DAT genius Reading Comprehension

[tmalekian]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi,
I have a hard time doing well on reading comprehension. My scores on DAT Bootcamp RC tests are 16,16,19,17,19. after finishing Bootcamp I started DAT genius. I think the readings are very fair and less dense, but I got 19 for the first three tests. I have tried almost all of the techniques recommended by Ari and some other students, but the only method that moved my score from 16 to 19 was reading two paragraphs and answering the questions and continue this for almost 10-15 minutes and do the rest by research and destroy. Now I am stuck at 19 and can't go any better and I still run our of time for the last reading (I'm usually left with 10 minutes for the last one).
My test is in 2 weeks and I am doing pretty well on the other sections; mostly over 23-24 but my reading's scores have been so disappointing.
Do you have any idea that how I can improve my score?

 

[joelm]

Hello!

Here's one approach I like for RC - but ultimately you need to find out what works for you, so tweak / take elements (or none) of what I've written below and use what's worked for you / your strengths to figure out what will allow you to succeed at RC

First off, skip any non-fact questions (inference, application, tone etc.) and save them until you've answered all the fact questions for that passage first. Fact questions are a question about some fact that is directly or almost directly mentioned in the passage.

For the fact questions, I use a 'blended approach' where I read the question, search and destroy for that fact question's answer - but as I'm searching I'm skimming and writing down keywords for different paragraphs as I'm going. As soon as I find my answer, read the next question and repeat this process. Once I've blended search and destroyed / mapped all the questions that could be easily found, I go back and use my map to find the remaining info for the fact questions I skipped. Then I go back and look for the non-fact questions.

A key point to remember is that we should NOT 'comprehend' anything unless there is a question asked on it. The passage is around 1500 words, but only a portion of that information will have questions asked on it. So when you're searching / mapping - don't take the time to comprehend anything until you know there is a question related to that information - just skim read over it. This will save you more time for the end, when you can use the time you banked to really read and understand the key information to find the remaining answers.

For RC - you need to always ask yourself, what is the question really asking. Make sure you are best answering what the question is asking you, and don't get distracted by any tricks.

Hope this helps : )