I just finished my CDR Test #1 and I scored a 15. I mean I did end it 10 minutes early, but I just wanted to see what I would score.
Does anyone have any tips or advice?
Does anyone have any tips or advice?
Low score on my first CDR Test
- Thread starter MowgliR
- Start date
I took my first CDR test and scored a 16 and I just got done taking my second CDR test and I scored a 15. I was trying to look up how similar it is from the actual DAT.
Almost every question is toned based and the answers are very tricky for me. I was wondering if anyone who has taken the DAT and used CDR for reading could provide their input please?
I scored an 18 on my TopScore Reading
I apologize OP, I am not trying to steal your thread but if people put more insight, its probably gonna help you as well. Right, as we both scored similar in our CDR Test 1.
Randy822, do you read the explanation of the answers in CDR. It seems like they are explaining where the answers can be found but not the strategy, how is that working for you? Anyone else, does it help.
Almost every question is toned based and the answers are very tricky for me. I was wondering if anyone who has taken the DAT and used CDR for reading could provide their input please?
I scored an 18 on my TopScore Reading
I apologize OP, I am not trying to steal your thread but if people put more insight, its probably gonna help you as well. Right, as we both scored similar in our CDR Test 1.
Randy822, do you read the explanation of the answers in CDR. It seems like they are explaining where the answers can be found but not the strategy, how is that working for you? Anyone else, does it help.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2010
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
I have taken 3 CDR tests now and am frustrated. I thought I was a fairly good reader and was hoping this would be a section on the DAT that would boost my AA. After taking these CDR tests I am starting to get worried.
They don't have very many science passages either, which I thought most of the DAT passages were.
Has anyone taken the DAT already that used CDR to study? We need help here. 😱
Scheduled DAT: Aug, 26th
They don't have very many science passages either, which I thought most of the DAT passages were.
Has anyone taken the DAT already that used CDR to study? We need help here. 😱
Scheduled DAT: Aug, 26th
I haven't taken the DAT yet, but have taken three CDR test. I'm really curious how they compare to the DAT too. I've taken a few Kaplan reading tests and they seem pretty different (compared to each other.) In my experience:
CDR:
- hardly any science passages
- tons of "interpret what you think the right answer is" and it could be 2 or 3 depending on how you're looking at it.
- hardly any specific questions
-my scores have been slightly higher than Kaplan, but all over the board and I'm a fairly strong reader.
Kaplan:
- every passage has been science related and way harder to read and comprehend.
- My scores are lower with Kaplan
- lots of detail questions, but they are hard to find amidst all the jargon.
- I run out of time almost every time
I'm curious what you guys who have already tackled the DAT think about the reading on the real thing vs Crack Dat Reading.
CDR:
- hardly any science passages
- tons of "interpret what you think the right answer is" and it could be 2 or 3 depending on how you're looking at it.
- hardly any specific questions
-my scores have been slightly higher than Kaplan, but all over the board and I'm a fairly strong reader.
Kaplan:
- every passage has been science related and way harder to read and comprehend.
- My scores are lower with Kaplan
- lots of detail questions, but they are hard to find amidst all the jargon.
- I run out of time almost every time
I'm curious what you guys who have already tackled the DAT think about the reading on the real thing vs Crack Dat Reading.
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2009
- Messages
- 239
- Reaction score
- 0
i just took my first CDR as well and got a 15....WTFFFFFFF i really feel like i wasted a $100 i wish i got the 5 test version first, well actually i wish i never got this piece of garbage....This was my 3rd ever RC section the two before were kaplan and i got a 20 and 23 on them...so the 15 is kinda outlandish...where can we find good RC sources?
It seems like no one is scoring over a 16. Last test that I took I thought I was gonna score 30 because I was pretty sure of my answers. I guess it is preparing us to work our mind harder for descriptive answers.
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2009
- Messages
- 239
- Reaction score
- 0
very true but what's more representative of the real dat?
I only took the first two tests. The first one, I got a 19. The second one, I got 21. I finished both early.
I don't really read the passages before answering the questions. I guess I use the "search and destroy" method. For the tone questions, it helps to skip those if you aren't sure (or mark them) and then answer them after you've answered the other questions. Because after you go through the rest of the questions, you'll probably have a better idea of what the passage is about.
I haven't taken the DAT yet though, so I don't know how it compares. I'm taking my test tomorrow though (and I'm scared... mostly about the sciences, which are the most important part!).
Quillow, you probably taking your exam right now. Based on your CDR scores I am assuming you are a faster/good reader as none of us on this posting has nearly as high scores as you did on your first. Please let us know how the actual DAT RC compared to the CDR and any other good tips.
Thanks
Thanks
Yeah I look at the explanation, so I can get a sense of my strenths and weaknesses with S&D questions and also tone questions. I look for why I missed the easy questions -- like if ignored "seemingly impossible" in P1, and one of the questions (in CDR) asked what the author thought about collisions; rarely, never, etc.
Pretty much what I am doing is just to determine which questions I should save for later (tone) or if its something I can answer by searching (S&D).
I agree with what you said about CDR only telling you were answers are but not the strategy. I think part of practicing is figuring out your own strategy. I try to make use of the explanations by teaching myself to pay attention during S&D rather than just scrolling up and down, without reading anything lol.
- Joined
- May 17, 2010
- Messages
- 851
- Reaction score
- 1
Do you guys think CDR worth buying? I am debating.
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2009
- Messages
- 239
- Reaction score
- 0
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2010
- Messages
- 95
- Reaction score
- 1
I'm an audio learner. As a strategy I've been reading the passages from the Crack DAT Reading out loud to myself. I got a 20 and a 21 on my first two practice tests so things seem to be going well for me. Is this allowed in the test center? Do people take the DAT with other people in the room taking the same or different tests? Because the strategy has def. been paying off but it would be a shame to practice with it and not be able to use it.
Like I said before, I took two practice CDR tests and scored 19 and 21 with time remaining. On the real thing, I scored a 21 with no time remaining. I did get the piano passage though.
I would say that CDR is probably a decent comparison to the real thing, at least for the non-piano passages. I use "search and destroy" which I think/thought was pretty good, but now I think I probably should've tested other strategies to see which one worked best for me. I was more concerned about scoring well in the sciences though so I didn't spend too much time on reading. I've also taken quite a bit of English lit and philosophy classes in undergrad. That might have helped, but I did graduate five years ago and haven't really had to read anything for school since then... I do read news articles and such though. My boyfriend also says that I read fast.
I have a surprisingly bad short term memory, so I can't really comment about the type of questions on the test. I think my score is pretty good, especially considering that I got the piano passage, which I was not expecting at all.
About the piano passage: I do not think it is really as hard as people say it is. The main thing is: DO NOT FREAK OUT ONCE YOU SEE IT! I think that wasted a lot of my time. And it's already hard enough because you're freaking out because it's the real test anyway. If I had to do it again, I would go in expecting to see the piano passage, just to be ready for it. If I had to redo the piano passage, I probably would NOT use "search and destroy". That might be because I freaked out and lost composure when I saw it, so that really screwed with me. But that is why I would practice different methods for RC (if you have time). If I had to retake the piano passage, I would probably read through it once quickly, jotting down keywords. Then I'd go through the questions. There might be a better method out there, but I don't know since I didn't really spend much time studying for RC. I do know that someone posted a website about piano stuff if anyone wanted to prep for the piano passage. I did not look at that website before, thinking it would be a waste of time. I briefly glanced at it afterward to see if it would have helped. And yeah, I guess it may have helped a little bit, but I don't know if the time used to read that and attempt to memorize stupid little details is worth it (maybe it is to you though).
Overall, I think CDR is pretty decent for practice. It helped familiarize myself with the testing style/format and it was good to practice being timed. I only bought it because I bought a whole package (CDP, math, sciences, reading all together). I can't strongly recommend CDR, but it's okay. I don't know if that helps..
I had wondered about this too because sometimes I mumble little things to myself. But there was a sign at my testing center that said "NO TALKING". Where I took the test, there were several other people there taking other tests (GRE, USMLE, etc). There are little partitions between each computer screen. They offered noise canceling headphones to anyone who wanted to use them. You are also allowed to bring your own earplugs. I would probably practice reading in your head just to be safe. Maybe the keyword method would work for you?
Should I be worried about these being my actual scores?
For test 1-3: 1-17 2-20 3-17
I don't get how to improve on this. Granted Im not a speed reader, but I thought I answered almost everything correctly on test 3. Soo frustrating.
For test 1-3: 1-17 2-20 3-17
I don't get how to improve on this. Granted Im not a speed reader, but I thought I answered almost everything correctly on test 3. Soo frustrating.
Last edited:
