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So since I've posted my breakdown I've had quite a few people either asking more about my RC strategy or telling me thanks and that it has helped them quite a bit.
This is how I got a 28 on my DAT.
(Not sure what I got wrong except for one question that required previous knowledge of something I wasn't familiar to)
So similar to vicviper I wasn't doing well on RC on bootcamp or qvault. I was averaging around 20 and 19. Even on qvault which was easier I couldn't break a 22. Much of this was either on time constraints reading the whole passage first or on not utilizing S&D well.
Vicviper's method I also tried but like he said it is very risky.
Right now there are a few strategies and honestly whatever works for you best is what works for you. I think once you can hit 24's on Bootcamp that is a solid enough strategy to get you a great score probably a perfect 30.
The original: Read the whole passage and answer questions.
The downside is that time can be an issue if you forget what you read or if you take to long. But tone questions will be easier.
Search and Destroy: look through questions and search the passage for key words.
Upside is saving a lot of time but downside is if you get tone questions or if you ant find something you can panic
Vicviper: a modified search and destroy essentially mapping questions in your head
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/vicvipers-rc-strategy.615852/
Same downsides as SandD but may be worse if you spend too much time looking through questions
Upside questions tell a lot about the passage before you answer.
Mapping: like original but you put keywords down on scratch paper for easier reference when going through questions
Reverse mapping: it's essentially vicvipers but you put keyword down for questions for easy reference.
My method is really just a balanced approach of all of the above. One thread I shared this in, a couple of people went from 19s to 23s and I went from a 19 to a 24 then killed the DAT with this method.
Again this isn't the new strategy that will break the DAT like line counting it just works for someone where Search and Destroy gives you anxiety but just reading isn't cutting it.
First, read the title thoroughly and similar to Aris advice, read the first two paragraphs thoroughly. After that read about half of the passage QUICKLY which will be about passage 7. By this point you have a gist what's going on and you've read enough to probably answer the first three questions but you haven't read so much that you e forgotten small details. Then once you hit a question you can't answer, read until you find it. Then read until you hit the next question. (There is a chance the fifth question will be something you e already read so you e lucked out) by the sixth question you are likely to have read the entire passage and answered a lot of questions. Now it's very simple Search and destroy. You will have only about 10 minutes left of the 20 minutes you should give a passage but search and destroy will be simple because you know the passage so well. Tone questions will be fairly easy for the same reason.
The only possible downsides to this method is if your first questions are ones at the end of the passage. You've read enough to know that already though so you can SandD that question or just skip and come back.
My passage had about 60 percent able to SandD and 40 tone. But much of the SandD questions would be hard because it involved keywords that showed up so any times I wouldn't know what to hit.
This method works because it really takes the best of a few methods and balances them out.
I thought I would just save my inbox and post this thread here instead. Let me know how it works! But the best method is what works best for you. You also need to just practice a lot using methods so you can easily understand how questions are being asked.
Bootcamp is great a a conditioning method and qvault is good to get a lot of practice.
Good luck with your tests!
This is how I got a 28 on my DAT.
(Not sure what I got wrong except for one question that required previous knowledge of something I wasn't familiar to)
So similar to vicviper I wasn't doing well on RC on bootcamp or qvault. I was averaging around 20 and 19. Even on qvault which was easier I couldn't break a 22. Much of this was either on time constraints reading the whole passage first or on not utilizing S&D well.
Vicviper's method I also tried but like he said it is very risky.
Right now there are a few strategies and honestly whatever works for you best is what works for you. I think once you can hit 24's on Bootcamp that is a solid enough strategy to get you a great score probably a perfect 30.
The original: Read the whole passage and answer questions.
The downside is that time can be an issue if you forget what you read or if you take to long. But tone questions will be easier.
Search and Destroy: look through questions and search the passage for key words.
Upside is saving a lot of time but downside is if you get tone questions or if you ant find something you can panic
Vicviper: a modified search and destroy essentially mapping questions in your head
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/vicvipers-rc-strategy.615852/
Same downsides as SandD but may be worse if you spend too much time looking through questions
Upside questions tell a lot about the passage before you answer.
Mapping: like original but you put keywords down on scratch paper for easier reference when going through questions
Reverse mapping: it's essentially vicvipers but you put keyword down for questions for easy reference.
My method is really just a balanced approach of all of the above. One thread I shared this in, a couple of people went from 19s to 23s and I went from a 19 to a 24 then killed the DAT with this method.
Again this isn't the new strategy that will break the DAT like line counting it just works for someone where Search and Destroy gives you anxiety but just reading isn't cutting it.
First, read the title thoroughly and similar to Aris advice, read the first two paragraphs thoroughly. After that read about half of the passage QUICKLY which will be about passage 7. By this point you have a gist what's going on and you've read enough to probably answer the first three questions but you haven't read so much that you e forgotten small details. Then once you hit a question you can't answer, read until you find it. Then read until you hit the next question. (There is a chance the fifth question will be something you e already read so you e lucked out) by the sixth question you are likely to have read the entire passage and answered a lot of questions. Now it's very simple Search and destroy. You will have only about 10 minutes left of the 20 minutes you should give a passage but search and destroy will be simple because you know the passage so well. Tone questions will be fairly easy for the same reason.
The only possible downsides to this method is if your first questions are ones at the end of the passage. You've read enough to know that already though so you can SandD that question or just skip and come back.
My passage had about 60 percent able to SandD and 40 tone. But much of the SandD questions would be hard because it involved keywords that showed up so any times I wouldn't know what to hit.
This method works because it really takes the best of a few methods and balances them out.
I thought I would just save my inbox and post this thread here instead. Let me know how it works! But the best method is what works best for you. You also need to just practice a lot using methods so you can easily understand how questions are being asked.
Bootcamp is great a a conditioning method and qvault is good to get a lot of practice.
Good luck with your tests!
