Any tips or tricks for RC i keep running out of time

Qarmonist said:

Hi guys i keep running out of time when i do that section. My method is skim through really fast. Then start the questions and search each one by one any better methods. Or other methods that at least allowed u to finish on time?

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One method that may work is to read the questions first, THEN scan the passage for key words that were within the question stems. For example, if a question asked about odontoblasts and their relationship to tooth development, you would scan the passage for the word "odontoblast." Paragraphs are organized in a specific manner, so likely everything related to odontoblasts will be included in the same paragraph. You must be very attentive/focused for this method. I finished with ~5-mins to go.

Think of it this way. You WILL second guess yourself [to make sure you read the passage correctly] if you read the passage first and then go to the questions. Save yourself the time and trouble and read the passage with a goal in mind--i.e. reading for key words.

Hope it helps

Good luck

Richard

Qarmonist said:

Hi guys i keep running out of time when i do that section. My method is skim through really fast. Then start the questions and search each one by one any better methods. Or other methods that at least allowed u to finish on time?

Click to expand...

I had the same problem when I took the exam. There are a lot of methods out there, but what's important is finding the one that works best for you. Best piece of advice I can give is practice practice practice! You'll eventually start finishing.

I went from barely finishing 2 of them to finishing all 3 with some time to spare.

Do you take Kaplan? Using Topscore? Both of these have full length exams for practice.

BTW, I did the road map method.. You write down a word or two from each paragraph as you read it. Then go to the questions and see where on your road map the answer is located.

good luck!

I was expected to have alot of timing problems with the RC section. I was all set to doing the "roadmap/outline" method, but my passages were actually quite easy. I would be sure to write down any quantitative data that are presented in the passages. You will have a sentence like "Situation A caused condition X to increase 10% in the first quarter, and 20% in the following quarter." You then be asked a question like "What is the total percetange that condition X increased to do situation A." Hope that helps.

The best way is to pick a method that works for you. Probably you are wondering: "what!? There is no best way. I don't know." Then, that's exactly the right feel. Whatever method you pick, you don't want to be critical of it yourself on the test day. If possible, try avoid being critical of yourself at all. If you are not critical, then that is the same as having confience.

I studied for the reading sections a lot. Especially when I studied for the verbal reasoning on the MCAT, now that is a totally different beast. I did mediocre on the verbal reasoning there, and excelled on the RC on DAT, and also the OAT (yes I also took the OAT). What I'm trying to say is that I'm pretty good with these read comp questions.

Let me provided some contrasting methods, and the reasoning which one may have behind each method.

Some will read the passage beforehand, because they think it will create an overall nascent impression of the pasage before being confused by the quesiton stems.
Then others will feel that it is good to read the questions before viewing the passages so they know what to look for.

Some will tell you to practice a lot of problems before hand.
Others will suggest to just practice enough and wait and prepare for any unknowns which might occur on the test.

I suggest you trying all the methods and see what you feel comfortable with, NOT necessary which one provide you with the higher score. All the scores on the diagnostic test are REALLY ARBITRARY. If you read enough postings on here, you will see that people's score on the diagnostic varies with the actual, either up or down, and no pattern is to be found. So, repeating myself, pick a method and ask yourself how comfortable you feel with it. That's how I scored high on the RC.

One method I used was to answer the questions even without looking at the passage. Just PURE EDUCATED GUESSING AT QUESTION ITSELF. It's interesting I must say, and there are certain questions which I actually have to do that on the real test.

Good Luck! Keep in mind that all the answers you need for RC are there. It's right in front of your eyes. No memory is necessary.

This is old, but in case you still need help...

Well, it's not really help, but reassurance. I did a lot of practice reading sections on DAT practice tests, and never finished. It was because they were all done on scantrons. When I did practice tests on a computer, I finished everytime with time left over... where did the time come from? Not filling in the bubbles! The bubbles take away a pretty decent amount of time, and you'll be a lot faster on computer.

The road map method also works, and is what I used during my DAT. I suggest you use that, and make sure you answer questions right rather than rush through to finish the sections and do a haphazard job. I had some hard passages on my DAT, so I had to rush through the last 8 or so questions, but I made sure I did the others right, and I got a 23.

rsweeney said:

One method that may work is to read the questions first, THEN scan the passage for key words that were within the question stems. For example, if a question asked about odontoblasts and their relationship to tooth development, you would scan the passage for the word "odontoblast." Paragraphs are organized in a specific manner, so likely everything related to odontoblasts will be included in the same paragraph. You must be very attentive/focused for this method. I finished with ~5-mins to go.

Think of it this way. You WILL second guess yourself [to make sure you read the passage correctly] if you read the passage first and then go to the questions. Save yourself the time and trouble and read the passage with a goal in mind--i.e. reading for key words.

Hope it helps

Good luck

Richard

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This is right on, DAT RC is usually key word specific question, I took It twice and my scores were above a 20 on both. I really didn't read the passage, only read the paragraphs that pertained to the key word in the question. I also finsihed 15 and 10 minutes respectively. There are questions in the DAT reading comp, that you could spend a couple of minutes on , and then a majority of questions that only take 30 seconds to answer. I think the key of the DAT is getting through all the questions in a timely manner. If you notice that you're spending more than 30 seconds on a question, you're going to slow.

HD

For those of you who have taken and conquered the DAT... Of all of the major prep sources out there (Kaplan, Topscore, AcetheDat, and Barron's), which one has the RC section most similar to the actual DAT?

...and thanks to all of you who have taken this exam, conquered it, and have gone on to be accepted. Thanks for taking a look in this forum from time to time to see if those of us lagging behind need a bit of help. You could just as easily ignore the "DAT Discussions."

TX Hopeful said:

For those of you who have taken and conquered the DAT... Of all of the major prep sources out there (Kaplan, Topscore, AcetheDat, and Barron's), which one has the RC section most similar to the actual DAT?

...and thanks to all of you who have taken this exam, conquered it, and have gone on to be accepted. Thanks for taking a look in this forum from time to time to see if those of us lagging behind need a bit of help. You could just as easily ignore the "DAT Discussions."

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kaplan's too easy and barron's too hard. i think topscore is about right, imo.

i just looked at the questions and answered them without reading the passage. A lot of it is stuff you have covered in bio class it is just getting the balls to put the answer down that makes the most sense without reading the passage. I looked up and skimmed for the tone questions and stuff. I got an 18 by going straight through, my lowest section but i felt like I was taking an extension of bio.

The kaplan road map technique slowed me way down the few times I practiced. When I got to the real test, I said "screw it. I'm doing it my own way." I just quickly skimmed the passage once. Then I looked at each Q and scrolled real fast through the passage till i found the answer.

It's easy to find the answer because the comp screen doesn't show you the entire passage at once. The reading screen is small so you only see one paragraph at any given time. It makes it easier to find the key words you are looking for.

RC on the comp is way different from the RC on paper. Do kaplan's practice tests on the comp or get the Topscore CD. Practicing on the comp will help you the best.

I ended up getting a 23 on RC with little to no practice. I think Kaplan's passages were way harder than the ones on the real DAT.

Qarmonist said:

Hi guys i keep running out of time when i do that section. My method is skim through really fast. Then start the questions and search each one by one any better methods. Or other methods that at least allowed u to finish on time?

Click to expand...

I had the same problem, or worse yet i tried to read really fast and answer the questions, but got a lot wrong cause i didnt read well
i ended up going to barnes&n. and looked for speed reading books. it gave tips and really did help. there a bunch just find the one that suits you the best.

Is it easy to read the DAT passages using computers? Is it easy to read one line at a time and see each question with all its answer choices in one screen view? I especially like to know the opinions of those who have taken the real test. My conern is that I won't be able to finish the section because of technical problems. For example, It's very hard to read Kaplan's RC passages and questions that come with their CD. I mean The program doesn't let me read one line at a time. Whenever I want to read the next line it jumps one paragraph at a time and sometimes it doesn't have a perfect jump and makes me re-read to find the last line I read. Plus, only 1/2 of each question can be visible at any moment. To see the whole question with all its answer choices one has to scroll up and down repeatedly. All I am trying to say is that the CD has made it so tough to read the RC passages and questions. On the other hand I have found it much easier to read TopScore passages. TopScore passages are more controllable. Those of you who have taken the test please let me know if you have had any technical difficulties reading each passage, questions and answer choices. Thank you very much in advance.

I skimmed the passages, looked at the questions, went back after I read each one and looked for the answers. Make sure you do several practice tests to get used to how to move around on the real thing. I scored a 24, and finished with a couple minutes to go back over stuff. I read a lot, though, and I think it helped me. So you might try doing more pleasure reading to get your mind in gear.

IWuvTeef said:

The kaplan road map technique slowed me way down the few times I practiced. When I got to the real test, I said "screw it. I'm doing it my own way." I just quickly skimmed the passage once. Then I looked at each Q and scrolled real fast through the passage till i found the answer.

It's easy to find the answer because the comp screen doesn't show you the entire passage at once. The reading screen is small so you only see one paragraph at any given time. It makes it easier to find the key words you are looking for.

RC on the comp is way different from the RC on paper. Do kaplan's practice tests on the comp or get the Topscore CD. Practicing on the comp will help you the best.

I ended up getting a 23 on RC with little to no practice. I think Kaplan's passages were way harder than the ones on the real DAT.

Click to expand...

the method that works best for me is reading at most half of each paragraph and trying to figure out where the location of things are .. usually an intro, background, some more background info, maybe some tests that were done.. get the road map in your head.. don't write a road map.. i barely looked at road maps when i did do them and when i did it slowed me down.. i have bad hand writing and i'm a slow reader so it helped me to just do my best speed reading job in about 2 minutes for each passage and then dive into the questions.. road maps are wack...