Best way to gain 4 points? Forum

dkang · Post by **dkang** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:00 pm

I am hoping to jump up from a 156 to a 160. What are your suggestions for what I should focus on from here to December?

Averages:
LR -6/7 per section
LG -5
RC -11/12

vulpixie · Post by **vulpixie** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:16 pm

LG is the most learnable of all three sections, but it looks like you're already doing relatively well in that. If you feel like you've maxed out your potential in LG, then focus on reading (especially speed). Also, make sure to keep taking full PTs (no breaks) regularly to build up your endurance for test day.

Seneca · Post by **Seneca** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:24 pm

There's obviously no silver-bullet tip that will see you jump five points. Clearly, you drop the most points in RC - you're getting a third of them wrong. Some concerted work in this area, and you could pick up four points, easy. If timing is your problem, you may even be better off only attempting three of the four passages, if you see a higher correct answer yield for the three passages than you would trying to rush through four. Cut the RC sections out of a bunch of tests, and drill. It's probably the least enjoyable section to drill, but it's the only way to improve.

Also, LG is widely considered to be the most "learnable" section. I'm a firm believer that, given enough time and the quality prep, anyone can go close to -0 on that section, and I also think it's the section in which many people see the fastest improvement.

Of course, you have until December at the earliest - that's plenty of time to do real prep on each section, not just look for fast fixes (which I can promise you don't really exist) and IMO, it's way too early for you to consider only doing 3/4 passages. Stop taking PTs for now, or at least slow down, if that's what you're doing, and focus on studying the individual sections to avoid "wasting" full PTs when you haven't put enough time into improving technique by section. When you do take PTs, spend a LOT of time looking at WHY you are getting these wrong, especially on the RC. Also, I think it's a little early to just set your sights on a 160 - you have weeks, and at least one area (RC) in which you can see huge improvements in that time. Picking up just 2-3 points each in LG and RC will see a significant jump. Don't sell yourself short.

dkang · Post by **dkang** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:36 pm

Thank you for the advice!

For RC, whenever I try to read quicker I seems to understand less from the content. Is that just the tradeoff I have to take? Or should I read less and focus only on certain things such as view points for example?

lsatprepguy · Post by **lsatprepguy** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:41 pm

dkang wrote:Thank you for the advice!

For RC, whenever I try to read quicker I seems to understand less from the content. Is that just the tradeoff I have to take? Or should I read less and focus only on certain things such as view points for example?

I found that spending more time on the passages themselves increased my RC score dramatically. I slowed down a bit while reading the passage and really tried to understand what it was saying instead of rushing into the questions. By doing so, I found that the questions went incredibly quickly. Slowing down actually ended up making me faster. Also, everyone has a different approach to RC it seems. A lot of people write a lot of markers on the passage and underline quite a bit. I personally found that my performance was best when I underlined VERY little. I thought less about underlining and focused more on what I was reading. I went from consistently -7 ish to about -2 or -3 ish in less than two weeks by simply slowing down.

Seneca · Post by **Seneca** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:59 pm

I completely agree with lsatprepguy. Slow down on the passages. Underline very little. Try to let yourself become absorbed in the passage the same way you would become absorbed in an interesting article you chose for yourself. Try to be interested. Practice by doing a bunch of passages and questions, untimed, to get the hang of things until find a pace that works for you. If you fully absorb the passage, the questions will go very fast. When I started prepping, I would rush through, and it would hurt my score. Then, I took the time to spend around 4+ minutes on the passage before moving to the questions. The more you do, the more you'll be able to anticipate some of the questions you'll see based on the subject matter, and you'll get much faster and more accurate. Speed follows form, here.

Renzo · Post by **Renzo** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:03 pm

Best way to gain 4 points?

Um, answer more questions correctly?

lakers3peat · Post by **lakers3peat** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:23 pm

Renzo wrote:Um, answer more questions correctly?

Sucker answer choice D.

TCR: Cheat.

lakers3peat · Post by **lakers3peat** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:24 pm

Renzo wrote:Um, answer more questions correctly?

Sucker answer choice D.

TCR(E): Cheat.

notaznguy · Post by **notaznguy** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 3:18 pm

dkang wrote:I am hoping to jump up from a 156 to a 160. What are your suggestions for what I should focus on from here to December?

Averages:
LR -6/7 per section
LG -5
RC -11/12

Wow that's pretty much how I'm doing right now. My LR is also between -4 and -8, my LG is around -7 and my RC is anywhere between -4 and -10. I'm also stuck on the high 150s.

What I'm trying to do first is perfect LG. We really need to be able to hit -0 or -1 on that one.

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