Passage type (humanities, sciences, etc.)

[interestedintacos]

I didn't really notice this while I went through the material, but after compiling stats I found out that on subjects I have barely studied in either college or high school I consistently get fewer answers correct and take up more time doing it (up to 2 minutes more on average) than on the subjects I'm familiar with.

Either the material is subconsciously having an effect on me (because I consciously feel no fear in attacking these subjects) or my lack of background in those subjects really does make a difference in my ability to comprehend what I'm reading (which would slightly go against the assumptions in the MLSAT reading comp. guide).

MLSAT and many others say that the passage subject really doesn't matter and anything a layman wouldn't understand is explained in the text, but if that's true I don't know why I have the most trouble consistently with those subjects I'm least familiar with, unless it just happens to be the case that LSAC chooses to put its most difficult passages in the exact topics I personally didn't learn.

Do you have any advice on facing this hurdle? All I can think of is to resolve to do passages I'm better at in the beginning so I can rack up those points and spend whatever time I have left working on the passages where I have weaknesses, but I'd like to come up with strategies to conquer them rather than just pushing them to the end of a section.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Here's what I suspect is going on. Material you're familiar with is more likely to be material you're interested in. I bet the reason why you perform better on those passages that you're familiar with has more to do with your interest in the information than with your actual comprehension skills. I would bet you simply apply your comprehension skills more rigorously on those passages that interest you, because you want to know what the passage is about.

Sure you probably can also fill in some gaps and conceptualize the information more easily because you're not completely foreign to the topic. But I bet interest level, also has a ton to do with it. Since interest level is something you can control, jack it up as I high as you can in your practice in timed RC sections. It's tough to artificially create interest in information you typically would pass over, but try to do it anyway.

You could read periodicals like "the Economist" and academic journals in the fields of politics, history, and science, but I think that's only useful to practice your reading skills - Not a suggestion for getting familiar with the topics presented in RC.

[norginz]

Hi, I noticed you said that interest level plays a big part when doing RC. It makes some sense but how can I increase interest in a tough/boring passage? Sometimes there are passages where I don't even understand what it says. Thanks.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Each person might have their own motivators, but personally I focus on the competition of the LSAT. I turn it into sport, think about financial rewards, whatever it takes...

There are so many reasons why it's beneficial to score high on the LSAT; better law school, scholarship, your girlfriend will think you're a genius, etc...

It's a challenge, because you don't want to rev up the juices too high. Too many people ramp up their competitive juices so high and don't temper them with calm and focused determination in other places of the LSAT, that their ability to think clearly is negatively impacted.

It's a balancing act. On boring and protracted material, I ramp up. In LR I'll start fast, but slow down intentionally over time. In LG let your comfort dictate your pace - though that last piece of advice might be true for all of the LSAT.

Good luck, and if others have tips to add, I'd love to hear!