RC notes/marks/diagramming? Forum

[warandpeace]

is this only annoying to me? how many of you have used it and actually think it improved your score significantly?

i'm hoping that if i don't diagram, i'll be okay. i think i'm reading the questions wrong, not so much the passage.

[sd5289]

What do you mean by diagramming? The only true diagramming I did was in the LG section(s). If you mean marking up the passage, then yes, I did that but probably because that's how I read dense text anyway and that's how I read affidavits, motions, cases, etc., currently at work...

[warandpeace]

marking/notes, yeah. sorry, the RC bible calls it diagramming.

[TheFutureLawyer]

I didn't diagram or mark up the text, though I only avg'd -5 on RC.

[warandpeace]

I didn't diagram or mark up the text, though I only avg'd -5 on RC.

nice, that's what i was wondering.

[incompetentia]

-0 RC on test day, no marks other than the ones to eliminate answer choices.


You have to do what's best for you, though. The problem with marking up the passage is that it's very easy to go overboard and you can easily turn the reading into a time sink. If you can control this and light marking helps with comprehension, there's no reason not to do it.

[FantasticMrFox]

You have to do what's best for you, though.

[TrojanHopeful]

I used to heavily mark up the passage. The thing is, I would never find myself using any of the marks that I made. The moment I started making less notations, the better my performance became. Now I only make a one word note to point out viewpoints.

That being said...different strokes for different folks.

[wtrc]

In my studying and PT's, I never really used a highlighter, but always struggled in RC more than anything else (~-8 per section). Day of the test I saw a light blue highlighter laying around and brought it. I think I got at most -2 on the experimental using this highlighter, but probably lost about 6-8 on the real thing. I know when studying for October (assuming I didn't crack the 170 on this one), I'll be using this highlighter a lot more... can't hurt.

[cnyltiak]

I just read carefully and highlight things that stand out. For comparative, I read the first paragraph of each passage before going all the way through the first to get a frame of reference. I usually don't have much of a problem understanding/remembering the passages though, since RC has (-1 to -4 usually??) always been my strongest section. Not sure how it went on test day though, felt the same is usual but I can never tell... plus I hadn't done many very recent preptests (wish I had) so not sure how the real one compared to in difficulty compared to the ones I did do. I tried diagramming a little bit, it didn't seem to help me much though... slowed me down/caused me to overthink.

[Yeshia90]

I only mark what I expect to be asked questions about, so I can identify it quicker.

[bp shinners]

You have to do what's best for you, though. The problem with marking up the passage is that it's very easy to go overboard and you can easily turn the reading into a time sink. If you can control this and light marking helps with comprehension, there's no reason not to do it.

For many of my students, marking up the passage helps keep them focused on what they're doing instead of letting their minds wander a bit. It can also be helpful if you pull out lists/examples/categories for quick reference when you get to the questions (which is much more efficient when you get a sense of what they're going to ask about and can just pull those things out). Going overboard is a problem before you develop this sense.

[joebloe]

I think if I take again, I'm going to start limiting myself to marking off the beginnings and ends of blocks of text that I consider conceptually related. Sort of like something between a sentence break and paragraph break. That way when I'm skimming after reading a question I can more easily jump around. Oh and I'm going to keep writing the paragraph numbers next to the paragraphs... sometimes when the question says "in the third paragraph" I find myself double-checking.

I really am starting to feel like I don't do well with the extensive diagramming that the RCB and Kaplan both suggest.