From a low score to a 25, a realistic RC improvement plan

Going from a low RC score to a 25 (490 on the new scale) takes roughly 12 weeks of focused work. Not 12 weeks of grinding. 12 weeks of doing three specific things in the right order.

Students who try to fix everything at once usually move 1 to 2 points in 12 weeks. Students who fix one thing per phase routinely move 6 to 8.

The three phases

Weeks 1 to 4: Reading speed

If your sustained reading speed on dense material is below 220 WPM, no amount of strategy work will save you. The math forces you out of time. Phase 1 is reading speed first because it raises the ceiling on every other skill.

Daily. 15 minutes on the WPM trainer. Pick one drag (subvocalization, word-by-word, or regression) and drill only that one for the full 4 weeks.

Weekly. One timed full RC section. Track WPM as well as score.

Goal. End of week 4 reading at 240 to 260 WPM with comprehension above 70 percent.

Weeks 5 to 8: Strategy and pacing

Once you can finish in time, you need a strategy that works for you. This phase is about picking and drilling one strategy until it is automatic.

Daily. 1 to 2 passages, all using the same strategy. Mapping if you score humanities-heavy. Paragraph summary if you score science-heavy. Search and Destroy almost never. See the strategies guide.

Weekly. One timed full section. Track per-passage time and score.

Goal. End of week 8 finishing all 3 passages with 1 to 2 minutes to spare and overall accuracy above 75 percent.

Weeks 9 to 12: Question patterns

Now you have the speed and the strategy. The remaining points are leaking through one or two specific question patterns. This phase finds them and seals them.

Daily. 20 questions of your two weakest patterns. Review every miss with full attention. Read the relevant pattern guides (inference, tone).

Weekly. Two timed full sections. Track accuracy by pattern.

Goal. End of week 12 with all 7 patterns above 75 percent accuracy.

What this looks like in practice

1. 1
   Test before each phase.

   Take a baseline timed section. You need to know what you are starting from before you can measure improvement.
2. 2
   Resist the urge to multitask.

   Phase 1 is reading speed only. Do not try to fix question patterns in week 2. The phases compound. Skipping Phase 1 caps your Phase 3 ceiling.
3. 3
   Take one full rest day per week.

   RC fatigue is real. Days off improve retention. This is not optional.
4. 4
   Do not spike practice volume.

   5 to 7 hours per week of RC-specific work beats 20 hours of unfocused work.

What you can realistically expect

Students who follow this plan with discipline typically move 5 to 8 points on the 1 to 30 scale, which is roughly 80 to 130 points on the 200 to 600 new scale. A starting score of 17 (340) lands somewhere in the 22 to 25 range (430 to 490). A starting score of 19 (370) lands in the 24 to 27 range (470 to 550).

Students who skip phase 1 because their reading speed felt fine usually plateau at the score that their reading speed allows. Students who skip phase 3 because they ran out of time typically gain 3 points instead of 6.

See the full 12-week schedule for the day-by-day version.

Related: The 5-bucket diagnostic · Why you are bad at DAT RC