Would a literature course in college help on the LSAT? Forum

[itachiuchiha]

My weakest section is RC and I take the LSAT in June. I have the whole Winter 2013 semester ahead of me and was wondering whether I should take a literature course or not and if it would actually help me. But at the same token, I do not want to risk getting my first B or B+ in college, from what I saw on rate my professors, all the professors who teach literature are tough and I may end up with a B+ or A-

[20130312]

You can read dense, boring shit without taking a course in it, but whatever helps you sleep at night.

[law2015]

Only take classes you will get an A in, period. To improve in RC just keep taking practice tests and if thats not enough then read the WSJ or something. No need to take a literature class.

[annet]

My weakest section is RC and I take the LSAT in June. I have the whole Winter 2013 semester ahead of me and was wondering whether I should take a literature course or not and if it would actually help me. But at the same token, I do not want to risk getting my first B or B+ in college, from what I saw on rate my professors, all the professors who teach literature are tough and I may end up with a B+ or A-

No, you're not likely to encounter literature in a RC passage. Take a course with little or no work that will get you an easy A and then spend your extra time reading journal articles in the library.

[TylerJonesMPLS]

You don't encounter literature in RC, but you do encounter dense criticism of literature. Also, not all English courses are about fiction, some are about non-fiction, e.g. Orwell's essays.

If you need to improve your RC skills, taking an English department course is the way to go. But don't register blindly into any course. Ask around to see which prof is best at teaching text analysis and interpretation. And talk to that prof at the beginning of the semester, say you want to improve your reading skills and ask for her advice. As far as the A grade goes, nothing pleases a professor as much as a student who wants to learn and says so, provided that the student realizes that profs don't have a lot of time and don't like to waste it. So go to office hours whenever you need help or advice, but do it in a professional way- as if you were asking advice from a partner in your firm.

Another consideration is that admissions committees are going to think it is weird that a person who wants to go into a profession that is 80% reading has never taken an English course. Also, admissions committee members are very used to the easy A strategies and they don't like students who use them. And remember it is just as easy for them to check Rate My Professor as it is for you.

[suralin]

You don't encounter literature in RC, but you do encounter dense criticism of literature. Also, not all English courses are about fiction, some are about non-fiction, e.g. Orwell's essays.

If you need to improve your RC skills, taking an English department course is the way to go. But don't register blindly into any course. Ask around to see which prof is best at teaching text analysis and interpretation. And talk to that prof at the beginning of the semester, say you want to improve your reading skills and ask for her advice. As far as the A grade goes, nothing pleases a professor as much as a student who wants to learn and says so, provided that the student realizes that profs don't have a lot of time and don't like to waste it. So go to office hours whenever you need help or advice, but do it in a professional way- as if you were asking advice from a partner in your firm.

Another consideration is that admissions committees are going to think it is weird that a person who wants to go into a profession that is 80% reading has never taken an English course. Also, admissions committee members are very used to the easy A strategies and they don't like students who use them. And remember it is just as easy for them to check Rate My Professor as it is for you.

Just no. Also, just because taking an English course may help in improving one's RC skills does not mean that doing so is the most optimal or best method, particularly when one runs a non-trivial chance of a decline in GPA--which is immensely more important in admissions.

[willwash]

Spend an hour or 2 a day in your school library reading academic journals in art, law, history etc. RC passages are frequently derived from academic journals.

[p_monayy]

As others have said it is easier to just read challenging material. I just took a course called approaches to literature and it was basically just reading really dense criticism. Read academic journal articles from any discipline, learn to summarize them, and it will be the same as taking that type of class. Literature classes won't really help you unless there is heavy research involved.

[Nova]

OP, read the Economist or the New Yorker if you want to improve your reading in ways other than than doing LSAT passages. Youre better off starting at PT 1 and doing every RC passage known to man, though.

Also, admissions committee members are very used to the easy A strategies and they don't like students who use them. And remember it is just as easy for them to check Rate My Professor as it is for you.

LOL, no. They dont give a shit.

[atcushman]

OP, read the Economist or the New Yorker if you want to improve your reading in ways other than than doing LSAT passages. Youre better off starting at PT 1 and doing every RC passage known to man, though.

Also, admissions committee members are very used to the easy A strategies and they don't like students who use them. And remember it is just as easy for them to check Rate My Professor as it is for you.

LOL, no. They dont give a shit.

This...adcoms dont care if you take underwater basketweaving bc USN does not care...they dont go o boy this person only got a 3.0 but they took really hard classes and all the comments on rate my prof (lol at adcoms basing admissions on ratemyprof reviews) say the instructor was really mean. If you really want to take a course look into auditing one or find a night class at a community college the teachers keyboard only has 3 keys when it comes time to grade A,+,and -

[PickMe!]

You can read dense, boring shit without taking a course in it, but whatever helps you sleep at night.

TITCR

[03152016]

.

[IAFG]

And remember it is just as easy for them to check Rate My Professor as it is for you.

lol lol lol lol can you even imagine admissions offices doing this? hilarious

[094320]

..

[Br3v]

No

[dowu]

No

[Br3v]

No

Just one more time so there is no misunderstanding how much of a no this is.

[dowu]

No

[atcushman]

You don't encounter literature in RC, but you do encounter dense criticism of literature. Also, not all English courses are about fiction, some are about non-fiction, e.g. Orwell's essays.

If you need to improve your RC skills, taking an English department course is the way to go. But don't register blindly into any course. Ask around to see which prof is best at teaching text analysis and interpretation. And talk to that prof at the beginning of the semester, say you want to improve your reading skills and ask for her advice. As far as the A grade goes, nothing pleases a professor as much as a student who wants to learn and says so, provided that the student realizes that profs don't have a lot of time and don't like to waste it. So go to office hours whenever you need help or advice, but do it in a professional way- as if you were asking advice from a partner in your firm.

Another consideration is that admissions committees are going to think it is weird that a person who wants to go into a profession that is 80% reading has never taken an English course. Also, admissions committee members are very used to the easy A strategies and they don't like students who use them. And remember it is just as easy for them to check Rate My Professor as it is for you.

Relevant
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... shitboomer

[vtoodler]

You can also check out academic monographs, which are specialized and scholarly books usually written by college professors.