level of difficulty of the RC passages

[yankies90]

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Hi guys!
I am taking my DAT in about 4 weeks!
English is my second language and I am having a hard time with RC section.

I did pretty well one topscore and okay on CDR but the DAT bootcamo RC killed me. It was so much more difficult to comprehend than other practice exams.

I am curious how the level of difficulty of real DAT RC passages compare to CDR, Topscore, and bootcamp!

Please help!

Thank you!

 

[shrister]

I have taken the DAT twice, first time I got a 25 in RC, second time a 22. Both times I felt the questions were fairly easy to answer, and didn't require much in-depth thinking. I felt bootcamp was much harder than the real test.

 

[yankies90]

I have taken the DAT twice, first time I got a 25 in RC, second time a 22. Both times I felt the questions were fairly easy to answer, and didn't require much in-depth thinking. I felt bootcamp was much harder than the real test.

Thanks for your reply!
But how's the complexity of the passages in real DAT?
I found bootcamp passagss are hard.
Topscore passages are very dense but it's easier to comprehend.

 

[Daneosaurus]

I thought they were easy reads, but English is my first language so it's difficult for me to gauge for you

 

[yankies90]

I thought they were easy reads, but English is my first language so it's difficult for me to gauge for you

I see.. thanks for your reply.
Have you done any of CDR, Topscore, or Bootcamp?
Which practice's passage best resembles the real one?

 

[tons_of_fart]

It really depends on your luck for the real test. I happened to have 3 really easy passages, short and and easy to comprehend. To me, the question types were similar to all 3 tests (CDR, topscore, and bootcamp). If you're doing the practice tests, be aware of how they're questioned and you'll see what I mean by the type of question.

 

[yankies90]

It really depends on your luck for the real test. I happened to have 3 really easy passages, short and and easy to comprehend. To me, the question types were similar to all 3 tests (CDR, topscore, and bootcamp). If you're doing the practice tests, be aware of how they're questioned and you'll see what I mean by the type of question.

It's mostly about luck T..T
That's what I don't like about RC of DAT.
I have heard too many horror stories....

 

[studentdentistwish]

My test is next week and I took my bootcamp RC test and got "lower than a 15" keep your head up....how do I keep my head up after that? I tried to use search and destroy method and failed miserably...any advice?

 

[shrister]

Thanks for your reply!
But how's the complexity of the passages in real DAT?
I found bootcamp passagss are hard.
Topscore passages are very dense but it's easier to comprehend.

Not that complex, not that dense. English is technically my first language so maybe that's why I didn't find it that difficult. But from both tests they really seemed much easier than any practice test I've ever taken. I was scoring 18s on bootcamp, never did the other ones.

 

[clutchfans]

Fortunately, I got 3 very interesting and "fun" reads with very straightfoward questions.

 

[yankies90]

Thank you all of you for your inputs!
Now I feel little better.
I just hope I don't get the hard passages.
It just takes a little bit longer for people with English as their second language to comprehend. And for DAT, that small delay in comprehension matters so much...
Thank all of you!
I reaply appreciate it!

 

[Daneosaurus]

I see.. thanks for your reply.
Have you done any of CDR, Topscore, or Bootcamp?
Which practice's passage best resembles the real one?

No, I'm sorry. I can't help you here. I literally did not study for RC at all. I got a 21.

 

[Rambunctious]

My test is next week and I took my bootcamp RC test and got "lower than a 15" keep your head up....how do I keep my head up after that? I tried to use search and destroy method and failed miserably...any advice?

DAT Bootcamp is very representative of the TYPES of questions you'll get on the real DAT. Don't be discouraged with the Bootcamp scores, just practice and practice. My Bootcamp scores were, 18,15,16,20,21 and I got a 21 on the real deal, so keep your head up! I just read thing whole passage and answered the questions. Try that, it might help.

 

[melmu001]

DAT Bootcamp is very representative of the TYPES of questions you'll get on the real DAT. Don't be discouraged with the Bootcamp scores, just practice and practice. My Bootcamp scores were, 18,15,16,20,21 and I got a 21 on the real deal, so keep your head up! I just read thing whole passage and answered the questions. Try that, it might help.

How many times practice? What is the average DAT Bootcamp consensus score?

 

[Rambunctious]

How many times practice? What is the average DAT Bootcamp consensus score?

There is no specific number of times. It varies from person to person. Practice until you're comfortable with your strategy.

 

[yankies90]

DAT Bootcamp is very representative of the TYPES of questions you'll get on the real DAT. Don't be discouraged with the Bootcamp scores, just practice and practice. My Bootcamp scores were, 18,15,16,20,21 and I got a 21 on the real deal, so keep your head up! I just read thing whole passage and answered the questions. Try that, it might help.

Ah... so bootcamp questions are the ones you will see on DAT ^^
How does the difficulty of passages in bootcamp compare to real DAT?

 

[Glimmer1991]

I went into the DAT expecting RC to be my highest score, but it was actually my lowest. I thought my passages were very difficult.

English is my first language. I scored a 750 on the SAT Reading... Reading comprehension is usually one of my strengths!

I think it all depends on the test you get.

 

[yankies90]

I went into the DAT expecting RC to be my highest score, but it was actually my lowest. I thought my passages were very difficult.

English is my first language. I scored a 750 the SAT Reading section and a 780 on the SAT writing (without any studying)... Reading comprehension is usually one of my strengths!

I think it all depends on the test you get.

Wow... 750 on SAT and DAT RC was hard for you? Now, that scares me a lot.
I don't know why they can't make every test the same in difficulty

 

[Glimmer1991]

Wow... 750 on SAT and DAT RC was hard for you? Now, that scares me a lot.
I don't know why they can't make every test the same in difficulty

Eh, I think it all evens out in the mix. From what I've read, my Bio and GC sections may have been easier than other tests... but I think my RC and PAT sections were definitely harder than many of the other tests I have seen/read about.

Overall, though, I'm willing to bet that each test is just about the same difficulty.

I didn't tell you that to scare you. 🙂 Just don't go into any section expecting to knock it out of the park--you might be surprised, haha! What I perceived to be my "strengths" actually ended up being my weaknesses on the DAT, and vice versa.

 

[yankies90]

Eh, I think it all evens out in the mix. From what I've read, my Bio and GC sections may have been easier than other tests... but I think my RC and PAT sections were definitely harder than many of the other tests I have seen/read about.

Overall, though, I'm willing to bet that each test is just about the same difficulty.

I didn't tell you that to scare you. 🙂 Just don't go into any section expecting to knock it out of the park--you might be surprised, haha! What I perceived to be my "strengths" actually ended up being my weaknesses on the DAT, and vice versa.

Oh I see... 😀
Thanks for telling me that.
All I want on RC is 20 and it seems like some passages in practice tests were so dense and complicated like the influenza passage in bootcamp. Hope things turn out alright for me.

Eh, I think it all evens out in the mix. From what I've read, my Bio and GC sections may have been easier than other tests... but I think my RC and PAT sections were definitely harder than many of the other tests I have seen/read about.

Overall, though, I'm willing to bet that each test is just about the same difficulty.

I didn't tell you that to scare you. 🙂 Just don't go into any section expecting to knock it out of the park--you might be surprised, haha! What I perceived to be my "strengths" actually ended up being my weaknesses on the DAT, and vice versa.

 

[dentalgirl101]

DAT Bootcamp is very representative of the TYPES of questions you'll get on the real DAT. Don't be discouraged with the Bootcamp scores, just practice and practice. My Bootcamp scores were, 18,15,16,20,21 and I got a 21 on the real deal, so keep your head up! I just read thing whole passage and answered the questions. Try that, it might help.

This is exactly what I needed to hear. I got an 18 on the first test and a 16 on the second and I'm seriously trying hard to keep my head up. I've been scoring 22-24 on qvault though, so I really don't know what to do...

 

[Dentoni]

This is exactly what I needed to hear. I got an 18 on the first test and a 16 on the second and I'm seriously trying hard to keep my head up. I've been scoring 22-24 on qvault though, so I really don't know what to do...

Hi, What method are you trying ? and why is it not working with BC ?

 

[dentalgirl101]

I try to read the passage quickly and understand most of what is going on while jotting down key words that stick out for each paragraph. It seems to work well for Qvault although I find myself running out of time for the third passage and resort to mostly search and destroy.

@Dentoni

 

[Dentoni]

So, you use S & D on the 3rd passage on Qvault and you still get 22-24, I think that's good. Do you read fast or slow, i mean how long does it take you to finish a passage of the 1st Qvault RC test?
Have you tried just S & D for 3 passages ?

 

[dentalgirl101]

So, you use S & D on the 3rd passage on Qvault and you still get 22-24, I think that's good. Do you read fast or slow, i mean how long does it take you to finish a passage of the 1st Qvault RC test?
Have you tried just S & D for 3 passages ?

Hmm honestly I don't know if I'm a fast or slow reader, it really just depends on how interesting the passage is. If I find it really interesting, I go through it pretty quickly and the information registers in my head whereas if it's a dry topic then I really have to push myself to get through it and sometimes I don't even understand what I'm reading. I haven't tried S&D for all 3 passages but maybe I'll test it out on my next practice test.