Need help on reading comprehension

[Fullsend243]

Hey Guys, I have been studying for my dat for a little over a month now and I have been struggling on the reading section. I haven't taken a practice test yet but I have been doing the dat booster extra practice and I have been getting about 1 or 2 right. Im not sure how I can bring it up I read everyday too. Any tips would be helpful english is my second language so its hard for me to understand what i read fast. Thanks

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[sunshinedental]

What strategies have you been using? For me, I felt like search and destroy has been the most effective! I have yet to take my DAT, but it has been successful during practice exams. What I do is just search the passage for questions that are factual, and then I skip the non-factual questions (such as authors purpose, main concept of the text, etc.) until I get through all 3 passages. I then start again from the beginning and go through the non-factual questions, since I have a better grasp of the article after answering the factual questions and it is less time consuming.

I hope this helps, you got this!!

 

[Fullsend243]

What strategies have you been using? For me, I felt like search and destroy has been the most effective! I have yet to take my DAT, but it has been successful during practice exams. What I do is just search the passage for questions that are factual, and then I skip the non-factual questions (such as authors purpose, main concept of the text, etc.) until I get through all 3 passages. I then start again from the beginning and go through the non-factual questions, since I have a better grasp of the article after answering the factual questions and it is less time consuming.

I hope this helps, you got this!!

Hey I try reading the entire thing and highlight rn but i'm pretty slow. I haven't taken a full test but still Ik i wont finish in time. I try to do search and destroy but idk how to properly. Do you just look for the words that are in the factual questions or do you like read through the paragraphs? also do you like start from beginning of the passage after you find one question or you try to understand what you read? Also LMK if you need any tips for ochem ive taken few practice test and i got 30 on all. I can try to help you out if you need 🙂

Thanks

 

[sunshinedental]

Hey I try reading the entire thing and highlight rn but i'm pretty slow. I haven't taken a full test but still Ik i wont finish in time. I try to do search and destroy but idk how to properly. Do you just look for the words that are in the factual questions or do you like read through the paragraphs? also do you like start from beginning of the passage after you find one question or you try to understand what you read? Also LMK if you need any tips for ochem ive taken few practice test and i got 30 on all. I can try to help you out if you need 🙂

Thanks

For search and destroyer what I like to do is find a keyword in the question! So for the factual questions if it is asking "what is ____?" I would look for the word that the question is focusing on. Then once I find the word within the passage, I skim before and after the word to see if the answer to the question is within that sentence (which it usually is!). From there I don't read through the paragraphs, but I go to the next question and start from the beginning of the passage looking for the answer again. Once I do this a few times, I start to recognize the general flow of the passage and where I'm likely to find key words (in the beginning of the passage, middle, or end) which helps me build my speed up! I think Bootcamp provided a video that explained the process as well if you'd like to see it in action 🙂

OChem help would be great! I honestly have been struggling a lot with it and don't really know where to start. I am using Booster and just finished up the video series as well as the question bank questions! What helped you the most with the section?

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Hey Guys, I have been studying for my dat for a little over a month now and I have been struggling on the reading section. I haven't taken a practice test yet but I have been doing the dat booster extra practice and I have been getting about 1 or 2 right. Im not sure how I can bring it up I read everyday too. Any tips would be helpful english is my second language so its hard for me to understand what i read fast. Thanks

I have worked with thousands of students through the years who have struggled with this section, even one where English was a 4th language and they managed to get through it. Students where English is a first language have difficulties too if they do not prepare for this important section. From my experience schools are a little more forgiving to students if English is not the first language.

This is what I tell my students and it does make a difference. The goal is to increase reading speed and comprehension levels and this can be easily accomplished by old fashion reading. If you dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to reading while preparing for the DAT that's a lot of reading accomplished over the course of your preparation. Make it a habit to read just before bed, not on a computer or phone but an actual book or magazine, it will also help fall asleep. Read things that interest you, remember the goal is to increase reading speed and comprehension. Don't focus on timed test now, that is stressing you out,

 

[Fullsend243]

For search and destroyer what I like to do is find a keyword in the question! So for the factual questions if it is asking "what is ____?" I would look for the word that the question is focusing on. Then once I find the word within the passage, I skim before and after the word to see if the answer to the question is within that sentence (which it usually is!). From there I don't read through the paragraphs, but I go to the next question and start from the beginning of the passage looking for the answer again. Once I do this a few times, I start to recognize the general flow of the passage and where I'm likely to find key words (in the beginning of the passage, middle, or end) which helps me build my speed up! I think Bootcamp provided a video that explained the process as well if you'd like to see it in action 🙂

OChem help would be great! I honestly have been struggling a lot with it and don't really know where to start. I am using Booster and just finished up the video series as well as the question bank questions! What helped you the most with the section?

Hey yeah so basically I used the Bootcamp's rxn sheet and removed all the answers on my Ipad and then I would write all the rxns off my head and basically fill in the entire worksheet once every few days. Also for the acid and bases stuff i think his videos + note sheets were pretty good.

Also you got any tips on TFE i just can't do it for some reason, i try to visualize but it don't work for me 🙁

 

[sunshinedental]

Hey yeah so basically I used the Bootcamp's rxn sheet and removed all the answers on my Ipad and then I would write all the rxns off my head and basically fill in the entire worksheet once every few days. Also for the acid and bases stuff i think his videos + note sheets were pretty good.

Also you got any tips on TFE i just can't do it for some reason, i try to visualize but it don't work for me 🙁

Sounds great! I will try doing that as well and see if it helps, thanks 🙂

For TFE, I struggle a lot myself 🙁 I think the best thing to do is watch the Booster series on TFE. It helped me gain a little more confidence on the section, but I struggle a lot with the timing. I think it's good to focus on the answer choices, comparing two that look the same with one main difference and figure out from there which of the two are correct. It usually helps narrow down the choices and I think with more practice, we should be able to pick up speed!

 

[Fullsend243]

Sounds great! I will try doing that as well and see if it helps, thanks 🙂

For TFE, I struggle a lot myself 🙁 I think the best thing to do is watch the Booster series on TFE. It helped me gain a little more confidence on the section, but I struggle a lot with the timing. I think it's good to focus on the answer choices, comparing two that look the same with one main difference and figure out from there which of the two are correct. It usually helps narrow down the choices and I think with more practice, we should be able to pick up speed!

Yeah but I dont get the part where you have to like imagine the shape lol. How do you imagine the hard looking shapes and know where lines will be? is there a trick to it or you kinda just have to know?

 

[alexteethdocman]

Yeah but I dont get the part where you have to like imagine the shape lol. How do you imagine the hard looking shapes and know where lines will be? is there a trick to it or you kinda just have to know?

For TFE, one of the ways that helped me to improve was simply imagining what everyday objects would look like from all different sides. For example, when you're eating breakfast, pretend that your fork has to fit through an imaginary hole- what would that hole have to look like depending on how it was positioned? If you have to, hold the object up and view it from many different angles. Another way that you can prepare for this section is by imagining that there is a spotlight shined directly at the object and you are viewing the shadow cast by the object. This may help you to comprehend what details are important in determining the overall shape of the object given the different views and what specific information each orientation can and can't tell you.

Overall, the best advice I can give you for PAT is the same as for the rest of the exam - practice, practice, and more practice.

As far as RC goes, my preferred strategy was reading through the questions for each of the passages first, then going back and skimming the passage for the answers. Also, take advantage of marking questions that seem difficult initially, and going on to the next passage/set of questions instead of burning through your time to find the answer to one question (you can always come back). Ultimately, RC is just testing your ability to pick out important information quickly and there is very little abstract thinking involved, so if you don't directly see the answer to a question assume you haven't found the correct part of the passage yet.

Also agree w/what everyone above said about o chem.

I'm no expert, but I definitely can give you my experience and tell you what worked/didn't for myself. Ultimately, everyone studies differently, so experiment & find what works best for you!

- Alex
AA 26 / TS 25 / PAT 23 / RC 24

 

[sunshinedental]

Yeah but I dont get the part where you have to like imagine the shape lol. How do you imagine the hard looking shapes and know where lines will be? is there a trick to it or you kinda just have to know?

I don't really imagine the shape to be honest, I pay more attention to the dash and bold lines. I like the strategy that has you recognize what portion of the shape stems from what view. For example, if we're looking at the front view, the top of the shape is relative to the top view and the right side of the shape is relative to the end view. Keeping this in mind allows me to narrow my options down when working through problems, especially by comparing the lines and whether we would be able to see them from the end view or not if we're given the front view. Sorry if this sounds confusing! Booster's video series helped me understand the concept a little bit more, but I definitely need to keep practicing this section and keyholes!

 

[alexteethdocman]

You can also practice all of the PAT sections through the DAT Bootcamp app. Was way more stimulating this way and just felt like I was playing a game. Pretty sure you can still access a lot of the Bootcamp stuff, even without a paid subscription.

 

[deleted1102497]

For reading I like passage mapping. I very very quickly skim the reading and write a keyword that sums up each paragraph. For example, if I was reading a passage about primates, it might look like:

1. history
2. taxonomy
3. adaptations
4. social behaviors
5. mating
6. great apes
7. conservation

Or whatever. On the real thing I wouldn't even write out the whole word (eg. 1. hist 2. tax., etc). When I say skim, I mean skim. I don't read to absorb anything more than just understanding what the passage is about. Sometimes you just need to read the first sentence, because it'll start off with a pretty obvious topic sentence like "Primates have developed many adaptations...", boom, write down adaptations for that paragraph and move on. Then I go to the questions and if the first one asked, "Which of these describes a mating behavior commonly seen in New World primates?", I'd look at the passage map, go to paragraph 5, skim it for "New World primates", pick the answer and move on.

I found that doing search and destroy without a passage map meant I was skimming the entire article multiple times, which I just felt was a waste of time. I'm usually able to score between 23-27 on practice tests with this method, but I'm also a pretty strong reader in general and it's definitely my best subject.