Prioritizing which sections to study (LR, LG, RC) Forum

[SunDevil14]

There is a general consensus that improvements in LR and LG come quicker and more consistently than RC.

My question is that should one prioritize studying LG and LR over RC, especially if one has already has a decent and consistent RC score?

On my last 5 PT's

Average 166

Average -3 on RC tight distribution. (1-2 point swings)
Average -4 on LR moderate distribution (2-3 point swings)
Average -4.5 on LG wide distribution (3-4 point swings)

[kkilambi]

How are you getting to -3 on RC man!! I am only able to complete 3 passages and I have 3 misses in them.

[Mike Wang]

How are you getting to -3 on RC man!! I am only able to complete 3 passages and I have 3 misses in them.

You've gotta be reading faster. 2 minutes a passage max. How long are you taking to read through a passage?

[Alexandros]

How are you getting to -3 on RC man!! I am only able to complete 3 passages and I have 3 misses in them.

You've gotta be reading faster. 2 minutes a passage max. How long are you taking to read through a passage?

Yeah, you definitely need to read faster, but I don't think you need to shoot for max 2 minutes unless you're actually at that level. I'm by no means great at RC, but my RC average is -2 rn. I take 3 min to read, sometimes a few seconds more; I don't think I've ever read a new passage in less than 2 minutes. I'd say shoot for 3 min, max 3 and half min.

In answer to OP's question- I do think that's worthwhile. Don't neglect RC or take it for granted - continue to drill and review regularly. But spending significantly more time on LG and LR is completely justifiable.

[kkilambi]

I take around 3:30 to 4 minutes to complete reading the passage. Do people actually improve on RC with practice?

[Alexandros]

I take around 3:30 to 4 minutes to complete reading the passage. Do people actually improve on RC with practice?

Yeah, definitely. I've seen my scores improve a lot with practice, and I'm not alone there. Repeated drilling of old passages is extremely helpful.

You might want to try doing passages individually and work on timing - shoot for 7 or 8 minutes per passage. Then do two at a time for 15 min. Once you get used to that, you should be able to get through all four passages in 35 minutes without a problem.

[SunDevil14]

How are you getting to -3 on RC man!! I am only able to complete 3 passages and I have 3 misses in them.

I am not sure what approach or strategy you use. What I found worked best for me is abandoning all notes and annotations made on the passage. Aside from that, I use the Manhattan Prep Acronym (PEAR).

Pause: pause briefly at the end of each paragraph
Evaluate: make a quick and mental summary of what you just read in the particular paragraph
Anticipate: make an educated guess about the direction the author will choose for the remainder of the passage/next paragraph
Reassess: how does the the paragraph you just read square with the entirety of the passage or what you believe is to come

Sounds like a lot but should not take more than 5 seconds each pause.

Another good view point to use when addressing most passages is think of yourself as judge. Usually the passage contains some type of argument or critique with two or more opposing sides. Assess the different view points i.e. what makes them different, as well as strength and weaknesses.

Lastly, do not underestimate visualizing while you read. Visualizing will assist you in keep focus and actively rather than passively reading the passage.

^Hope all this help, and that you can use one or more of this strategies to improve.

[kkilambi]

Thanks a lot guys. I'll try the suggestions, let me see what works for me.

[galadriel3019]

I certainly wouldn't stop practicing RC altogether. If you want to emphasize LR and LG more by doing more sections of them relative to RC in a day, that seems fine to me (in fact I'm sure at some point that's what I did). But it could be a huge mistake to stop RC altogether because one can quickly get rusty!