Reading Comp Strategies

[mattm]

Hello,

From a time management standpoint how much time relative to the other two sections would you spend studying on Reading Comp?…Like many students I have found that reading comp is the hardest to make improvements in that score compared to the other two….Logic Games is the easiest to see improvements in my opinion since the games are so foreign when you take a diagnostic exam that as you prep, its likely your score will be much improved from where you started….I have also seen an improvement in my LR across time as well, but RC has been the hardest to make gains in.

I'm getting about 17-19 right as a rough estimate so there is still time for me to improve for sure….but on the other hand the LSAT is about how many total questions you get right on test day, so I want to spend my time effectively to maximize my total score on test day….I don't want to neglect RC but focus on the areas where overall Improvements maybe easier.

Also would you recommend doing the other questions in the set before attacking the main point question?…..I may try doing so because I feel that may be easier to understand the main point after answering the other questions first that I may have a better grasp of the main point….Ill try that and see if that helps.

Thanks!

[Luke Haqq]

Hi Matt,

You're asking the right questions, and hopefully I'll be able to suggest a couple of things that will hopefully steer you in a good direction. You're right to think about the games and LR sections as the best places to make big strides in adding points to your score, but also to be concerned about not spending enough time on RC.

One strategy you might try is to use news, blogs, or other content you follow as a chance to study. Choose something dense, and work on getting through articles and being able to describe what they're about (you might try diagraming this within the VIEWSTAMP framework suggested by PowerScore). Keep a pencil or your finger progressing down the passage as you read, and work on speeding up the rate at which you're able to comprehend them. I think that's a good practice to general practice to get into before the LSAT--being able to read and comprehend material efficiently, and particularly crucial on RC.

Depending on the course books you have, there are also homework drills that have several passages, so I would definitely recommend speeding up with those, unless you're planning on taking several practice LSATs and don't want to come across homework in the diagnostic tests. As to your question specifically about how much time to spend on it, it's hard to say, but they skills you build are useful for the other sections as well--most of them in RC are must be true questions, for example. I think it's particularly worth spending time improving it because there are times when the tests have as many as 28 questions for RC, so it's also an important way to add points to your score.

As to your second question, if you find that you stubble with the main point questions, certainly try other questions first, especially local reference questions. You don't necessarily need to understand the passage to get these correct, and working on them helps you understand the passage better.

Hope that helps!