LSAT Prep for International Students Forum

[InterLaw]

Hi everyone!

I was thinking that maybe there is some other non-english mother tongue like me who is preparing / has prepared the LSAT... Well, we could share doubts, tips, info or whatever you like!

Speaking for me, I'm in a hard position.

In 20 PTs I have a 163-164 average score, completely unbalanced:

LR: -2/-4
LG: -4
RC: -10/-12

Reading Comprehension is my big problem now. Even if I hae a perfect 30/30 TOEFL score on that section, even if I spent a semester studying in US, even if RC is my strongest point in my mother tongue (Italian), usually in a LSAT I'm able to get through the first 3 passages, where I make 1-2 errors each, and I have to guess the whole 4th passage.

Following the suggestions I received here on TLS, I'll start reading every day eglish articles and an English novel. Let's see...

What about you?

[LittleCrab]

I'm not a international student but English is my second language. At first, my RC, LR, and LG scores are pretty much the same. On average, I score -10 to -13 on all of them, then with few weeks on doing more and more practice exams, my average for LR is -3, but nothings changes for RC and LG . For me, LR is definitely the most learnable section using just the practice exam.

I'm not that worry about improving my logic game score...everyone seems to suggest that LG is the most learnable section if you study and practice practice practice!!

RC is definitely a section I don't know to approach, it seems like either you get it or you don't. RC is mostly builded on your reading level/skill over the years. I really struggle with articles dated more than few decades ago (I remember there was one dated around1950 on one of the practice exam). Every suggestion I found on RC is on how to approach the RC questions---I don't have a problem understanding the questions, it's the actual reading part that throws me off. Depending on the topic of the RC, I can get every question right if I understand the passage, but then again that's just due to luck........so how do you approach RC question if you don't completely understand everything you read? I guess in the end we just have to start reading new york times/economic to get use to the language of RC?

***Hoping someone with similar experience can share how they approach the LSAT***

[InterLaw]

I'm not a international student but English is my second language. At first, my RC, LR, and LG scores are pretty much the same. On average, I score -10 to -13 on all of them, then with few weeks on doing more and more practice exams, my average for LR is -3, but nothings changes for RC and LG . For me, LR is definitely the most learnable section using just the practice exam.

I'm not that worry about improving my logic game score...everyone seems to suggest that LG is the most learnable section if you study and practice practice practice!!

RC is definitely a section I don't know to approach, it seems like either you get it or you don't. RC is mostly builded on your reading level/skill over the years. I really struggle with articles dated more than few decades ago (I remember there was one dated around1950 on one of the practice exam). Every suggestion I found on RC is on how to approach the RC questions---I don't have a problem understanding the questions, it's the actual reading part that throws me off. Depending on the topic of the RC, I can get every question right if I understand the passage, but then again that's just due to luck........so how do you approach RC question if you don't completely understand everything you read? I guess in the end we just have to start reading new york times/economic to get use to the language of RC?

***Hoping someone with similar experience can share how they approach the LSAT***

In my opinion, it is a matter of time. Like I said, on LR my total score (out of 50-51 questions) is on average -3, but I made even some perfect -0... And, on that section, I always have the time to go through every question in the right amount of time (normally around 1 minute each, apart from some tough question). On contrast, I've never finished a RC, where you are asked to read much more rapidly the passages. Finally, yes, we must read some dense article every day and improve our reading skills!