how to tackle the RC? any tips?

[pbure9]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I've been using kaplan's method of roadmapping each paragraph for the passages in RC. The problem is that I always run out of time and find myself rushing through the final passage.

I've read through some prior topics and I see that many of you use the "search and destroy" method. Problem here is that you don't know what the passage is talking about. Is it just about reading fast and "pretending" to be interested? Any tips/ideas/concerns? 😀

 

[Harvard10]

The reading comprehension section is actually given as a chance to increase your over-all academic score, not lower it. When I took the DAT, I noticed that most of the questions came directly from the text word for word. Test taking methodologies hold different levels of success subject to each individual, but what I did was simply search for a key word from the question in the reading. Usually this landed the answer for which I was searching and I finished the section on time. This may work for you as it has worked for most of my friends. We all scored over 20 in the reading section doing this. Try practicing it to see if it helps! Best of luck!!!

 

[SurfTooth88]

I may not have the best advice (21 on RC) but I had enough time to answer each question and didn't panic during this section or anything.

I liked the computer DAT because each question was at the top of its own page and underneath was the passage. This was great for me cause I tend to get too distracted reading if I'm looking for multiple answers. "Multi-tasking" killed me in practice tests 😕

During the real test I started from the first question of each passage (unless it was more of an opinion based question ex- what is the general tone of the passage?) and quickly but thoroughly read through until I found what I was looking for for the first question.

After that it just got easier after each question because I remembered where I had read certain details in the passage. Many of the questions could be answered word for word from the text. It also helped that all of my passages were an enjoyable read 😎

Again, this was just my strategy. Hopefully it was helpful for you. G'Luck!

 

[yankees27th]

How much are you writing for each paragraph for the Kaplan method? I know this is the opposite of what harvard10 said, but I found that the questions used different words than were in the passage and that it would have been really hard if I hadn't used the Kaplan method. There's no way I would have done as well as I did in that section if I hadn't done it that way.

 

[pbure9]

How much are you writing for each paragraph for the Kaplan method? I know this is the opposite of what harvard10 said, but I found that the questions used different words than were in the passage and that it would have been really hard if I hadn't used the Kaplan method. There's no way I would have done as well as I did in that section if I hadn't done it that way.

well kaplan has a whole complex system i feel, which takes too much time (at least for me). I still think its beneficial to know what's in each paragraph so you can quickly take a glance at your scrap sheet and know where to look. So I've tried that, and have been writing little keywords from each paragraph down. Do you guys still read the entire passage?