TommyK]

If I'm not mistaken, over the last several years, there are a couple more questions on the RC sections, on average than in years past - usually around 27-28, where there might have been 25 or so prior.

LG, in comparison, are shorter. Not sure when this went into effect, though.

I also seem to remember that there has been an increase in global questions (questions referring to the whole passage) like inference questions. Those tend to be harder for some people.

[ejh22]

To the OP-

I've experienced the same thing with a drop in my RC score since taking more recent practice tests. I'm going to do a more thorough review of them tonight and tomorrow but what I have been noticing is that the questions are generally reflect LR-type skills. i.e. a lot more "which one, if true, would strengthen the author's argument in the last paragraph of the passage?" questions like that. I also think that the more recent RC questions tend to ask more "concept-reference" (Powerscore term) questions. These are questions that don't refer to the passage as a whole but also don't give a specific line reference. These questions have always been harder for me at least because it takes me more time to recall the information about a concept or reference alluded to somewhere in the passage, but not in the passage as a whole nor as a specific line(s) I can refer back to easily.

Go figure that the last PT I took (52) I did relatively well in RC (-3) but bombed the other sections. I think two things that can really help is to be thoroughly engaged in the passage. Just pretend that you have a PhD in whatever subject each passage is discussing and that you actually find this stuff fascinating. It will be much easier to retain information. Also, look to absorb the structure of the passage so it is easier to refer back to things as well as get the "gist" of the passage and each paragraph. How do the points made in the this paragraph work in the passage? What is it trying to do?

The most important thing is, though, to not freak out over it right now! I did that in October and it killed me for the real test. I just did that last week and know that if I panic over it now it will only hurt me more rather than drilling, drilling, drilling until test day. Just recognize that something is tripping you up and move onto correct it to the best of your abilities.

Hope this helps!

[seancris]

People say that the newer tests have easier LGs and harder RC/LR sections. I don't find this to be the case at all. The Comparative Reading section is really easy for me generally. I find my LR scores to be the same or better. My LGs however have taken a bit of a nosedive as they're just... different than what I was doing back in PTs 20-40. In those tests I scored like -4 to -6, now I'm getting -10 at times.

Easy/hard is totally subjective and varies from person to person.