A couple days ago I posted some tips on how I went from 150 to 177, with a focus on LR (here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/LSAT/s/MEvolUfYrY)

Today, I want to share the tips that helped me most with RC.

Before I do that, I want to make one thing clear: RC is learnable! It is not a test of raw comprehension ability, and your diagnostic score does not necessarily indicate your potential.

With that said, here are some of the changes I made that helped me get to -0/-1 on RC.

1. ACTIVE READING (YES, AGAIN!)

Active reading is important for LR, but it's absolutely central to RC. 90% of the work is done in your reading of the passage. If you have a full understanding of the passage, you should be able to handle the questions much more easily.

What does active reading look like in RC?

a) Making predictions about the passage (e.g. “I think this is setting up a view the author will argue against. Let's see!”) or asking questions about the passage (e.g. “Why is the author suddenly talking about polymers?”). Making predictions keeps you actively involved in the text. It forces you to think about what you are reading instead of glazing over it.

b) Thinking about the relationship between sentences. Is this building? Pivoting? Challenging? Not only does having this mindset improve your memory and understanding, it helps you get a mental map of the passage.

c) Rephrasing things in your own words. You might be able to kind of understand the meaning of “multitudinous proletarians invocate abstention towards commodities contrived via prodigious establishments,” but you're more likely to retain and comprehend it if you rephrase it as “lots of workers don't want to buy stuff from greedy businesses.”

D) Watching out for referential language like “this,” “these,” “such,” etc. If you don't, you can get lost very easily. So in your head, connect that language back to its referent.

It's very common for students to think they're actively reading when, in reality, they are just passively reading. As a tutor, I do an RC exercise where I have students read out the passage AND verbalize their thoughts.

You would be surprised how few of them verbalize more than one or two thoughts!!!!!

Once I make them aware of this and train them to be constantly thinking about relationships and putting complex ideas into their own words, they comprehend the passage much better and much more efficiently.

Even if you don't have a tutor or any LSAT study buddies, I recommend reading passages out loud and verbalizing your thoughts so that you can see just how passive your reading may be.

1. USE VIEWPOINT-FIRST LANGUAGE

RC is, ultimately, about tracking different people's opinions and arguments. However, in their focus on details and examples, students often lose sight of who a viewpoint belongs to.

Too often, when I'm tutoring RC, I will hear a student summarize a passage as “they are saying xyz” or “the argument is abc.”

The problem is, they're completely missing who that viewpoint belongs to! Is it the author? Critics? French biologists?

By the end of the passage, such students are often unable to say which view belongs to whom. Consequently, they are unable to understand the main point or author's tone and are destined to struggle with those kinds of questions.

The solution is viewpoint-first thinking.

That means instead of “they are saying” or “it's arguing,” we say “the author is saying” or “French biologists are arguing.”

Make a habit of this, whether you're just rephrasing things in your head, summarizing a paragraph, or speaking aloud.

Doing this prevents you from getting lost and keeps you locked in on what matters most.

1. MAKE MINI SUMMARIES OF EACH PARAGRAPH

This is pretty standard advice, but what does that actually look like?

First, the mini summaries need to be mini — ideally under 20 words.

Second, if there is a viewpoint, the mini summary needs to refer to that viewpoint.

Third, the mini summary needs to refer to what the paragraph is doing, e.g. adding evidence, challenging, giving an example.

For example, a mini summary might look like:

“Author challenges Lamarck theory w/ example of puffin”

OR

“French biologist's view outlined: X disease is hereditary”

Mini summaries are important because they help us build a map of the passage, synthesize the most important information, and improve retention.

Everyone should be making passage summaries, either mentally or on paper.

1. IF YOU GET LOST, EITHER ZOOM OUT OR SCROLL UP!

Let's say you have no idea what a specific sentence means. What do you do?

You probably try reading it again and again until you get it. But that doesn't always work, and it's not the most efficient.

Instead, what you should do is zoom out and think about the main point/idea of the passage. Since the sentence you're struggling with probably has to do with the main idea, let that guide you to an understanding of the sentence.

Let's use an example:

We know the passage is arguing that early environmental laws were actually designed to protect economic interests, not the environment itself.

So if I get stuck on a sentence about a particular law, I don't need to reread it five times. I can zoom out and ask: How does this fit into the author's argument?

If the author's point is that these laws served economic interests, then this sentence probably gives an example of that — or explains how the law did so.

And if that doesn't work, scroll up to the previous sentence or paragraph.

Oftentimes, RC passages will introduce an idea and then, in the next sentence or paragraph, explain it again in new words. Use that knowledge to help you recover when lost.

Let's use another example:

Suppose the previous sentence introduced the idea that Nolan films are blockbusters without an emotional core, and suppose the difficult sentence says:

“Nolan's commercialism, thus, offers plenty of fanfare but offers little depth in the way of interrogating the singular situation of his protagonist.”

What do we do?

Well, we scroll up to the previous sentence, realize that our difficult sentence is just fleshing that idea out, and read it in light of that.

Every passage, paragraph and sentence has a purpose. Use the purpose to guide you when lost!

OK, I FIGURE I HAVE GONE ON LONG ENOUGH.

I have also developed strategies for answering questions without returning to the passage every time and step-by-step processes for dealing with different kinds of answer choices. I also like to tackle comparative passages in a very particular way. I would like to make a post on this eventually but for now I don't want to swamp you with too much information.

LASTLY: If you're interested in tutoring, I have very limited availability remaining. Feel free to DM me.

If not, please try out this advice; I think it will serve you very well! If you could only use one strategy suggested here it would be the reading aloud exercise.

I feel like I saw/heard very few posts or stories about overperforming on the actual test v practice tests and so genuinely did not think it was a possibility. Wanted to uplift that it can happen!!! what’s ur story?

Mine: my actual score in August was 6 points higher than my best PT. Wild, I screamed, I cried, I made my mother across the country login to LSAC from her computer to make sure it was real.

Would you guys recommend doing sections, reviewing missed questions, drilling, or PTs?

Will not be relaxing, I'd prefer to study. Hoping to close the small point gap before test day as RC is fairly easy to improve on for me.

Anything that y'all think will push my score higher helps!! Thank you :)

How to improve to get 175? Already studied hard and study full time

Don't have much to say other than the fact I am so anxious I want to throw up lollll

Been studying for around 3 months now. I know it doesn't sound like much time but in these 3 months, I have hardly seen any improvement, especially in LR. I've changed my study schedule around probably 4-5 times and have placed a heavy emphasis on accuracy over speed while also making sure I thoroughly review my wrong answers until I can explain why the one I chose was wrong and why the correct answer is right.

In the beginning when I first used to do LR timed sections, I would hide the timer and try to only attempt the first 15 questions and see how many I could get correct. That turned out to be too much for me, so I shortened it to the first 10 questions only. I've been doing that for a few weeks now and I am yet to get a single 10/10. I average about only 8 right and the highest I've ever gotten is 9/10.

Personally, I just feel like studying for 3 months and not being able to get the first 10 questions correct on LR is just a sign that maybe this test isn't for me. I just am so discouraged and am really close to just ending my lsat journey so if anyone has been in a similar situation any advice or words would help. thanks.

Is anyone else super affected by score variation? I just took PT 143 which I found easy and scored a 179-- but then other PTs I score a 170 or 172. I want to make sure I'm not artificially inflating my score, what are some hard PTs I can take?

I've always been interested in the law. I want to take the LSAT to put it to rest. I have a business degree and worked in tax. But my interest has always been advocating for justice and have had many peple in my life also affirm my thinking. I don't want to tell anyone I'm going to study. I have around 8 months to study for this. What is the best test prep, how long should a person study, etc. If you guys can share any experience, that would be awesome. I am researching myself but I want to hear from the folks that passed.

Many thanks for reading.

Hey everyone, I’ve only begun really seriously considering law school over the last year or so. I just graduated undergrad at a semi-decent state school with a 3.75 gpa in Finance (not great I know but I do believe I can do well on the LSAT), pretty strong softs, and am going into a top 5 consulting firm, but am very much trying to get a score that could get me to a strong financial regulation and economic law background.

With demanding hours for what I imagine will be the next 2 - 3 years to save up for Law School, how do I even begin to prep for the LSAT? Should I take a gap year between work and school to study and hopefully score well? I don’t have a ton of people around me with insight into the process and I’m still fairly new to exploring this track, so please let me know if yall have any insights into how to break down studying for the LSAT with these circumstances. Appreciate you all!

Hi all. As you know Sept test takes are right there. Good luck to everyone! I have been PTing in mainly the low 170s with some mid 170s. Before this I was sometimes getting mid 160s, so there is truly no consistent average besides the 4 PTs in low 170s. I just did PT 153 and got a 166, which had weirdly hard LR sections for me. I felt like they were hard too while I was taking it. This has me worried bc PowerScore said upcoming test is most similar to this test. Should I be worried? I will thoroughly review my wrong answers and flagged questions, but now I am concerned this shows my performance for test day... any advice? Should i do another PT? I have done 3 PTS this past week (173, 171, and this 166). am I just burnt out? I am going crazy!!!!

My friend got a 167 on the LSAT back in June and was just granted extra time on the upcoming October administration due to ADHD. Honestly, I am super jealous as I can’t break 160, and could see myself using that time to get my dream score, especially since my primary weakness for the last year has been time management.

Without sounding like a prick, how is this system fair? How do they determine how much extra time is justified on a case by case basis? Just because someone has ADHD or another disability, how can it even be determined that time is significantly hindering their potential any more than a standard test taker?

I hate to sound so bitter, but to my understanding, a primary function of the LSAT is testing reading comprehension and logical reasoning in a high volume, extremely time sensitive setting. Especially on a test as competitive as the LSAT, why does it seem the criteria for accommodations is so lenient?

There's definitely a reason LSAT is one of the hardest exams out there. English is just the baseline — what it really tests is your ability to quickly pull info together and form a complete logical chain. I've had students who got a 170 on their first try, but those are rare. Most people need time to crack it.

As a professional LSAT tutor who's helped over a thousand students score high over the past 10 years, I want to share some of my own experience — stuff I don't really see people talking about on Instagram.

1. Mindset

This is honestly the most important part. Most students go through tons of self-doubt because this exam isn't like the traditional tests you're used to — you can't just grind practice questions and expect to improve. A lot of people also have weak logical reasoning training, and the intense mental work in a short time is more exhausting than many law school exams. But all the struggle eventually leads somewhere. If you're sure you want to go to a US law school, stick with it — this is just the beginning of the law school journey.

1. Strategy + Practice

After the reform, the question bank is limited, so you need to cherish the existing questions and, more importantly, get the most out of them.

(1) Strategy

If you're totally new to the LSAT, I'd suggest doing a cold diagnostic on Lawhub first just to get a feel for the exam. My advice is more for people who are already struggling a bit with the LSAT. I bought two books — LR Perfection and RC Perfection from LSAT Dragon — and they helped me a ton, but they're for people with some foundation. If you have zero background, I'd recommend starting with Loophole or LSAT Trainer to learn the question types and basic techniques.

My training approach this past year was: first half year, focus on building the foundation by doing drills and finding your weak spots. At most one full PT per week. I know a lot of people get anxious about not doing full practice tests, but from my own experience, if your drill foundation isn't solid, doing more PTs won't change your score. So calm down and be patient.

I followed the order in LR Perfection for my drills. First I'd read the explanations to learn the author's thinking process, summarize the tips in my own words in a notebook, then go to 7Sage to drill. I started at moderate difficulty and finished within the system's estimated time. After that, I'd do a pattern review, breaking mistakes into three categories: didn't understand the passage, answer choice issues, or timing problems.

① Didn't understand the passage

If it's a vocab issue, I don't think you need to drill vocabulary separately. Just jot down the word every time you miss a question, plus get daily exposure. Personally, I read English books to build a feel for the language and reading habits. It's a long game, but it helped me a lot with speed later on.

② Answer choice issues

First, make sure you identify the question type correctly — is it flaw, strengthen, weaken, etc.? Or did you miss the NOT/EXCEPT? I usually highlight those to remind myself.

Then there's answer choice elimination. Once you get more comfortable, you can quickly narrow it down to two.

My order is: read the question stem first to identify the type, then read the argument and find the premise and conclusion. This is actually super important — a lot of people overlook this basic skill. If you can accurately pinpoint the premise and conclusion, you can eliminate wrong choices fast. Sometimes the wrong answers are obvious — they're just flat-out wrong. If you can't pinpoint them, you get distracted by extra info and waste time.

③ Timing

This is probably the thing you guys struggle with the most. Honestly, I've asked a lot of my native speaker friends and they don't finish in time either.

Improving speed takes some technique. When you drill, set the timer a bit shorter than normal to train your speed. Also, try different time allocation methods to find what works best for you.

For example, I realized I always wasted a ton of time on the last 5 LR questions, which also happen to be the hardest. For RC, I could never finish the last passage, and sometimes that passage was worth the most points.

My personal approach: for LR, I do the first 10 easy questions first, trying to keep it around 10 minutes. Then I jump straight to the last 5, because your brain is warmed up by then, so get the hardest and most time-consuming ones out of the way. Then I go back and do the remaining 10 or 11. This minimizes losing points just because you ran out of time.

For RC, I do the first passage first since it's usually the easiest and helps my brain get into gear. Then I do the passage with the most questions, and after that, go by question count from most to least.

Once you get more experienced, if you're really out of time, you can actually make educated guesses just based on the question type and answer choices without reading the argument — but only if you truly have no time left. If you do have time, still read carefully. By the end, I was able to finish with 3 minutes left to check.

1. Error Log

I always tell my students to use 7Sage to automatically track the question types you miss most, and combine that with your own drill notes in Excel plus notes. Write down the specific PT question and the reason you got it wrong — vocab? timing? answer choices? question stem?

But the thing that actually helps you improve the most is your error log. Your memory can't beat writing things down. I prefer handwriting it, organized by question type. For each mistake, I write one precise sentence in my own words summarizing why I got it wrong, and how to avoid it next time. Keep it under three sentences.

Then before every practice session, I review those summaries. And once a week, I do a bigger review. If I notice the same mistake pattern for the same question type all week, that means I haven't really understood that part yet, so I stop and grind on it until I get it before moving on to the next section.

If the foundation isn't solid, everything crumbles. It seems slow and tedious, but small consistent effort leads to big breakthroughs, and it pays off a lot later on.

So going into the August lsat I felt fairly confident and hadn’t been getting more than around 3-4 wrong per section max. Now I feel like I keep getting like 6 questions wrong per section for no reason and feel like can’t get my act together before the September exam this week. Any advice?

Goal is 174+ and looks like it’s getting ruined by consistent -9 on RC sections😭😭😭😭
I’m taking September and October but was hoping to get this test done in September. Any tips😭😭
Second photo is breakdown of wrong answers from RC (time is an issue)

I am signed up for the October LSAT and really need help. I can't seem to get 100% on LR. I usually get 88-93%. I am not getting the same question types wrong, so I don't even know what to drill. I usually get at least two wrong at the end, but that is the only common denominator I can find. How do I get to 100%? Any help is appreciated! :)

Thank goodness you don’t get to see your scores by section for the real thing because if this happened to me on the actual test I would check myself into a facility.

Please advise. I’m doing a review of every question I got wrong after each PT. My priority question types (using 7Sage) are improving but it won’t translate to the actual PT.

Whenever I drill LR and RC, I find myself going on streaks of getting several questions right consecutively. Especially in LR, I occasionally can go through like 20 questions and get only 3 or 4 wrong. But when I go into timed sections, I consistently end up getting between -8 to -10. I figured this mostly has to do with time, since I'm not really rushing through drilling and I take my time with questions until I'm almost 100% certain I understand it and can answer it correctly.

I guess what I'm asking is how can I speed up my thought process for each question? Aside from consistently practicing and doing thorough reviews, is there any tips or strategies I should be applying that would help?

So, I've noticed while making my predictions before going to the answer choices, sometimes my prediction wouldn't be listed in the answer choices and it's then hard to choose an answer. How do you all do predictions and how do you get better at it other than just understanding the argument?

My practice test scores have been so all over the place… I was scoring 175, 165 the next week, then 169, then 173, then 167… then

I took August and got a 167. I was debating taking September and got a 179 last week so decided I’m going to take September. Then today got a 167. I don’t know why I’m having such big swings and what is going on with me. I feel the same amount of confidence after each test and it just feels so frustrating.

Haven’t read any recent threads on this topic so I’m curious if anyone has dealt with this. I know it was possible in the past, but unsure about now.

I’m currently registered for the September test date but I’d like to switch it to October. However, I also realize the October registration deadline has now passed. Do any of you know if there’s any possibility to call LSAC and have them switch me to the October test date? Not asking for a free switch.., just for the flexibility to be registered for October after the deadline.

I’d appreciate the insight as I was really hoping to taking the October and then November LSAT dates… Worried.

Hello, I am seeking some advice. I am aiming for a 170, but I keep scoring in the 162–163 range (-7 LR, -5 RC, -5 LR).

The 7Sage AI says that I struggle with hard conditional reasoning questions. I have drilled both medium and hard questions, but I still can’t seem to grasp the concepts when the questions become more challenging.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can improve my understanding of conditional reasoning and break through this plateau?

Thank you!

August warrior back again for more punishment. Jeans, swedish per capita, and politicans haunt me. I've tried finding equivalent style questions, but I can't find anything that really matches- have done a fair amount of questions.

Anyone that found these questions easy/not jarringly out of place have any advice on how to practice these types? I find the normal "math" questions super easy compared to these.

I've been studying for around 5 months (took a 2 month gap , now I'm back) and average in the mid 150s. Whenever I do untimed sections, I'm consistently getting around 0 or -3 in LR, but when I take timed sections I do as bad as a -12. I'm in dire need of guidance, I need to get above a 160 for October.. If anyone has any idea on how to improve, please let me know!

I'm using 7Sage and finished the core curriculum months ago. Have been drilling with around 72% accuracy.. This test has been beating me up for months and I feel like it has become something I cannot improve on..

Has anyone else been personally victimized by PT 152?

Just came on here to lose my mind a little about 152 section 1. Complaining to the people in my life doesn't hit because they don't get it. So here I am.

This section has the most INSANE questions I have ever fucking encountered. Like even the 7sage explanations on some are like yeah so you can think this is probably the correct answer. HUH?

WHAT HAPPENED TO BEING ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN? WHAT HAPPENED TO STRUCTURE, HUH?!

THIS IS THE WORST SECTION I COULD'VE DONE THE WEEK OF MY DAMN TEST HOLY SHIT.

I WAS FEELING SO GOOD CUZ I GOT A 174 ON PT 153 LAST WEEK, AND I JUST GOT 6 WRONG ON ONE FUCKING SECTION. WHEN LAST WEEK I LITERALLY ONLY MISSED 4 THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE TEST.

IF MY REAL TEST IS ANYTHING LIKE THIS.... BRO. I don't want them to come for me because I'm kidding but HOLY SHIT.

Guys like I know we encounter the occasional what the fuck question. But there are like a million in this section. And I have a very developed understanding of the test. Like I test well.

The writers of this section are PURE. EVIL. PURE EVIL.

And fucking powerscore crystal ball said to go over this section for LR because its important for September.

HEY HOW ABOUT I KMS.

Rant over. For now...