OAT Reading Comprehension

[far318]

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Hey guys,
I am retaking the OAT on September 12th. I received a 310AA/320TS the first time but my Reading Comp. section was a 260 (5th%) last time and I am really trying to improve it. I did the whole kaplan program January-April, took my OAT the first time in April. I am looking for someone that has gone from a low RC score to a high reading comp score and how you did it. I have looked a lot on SDN and I generally only see responses by people that say that it was really easy, granted most probably read books a lot more than I did when they were growing up which in the long run has really helped them. I didn't grow up reading many books at all which I think contributes to my poor ability to do well on the RC section. Anyone had a similar experience with reading comp? I generally score a 260 on Kaplan, but I just feel like my practice this go really isn't helping me. Anything helps, thanks!!

 

[shevchenko277]

Try reading an article on Science Daily everyday and then summarizing it in bullet points. I think that would help.

 

[HopefulOD2024]

I went from a 290 to a 360 reading comp. I know this isn't helpful, but to be honest I'm not quite sure how I did it. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw with the readings I had. One thing that was helpful for me, though, was to have the specific question in mind as I read through the passage. I would just skim through until I saw a key word. And often times, I would remember which section of the passage the answers to subsequent questions were in. Also, I agree with shevchenko277. Being familiar with reading scientific literature helps a ton. Good luck! By the way, I would definitely trade my TS score with you.

 

[anonnnnnnnnn123]

What do you think you're struggling with in the RC?

Personally I was doing pretty meh on the Kaplan practice tests (under 300), but in the actual OAT I used the highlighter to highlight big words or a new topic, tried to read through the passage in a sorta skimming manner (I think I spent 5 min reading it through), and then 15 minutes on the actual questions per passage. The best tip I can give is if you don't find the answer in around a 1-2 minutes, skip. It gets so frustrating to spend too much time on a question and then you're behind and it just feels kinda panicky. I ended up with a 380 on RC, which I was pretty surprised by but I guess it means that method worked for me haha.

Keep calm and good luck 🙂

 

[eb520]

The practice test that you have to pay for provided on the OAT website was very helpful for me and definitely worth the price to ease my concerns

 

[futureoptom9988]

What's your strategy when you do the RC section? What do you usually struggle with most in the RC section?