For all the 170+ test takers regarding LR and RC sections Forum

[keyanaut]

I've been following threads of people who score 170+, they all seem to have something in common. Lots of time leftover in sections. What methods or timing structure did you use to do that? Is it just pure drilling by LR question type? Do you read/comprehend faster than others? Etc.

Key

[Samara]

I always had plenty of time left over in the LR/RC sections, but I'm a fast reader. Also, I typically read the passage quickly first for general comprehension and mental "roadmapping." Then, I read the question and answers, referring back to the passage as needed. For many of the questions, especially as you practice them and get a feel for common structures, you can knock them out quickly without reading the passage as thoroughly. It also helps to learn how to quickly find relevant information, so that you can skim less relevant information and focus on the important parts.

[travman90]

I'm a slow reader but I had plenty of time left over. Trick is knowing the answer before even getting to the stimulus. How do you do that? Lots of practice. You have to be able to see every possible question/answer before getting to them and the only way to know that is by knowing the types of questions the LSAT asks and when they're usually going to ask them. It's been a while but I still see some LSAT questions and know the answer before looking at any choices, that's where you save time because you can hunt out your answer instead of reading all the answer choices. At least that's how slow readers like me handle it.

[rinkrat19]

I always had plenty of time left over in the LR/RC sections, but I'm a fast reader. Also, I typically read the passage quickly first for general comprehension and mental "roadmapping." Then, I read the question and answers, referring back to the passage as needed. For many of the questions, especially as you practice them and get a feel for common structures, you can knock them out quickly without reading the passage as thoroughly. It also helps to learn how to quickly find relevant information, so that you can skim less relevant information and focus on the important parts.

Pretty much exactly this.

Being a fast reader is helpful, in that it simply gives you more time to answer questions. At my LSAT "peak," I could read a RC passage in 45 seconds, and be able to recall where in the passage things were mentioned. Then I'd read a question. If it was an overall topic/tone/viewpoint/whatever question, I could usually answer it without referring back to the passage. If it was something more specific, I was able to go directly back to the relevant bit in the passage without re-reading much.

[ben4847]

176 and I don't recall having lots of leftover time. Maybe a couple minutes. (Although, in law school I usually finish in about 2/3 of the exam time and spend the next hour fixing stuff up. No, not the spelling-I don't care baout hte spleling.

[QuincyWagstaff]

I've always been a fast test taker, but I did best when I consciously forced myself to slow down on LG (and, to a lesser degree, LR), and when I pushed my reading pace on RC to spend more time answering questions.

[Tiago Splitter]

I had 3 LR sections on the June LSAT and I nearly ran out of time on two of them. Even during PTs I didn't typically finish an LR section with anything more than 2-3 minutes left.

[beebela]

I'm generally a pretty fast reader but for LR I found that a lot of it is predicting the answer choice before you read the choices so you know what you're looking for and don't get bogged down in the language/specific phrasing of the individual choices. I almost always had 10 minutes left when I finished LR sections the first time through and then I'd go back to a couple questions I circled earlier on and double check my other answers. For RC sections, my speed varied a lot with different types of passages i.e. complicated science ones generally took me longer than the legal/humanities ones. A good roadmap definitely helps!

As the poster above me hinted at, I also spent more time on the sections on test day vs. PTs so I was grateful for my usual time cushion.

[Samara]

I'm generally a pretty fast reader but for LR I found that a lot of it is predicting the answer choice before you read the choices so you know what you're looking for and don't get bogged down in the language/specific phrasing of the individual choices. I almost always had 10 minutes left when I finished LR sections the first time through and then I'd go back to a couple questions I circled earlier on and double check my other answers. For RC sections, my speed varied a lot with different types of passages i.e. complicated science ones generally took me longer than the legal/humanities ones. A good roadmap definitely helps!

As the poster above me hinted at, I also spent more time on the sections on test day vs. PTs so I was grateful for my usual time cushion.

That is a great point. Every section took me significantly longer than usual on test day, so it's good to have a healthy buffer of time in PTs.

[XxMVPxX]

No, not the spelling-I don't care baout hte spleling.

[over9000]

I probably got a 170 because of my LG (not sure it was a February test) but I find that I do not have much extra time for LR and RC. I try to be as accurate as possible when doing those sections even if it means spending extra time with a tough question.

[lsatprep180]

I usually finish with 5-7 minutes left. I'm a fast reader, which definitely helps, but I don't think it's the main thing. I spend most of my time on the stimulus/the passage/the setup of a logic game.

The answer choices are all intended to confuse you if you don't know what you're looking for, and it's easy to waste time staring at them. Much more useful to spend time on the stimulus so that you know what you're looking for. The extra time spent doing that pays off big time.

[Tadatsune]

Don't have a trick or a strategy. Just read them. Usually ended up with a good deal of extra time, but there was always the chance of getting caught on a difficult question or two and falling behind. Does that make me a fast reader? Maybe... I read a lot. Logic games on the other hand... I love logic games, and could easily solve them all if I wasn't on the clock, but I almost never managed to complete more than 3 out of the 4 in 35 min.

[Helicio]

I have insane amounts of extra time on the LR and RC sections, and I agree that it is because I (A.) read fast and (B.) generally can discern the correct answer relatively fast. LG are a whole other story.