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The phrase "If I had just one more minute" has never applied better to me than in the RC section of the LSAT.

Upon reaching the fourth passage of the section -- I'll typically have 4-6 minutes to get it done in time.

I've relied on two approaches in these situations:
(1) Treat it like I would any other RC passage. I'll get the majority of the ones I attempt correct, but I typically end up running out of time and cant get to the last 3-4 questions. This leads to an extra ~(-3) on my RC Section... (not chill)

(2) Rushing through the passage, getting to the questions as quick as possible -- so I can get at least a shot at picking an answer choice for all of 'em before times run out.
- This usually ends up disastrous. Ill typically get half, or more than half of the questions wrong from that passage.

As it stands, I think the former of my two approaches is the one that is the most resolvable, and the most manageable in getting me to an optimal RC score. I've tried going through the passages earlier on quicker, but it has only made my RC score worse.

My RC score ranges anywhere from a -3 to a -9. Its all over the place. And the times its around a -9, its because I succeeded my goal of getting the section done in 35 minutes, but being so concentrated in getting it done in time, I sacrificed my accuracy. I hardly ever annotate, and I do the best of my ability to go as quick as I can without minimizing accuracy. But still, I can't seem to get down a pace where I'm comfortably finishing RC under 35:00.

So, TLSers. I have 5 days until I take arguably the most important tests one can take in his/her lifetime. I'm really close to where I need to be. My final PT is on thursday before the test, and I've lined up 15 RC sections to keep me busy the next 2 days. What top notch methods, tricks, advice, or recommendations do you have to get me that extra minute I need. Even if its doing 3 little things differently that saves me 20 seconds each, to me that together is the extra minute I need.


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While the above is the best solution to getting better at RC, here's my timing strategy for attacking RC:

Right when the section starts I quickly go through and count how many questions each passage has and then I write the number down in the upper right hand corner of the page that is questions only for each passage. I then do the passages in order of most questions to least. When passages have the same number of questions as each other I will do the one that appears later in the test first because usually the later ones are "harder" and thus can require a bit more time (rather subjective here).

Now I have no idea if these really did increase my speed that much or if it just happened to coincide with me really hitting RC hard, but before I used this strategy I was always getting down to the last second with RC. After using it I find I usually will have a handful of minutes left at the end of the section. Note, that while this did increase my speed it did not reduce my accuracy. I am not the best at RC and I am usually hovering around a -3 on a good day but this did help me stabilize my RC scores big time as well as get a grip on timing.

However, I started doing this on PTs a few weeks ago so I have had time in implementing it and I am comfortable using it now ad will be this Saturday. I don't know how starting this the next couple of days will do for you in terms of getting used to it to the point where using a new method will in no way hurt you mentally on Game Day.

jaylawyer09 wrote:
If you are having trouble on RC, then that means you haven't done enough sections.

I had the same probs. rushing on last passage, etc

I did 1-40 rc, and now its -0/-2.
But, since you are taking in october, That cant be an option, so.....

read this. it could help http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3370904

gl TLSer

I've done every single RC section minus PT 68. Back in the good 'ol days before I drilled all the PT's. I was getting like -10 with it taking me 50+ minutes to do a section. So I've come quite a long ways lol. (never been much of a reader, but this has changed over the past 6 months).

Thanks for the advice and luck my friend. Ill give that thread a go.

I always do RC from last to first, because the last two are usually the hardest, with more questions. It's better to have 3-4 minutes to do the first (typically easier) passage than to do the last, hardest one. Now, this is MY strategy and I've tested it, so I know it works for me. But take it with a grain of salt, because everyone is different! Maybe try a few sections that way and see if it helps? Good luck

susanqr91 wrote:I always do RC from last to first, because the last two are usually the hardest, with more questions. It's better to have 3-4 minutes to do the first (typically easier) passage than to do the last, hardest one. Now, this is MY strategy and I've tested it, so I know it works for me. But take it with a grain of salt, because everyone is different! Maybe try a few sections that way and see if it helps? Good luck

What makes a RC passage harder than another is the difficulty of the questions; there are typically 3-5 very difficult questions sprinkled throughout the section.

While the first passage might swerve a bit towards the easier side, it's not like LG where the first game is cake but the other three can vary. In RC you can get one of the toughest questions anywhere.

I don't like your advice because, if the early passages were the easiest, they would be the ones where you absolutely must get your points. If you have to rush the first passage and miss a cupcake because of it, your strategy becomes very bad when you spent all that time on a question in a later passage that you were only 50% to get right anyways.