Timing for LR and RC Forum

[tuna_wasabi]

Hi all, long-time lurker, first-time poster here! Wondering if you will kindly offer any advice on improving accuracy and speed on LR and RC sections

Breakdown:
- 1-4 questions wrong on each LR section;
- 1-5 questions wrong on the RC section;
- 0 wrong on the LG section.

The number of mistakes fluctuate quite widely; most of the 20 or so PT's I've taken score between 170 and 176, with the exception of a few high 160's. These PT's range from the older ones to PT.50-something; I have yet to take the most recent PT's. During all of these practice tests, though, I still need around 40 minutes to finish a LR section and 40-45 minutes to finish the RC section. With respect to the LR section, I am usually able to complete 15 questions in 15 minutes, but for whatever reason start to scramble through the last few questions. With respect to RC, I spend around 8 to 12 minutes on each passage, depending on its difficulty and the number of questions.

My timing has improved and I have been able to get less questions wrong lately, but there's much room for improvement Ideally, it would be great to be able to complete a section in ~30 minutes, with few minutes to spare for quick skim over the more troublesome questions.

My plan for these last final weeks:
- Do 20 more practice tests, with blind reviews later on.
- Finish skimming through LSAT Trainer.
- Do Cambridge Drills on specific LR question types.

Should I strictly time myself to 35 minutes? How do you improve your timing for LR and RC?

[december1205]

Hi all, long-time lurker, first-time poster here! Wondering if you will kindly offer any advice on improving accuracy and speed on LR and RC sections

Breakdown:
- 1-4 questions wrong on each LR section;
- 1-5 questions wrong on the RC section;
- 0 wrong on the LG section.

The number of mistakes fluctuate quite widely; most of the 20 or so PT's I've taken score between 170 and 176, with the exception of a few high 160's. These PT's range from the older ones to PT.50-something; I have yet to take the most recent PT's. During all of these practice tests, though, I still need around 40 minutes to finish a LR section and 40-45 minutes to finish the RC section. With respect to the LR section, I am usually able to complete 15 questions in 15 minutes, but for whatever reason start to scramble through the last few questions. With respect to RC, I spend around 8 to 12 minutes on each passage, depending on its difficulty and the number of questions.

My timing has improved and I have been able to get less questions wrong lately, but there's much room for improvement Ideally, it would be great to be able to complete a section in ~30 minutes, with few minutes to spare for quick skim over the more troublesome questions.

My plan for these last final weeks:
- Do 20 more practice tests, with blind reviews later on.
- Finish skimming through LSAT Trainer.
- Do Cambridge Drills on specific LR question types.

Should I strictly time myself to 35 minutes? How do you improve your timing for LR and RC?

I would start taking a more recent PTs. doesn't have to be 70s (perhaps you can save that for the last 2 weeks) but take 60s PTs to see how you score on the RC. People argue that RC has been getting more difficult.

Also, are you giving yourself 40-45 minutes to finish the LR and RC sections? If so, I don't think those scores are necessarily accurate. If you still get the same range with the strict 35 minutes, then hey, that's great.

Lastly, I'm in the same boat with respect to your range. Easy for me to score -0 on LGs, but just can't seem to get those 0/-1 in LR. (I also range -1 to -4 on each LR and like -5 on RC) gl!

[tuna_wasabi]

Thanks! When I started it was actually close to 55 minutes per LR section :p; so far I trimmed it down to 40 minutes. Definitely not an accurate reflection of my actual 'test day' performance, so yeah, seriously hoping my timing would miraculously improve in the next 1 month!

How do you manage to finish RC in 35 minutes?

[december1205]

Thanks! When I started it was actually close to 55 minutes per LR section :p; so far I trimmed it down to 40 minutes. Definitely not an accurate reflection of my actual 'test day' performance, so yeah, seriously hoping my timing would miraculously improve in the next 1 month!

How do you manage to finish RC in 35 minutes?

Don't sweat! I also went overtime on LR when I attempted to take a PT today morning.

For me, I still barely make it within 35 mins for RC. Again, I think the strategy differs for people. Are you naturally able to focus better/ find it easier when you're working on comp passage? There's one in every RC section and I know I need more time for that. So I aim to get the first passage done within 8 minutes, and spend a bit more time on the comp passage as well as the last passage. Hope that helps!

[tuna_wasabi]

Don't sweat! I also went overtime on LR when I attempted to take a PT today morning.

For me, I still barely make it within 35 mins for RC. Again, I think the strategy differs for people. Are you naturally able to focus better/ find it easier when you're working on comp passage? There's one in every RC section and I know I need more time for that. So I aim to get the first passage done within 8 minutes, and spend a bit more time on the comp passage as well as the last passage. Hope that helps!

Thanks for this, december1205! Out of the four topics usually covered--literature, law, science, and another that I cannot recall--I have a harder time comprehending the passage on a scientific topic but am able to do the questions relatively well. The passage related to literature is the other way around; passage is okay, but some of the questions are murderous! It'll be great to get a -0 on both RC and LG..

[sjp200]

RC:my personal strategy is to have 6-7 minutes left for the comparative passage, and go to it last. For some reason, it is easier for me to digest 2 small passages very quickly than the long ones. I usually take 5 minutes for the passage+questions in the comparative ones, so knowing that, I try to set a timer for the 28min mark in my head. The other sections anywhere between 5-10, some go easier than others, and that is unfortunate because RC changes so wildly. READ READ, READ. I started reading the Wall Street Journal at work when I couldn't do RC. Reading material you are not initially interested in also helps you maintain focus to speed up your time! In the October test, I finished RC with 5 minutes left over and was very surprised (-5 on the section, which to me, is perfectly OK).

LR: Start with PT's in the high 30's/low 40's. Instead of 15 in 15, do 10 in 8, 15 in 12-13. I know this is somewhat difficult, but seeing the extra time will help you relax IMMENSELY. If you are on pace for at least 15 in 15, than my suggestion for the rest of the LR is to skip any question that takes up an entire half-page. Go back to it, in the time it takes to read all answer choices and the prompt, you could have done 2 others, this is especially useful for formal logic which is often the most difficult. With 5 minutes left, you should have about 2-3 questions left if you are struggling with time. When 5 minutes is called, finish the question you are on, go to the last question of the section and complete it, usually questions 25 and 26 are short and quite manageable. As you do this on your PT's you will start to get in a rhythm where you know your actual timings, where you can start working sequentially, and you'll know how long you need for each part. Hope this helps