Freezing up on RC on the actual LSAT Forum

[h3jk5h]

Today I was alarmed that nerves may play a big part in determining whether I can perform to my potential on RC passages particularly.

I noticed that whenever I am nervous, especially when I feel tense, I have more trouble absorbing the reading passage in front of me. The comprehension goes way down as my brain paralyzes.

Another thing that I need your input on: Sometimes when I read a passage, I can absorb the information quickly and accurately, but at another given point of the day I lose that ability. This may seem weird to you, but I'm a highly inconsistent reader. Sometimes I feel my brain being fully awake and I can read really fast and retain information even better. But sometimes I feel groggy and I catch myself reading the same sentence over and over, and after a few paragraphs I have no idea what I just read.

What's going on here? Does it come down to being an active reader and not being lazy to ask yourself critical questions when you read?

Thoughts?

[cactusflower]

[delete]

[dontdoitkid]

The inconsistency isn't strange - it's actually quite common in a lot of us. I actually did freeze up on my first exam, both on a LG game (which wrecked my entire section) and a RC passage which didn't really matter at that point anyway. In my own case I learned not to have nerves from having experienced it, but of course that's not not a path you would want to pursue.

Take a back from the test itself and look at your entire day. Were there any external conditions that impacted your focus on the day where you zoned out that haven't occurred when you have done well? Do you see high variance in concentration within the same RC section, or is each section consistent (in which case it would be the tests themselves that are fluctuating for you).

Breathe easy. This is something that you can overcome.

[appind]

Today I was alarmed that nerves may play a big part in determining whether I can perform to my potential on RC passages particularly.

I noticed that whenever I am nervous, especially when I feel tense, I have more trouble absorbing the reading passage in front of me. The comprehension goes way down as my brain paralyzes.

Another thing that I need your input on: Sometimes when I read a passage, I can absorb the information quickly and accurately, but at another given point of the day I lose that ability. This may seem weird to you, but I'm a highly inconsistent reader. Sometimes I feel my brain being fully awake and I can read really fast and retain information even better. But sometimes I feel groggy and I catch myself reading the same sentence over and over, and after a few paragraphs I have no idea what I just read.

What's going on here? Does it come down to being an active reader and not being lazy to ask yourself critical questions when you read?

Thoughts?

It may not be due to active reading or laziness issues. I try hard to read actively but when stuck I end up either freezing (fight response) or skimming (flight response). Both of them are idiopathic, related to nervousness, and hard to pinpoint.