Reading Comp😭

kmm2019

I’m so frustrated. My RC scores vary so much. Today I did the worst I’ve ever done, -12😭 I just don’t understand it like a few days ago I got a -5. Does anyone have tips to improve and stay consistent?

natemanwell1

read outside the test.

lookingforanswers

Hey! I posted something similar a while back. My scores still vary from time to time (there might be a brutal Science passage now and then), but for the most part, I'm a lot more consistent now and getting -2 to -5s in RC. I totally get your situation and here's what worked for me:

1. Slowing down
You know when you start an RC section and you feel your heart pounding on the first passage? You just hear the time ticking away, eating at your soul...

A bit of an exaggeration maybe, but not for me. I was rushing through the first two to have enough time for the harder, last two. That's not a bad strategy overall, but it was causing me a lot of time anxiety and I was rushing through without actually understanding what I was reading.

It's alright. Force yourself to be OK with the fact that time is running out. Relax. Even if I have to "rush" through the last passage, I find that's better for me than rushing through ALL the passages.

2. Dealing with flagged questions
I used to flag questions and return to them at the end of the whole section. Which, is probably also why I rushed through passages, because I wanted time at the end to go back to marked questions.

Now, if I flag a question, I go back to it at the end of that passage. Again, you'll be worried and wondering if you have time for this -- try it out and really calibrate how much time you have for this and how many reruns you can afford. A lot of RC sections, I don't have time to even revisit some questions. So you really have to measure your speed and see what you can fit in.

3. Skip questions
Just like LR, if you see a question stem and you know maybe you don't have the capacity to answer it right now, just skip it and return when you're done with all the other questions for that passage.

E.g. an analogy question that will not only suck all of my time up, but requires a more thorough understanding.

While you're answering the other questions, you are able to learn more about the passage! Learn as much as you can using the other questions as a tool and come back to the hardest ones.

Overall, RC gave me the most timing anxiety and forcing myself to relax helped the most. I think RC inconsistency is not uncommon, and doing more practice should just help you too. Figure out your own timing benchmarks too. That helped me :-) That kind of stuff is different person-to-person so keep going, keep practicing, learn about yourself, and find your comfort zone. Good luck!