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Hey all!
I am struggling with RC. I am able to read and answer 3 passages under timed conditions. The issue is my answers are -3 or -4 PER PASSAGE. So I am only getting 3 or 4 right on a passage. I am taking the December test so I have time to improve. What method helped you to improve? There are so many out there. I am hoping to be at least 90% accurate on all sections but for RC I hope to only miss 1 on the 3 passages I read.

Make sure you're reading the passages for structure. You need to pay close attention to the role of each paragraph, and while you read try to figure out the main point. Missing that many questions means you're not focusing on the right part of the passage - if you prioritize understanding the passage's structure, the details will make more sense and be easier to remember/find. Try out JY's memory method

What's your strategy for doing a regular reading comp passage and what's your strategy for the comparative reading passage?

Are you a slow reader in general? The answer, imo, is almost always to go slower with more of an eye toward understanding the author's point and perspective with a focus on certain things like pivoting. If you can craft a coherent narrative on your own in your head it can help. That said, if you're just a slow reader you may need outside help with that.

AJordan wrote:Are you a slow reader in general? The answer, imo, is almost always to go slower with more of an eye toward understanding the author's point and perspective with a focus on certain things like pivoting. If you can craft a coherent narrative on your own in your head it can help. That said, if you're just a slow reader you may need outside help with that.

Not necessarily a slow reader but I try to take my time and not rush. I have been taught VIEWSTAMP from powerscore but wasn't sure if that was effective.

Gonna have to speed up eventually, only 3 passages is pretty slow. But like people have already mentioned, you really have to take away the main points and tone. VIEWSTAMP is a good approach to it, do you have trouble using that strategy? Some people annotate and mark the passages, I personally don't but that's something that could be helpful to you.

I'm totally an outlier here, but I recommend slowing down when reading the passage, no notation and reading for the main point. I do worse when I try to underline everything and "read for structure". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what others say when they say "read for structure", but I read essentially to get the main point of the passage: what is the author saying? Is this their view or a view they disagree with? What is their tone? Slowing down on the passage has helped me speed up a lot on the actual questions. My other piece of advice is to slow down when actually reading the questions. The questions you absolutely need to take the time on are the Main Point and Purpose questions. If you are confident in your answers on these questions, you can easily reference them for inference questions.

Again, I'm a total outlier here. My main point here is that RC is a very "personal" section. You need to figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in how you approach the section. If going through the passage really quickly and referencing back often works, then do it. If going slow and underlining works, then do it. For me, it doesn't, so I don't.

Platopus wrote:I'm totally an outlier here, but I recommend slowing down when reading the passage, no notation and reading for the main point. I do worse when I try to underline everything and "read for structure". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what others say when they say "read for structure", but I read essentially to get the main point of the passage: what is the author saying? Is this their view or a view they disagree with? What is their tone? Slowing down on the passage has helped me speed up a lot on the actual questions. My other piece of advice is to slow down when actually reading the questions. The questions you absolutely need to take the time on are the Main Point and Purpose questions. If you are confident in your answers on these questions, you can easily reference them for inference questions.

Again, I'm a total outlier here. My main point here is that RC is a very "personal" section. You need to figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in how you approach the section. If going through the passage really quickly and referencing back often works, then do it. If going slow and underlining works, then do it. For me, it doesn't, so I don't.

+180

I never underline and don't follow any kind of "system". You just have to find what works for you by doing sections over and over again.

I agree with finding a strategy that works best for you. Many people swear by Voyager's method, but I didn't find it to be very helpful. I would suggest finding a few and trying them out to see what works for you.

I also started pretty low on RC (I think something like -8 or more regularly on my early PTs). The way I began to improve was by going through every single question and making sure I understood exactly why the correct answer was correct and why the wrong answers were wrong. Then I would do the sections again (timed), making sure I found the text to backup every answer. After doing this for a few tests, I found my scores improved dramatically. I think I was hitting like -1 or -2 on the last few PTs I took before test day. This whole process took about 2 months, so I am sure whatever strategy you decide on, you will have plenty of time to improve before test day.

+1 on finding your own way.

I did self study with PS's method before starting with a local prep course. Ended up liking their way a lot more which was basically read a paragraph, make a 4-6 word summary of what was in there to be your guide post, and go to the next one. This helped me keep track of the passage progression, where certain things were if I needed to jump back based on a question, and mark anything extra I thought was important. Also, when answering, I always notate the line(s) that prove my answer choice or eliminates one.

Also loved their method for comparative reading which made life a lot easier for me which was read the first passage, look at the questions and eliminate or notate answer based on A, do the same for B and you should have a few questions quickly answered. This doesn't work for everything like how would author A respond to B but it sure does for the what's in both, what's in one but not other, what are the respective attitudes of each author on their topic. If you read A and it's negative and 3 of the answers are A was positive you're already down to two choices before you even read B.

Platopus wrote:I'm totally an outlier here, but I recommend slowing down when reading the passage, no notation and reading for the main point. I do worse when I try to underline everything and "read for structure". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what others say when they say "read for structure", but I read essentially to get the main point of the passage: what is the author saying? Is this their view or a view they disagree with? What is their tone? Slowing down on the passage has helped me speed up a lot on the actual questions. My other piece of advice is to slow down when actually reading the questions. The questions you absolutely need to take the time on are the Main Point and Purpose questions. If you are confident in your answers on these questions, you can easily reference them for inference questions.

Again, I'm a total outlier here. My main point here is that RC is a very "personal" section. You need to figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in how you approach the section. If going through the passage really quickly and referencing back often works, then do it. If going slow and underlining works, then do it. For me, it doesn't, so I don't.

I don't think this is dissimilar to reading for structure. All it means is reading with an eye towards what each paragraph is doing for the argument so that you can look back to the passage for specifics. Funny enough, I seem to have broken my RC plateau by reading for structure but not referencing back.

zkyggi wrote:

Platopus wrote:I'm totally an outlier here, but I recommend slowing down when reading the passage, no notation and reading for the main point. I do worse when I try to underline everything and "read for structure". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what others say when they say "read for structure", but I read essentially to get the main point of the passage: what is the author saying? Is this their view or a view they disagree with? What is their tone? Slowing down on the passage has helped me speed up a lot on the actual questions. My other piece of advice is to slow down when actually reading the questions. The questions you absolutely need to take the time on are the Main Point and Purpose questions. If you are confident in your answers on these questions, you can easily reference them for inference questions.

Again, I'm a total outlier here. My main point here is that RC is a very "personal" section. You need to figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in how you approach the section. If going through the passage really quickly and referencing back often works, then do it. If going slow and underlining works, then do it. For me, it doesn't, so I don't.

I don't think this is dissimilar to reading for structure. All it means is reading with an eye towards what each paragraph is doing for the argument so that you can look back to the passage for specifics. Funny enough, I seem to have broken my RC plateau by reading for structure but not referencing back.

Been under -2 consistently on RC and I've noticed the same thing. I really read like I would normally read anything, just a little slower and more careful, and I usually don't find myself needing to reference back.

Platopus wrote:

Been under -2 consistently on RC and I've noticed the same thing. I really read like I would normally read anything, just a little slower and more careful, and I usually don't find myself needing to reference back.

I definitely think RC is the one portion of the test that requires repetition and refinement. I circle the beginning of all argument extensions and any editorial comments made by the author. Reading for structure got me to -4, and realizing the point of reading for structure took me to -2/-0 consistently. Like everything else on the LSAT, knowing what RC is designed to test makes it so much easier.

zkyggi wrote:Like everything else on the LSAT, knowing what RC is designed to test makes it so much easier.

I got much better at RC when I realized there were trap answers designed to trick me.

I am approaching the comparative passages and normal passages the same. I have tried viewstamp. I am also attempting 7sage memory method at this point and seeing which works best. How anyone tried 7sage's memory method? Should I keep trying a method until I perfect it to see if it is helping me to succeed? I would like to finish 3 passages but get all questions right and take an L on one 5 question passage as I plan to perfect LG and LR.
Also, don't you feel like you miss a lot of details when you speed read?

I think the advice here would be worth you watching: "LSAT - How a 180er Approaches Reading Comprehension" on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a2w260 ... pp=desktop).

Slippin' Jimmy wrote:

Platopus wrote:I'm totally an outlier here, but I recommend slowing down when reading the passage, no notation and reading for the main point. I do worse when I try to underline everything and "read for structure". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what others say when they say "read for structure", but I read essentially to get the main point of the passage: what is the author saying? Is this their view or a view they disagree with? What is their tone? Slowing down on the passage has helped me speed up a lot on the actual questions. My other piece of advice is to slow down when actually reading the questions. The questions you absolutely need to take the time on are the Main Point and Purpose questions. If you are confident in your answers on these questions, you can easily reference them for inference questions.

Again, I'm a total outlier here. My main point here is that RC is a very "personal" section. You need to figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in how you approach the section. If going through the passage really quickly and referencing back often works, then do it. If going slow and underlining works, then do it. For me, it doesn't, so I don't.

+180

I never underline and don't follow any kind of "system". You just have to find what works for you by doing sections over and over again.

This. At least from my experience.

zkyggi wrote:

Platopus wrote:I'm totally an outlier here, but I recommend slowing down when reading the passage, no notation and reading for the main point. I do worse when I try to underline everything and "read for structure". Maybe I'm misinterpreting what others say when they say "read for structure", but I read essentially to get the main point of the passage: what is the author saying? Is this their view or a view they disagree with? What is their tone? Slowing down on the passage has helped me speed up a lot on the actual questions. My other piece of advice is to slow down when actually reading the questions. The questions you absolutely need to take the time on are the Main Point and Purpose questions. If you are confident in your answers on these questions, you can easily reference them for inference questions.

Again, I'm a total outlier here. My main point here is that RC is a very "personal" section. You need to figure out what works for you. Don't be afraid to experiment in how you approach the section. If going through the passage really quickly and referencing back often works, then do it. If going slow and underlining works, then do it. For me, it doesn't, so I don't.

I don't think this is dissimilar to reading for structure. All it means is reading with an eye towards what each paragraph is doing for the argument so that you can look back to the passage for specifics. Funny enough, I seem to have broken my RC plateau by reading for structure but not referencing back.

This is exactly my experience. I look back much less and that got me my first -3/-2 scores ever. I was stuck at -4 for what seemed like forever. You just have to learn to know when you can trust those foggy memories of what you *think* you read.

Make reading publications like the economist your new hobby. Every time you read an article, read it and think about it like an RC passage