Question of American DAT - pls help!

[Meas]

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Hi,

I recently took the Canadian DAT exam and I totally screwed up the RC section despite practicing a lot with materials like MCAT-type question. People say "practice makes perfect" but I scored very low while I was practicing with MCAT-type passages & IQ Publication book.

However, I am getting very good score (well, 17-18 which is good enough for me) on passages from Topscore. I will really want to know if the REAL American DAT is very similar to the passages from Topscore.

I really hope to hear feedbacks from you all. I worked very hard studying every section BUT it's ALWAYS the RC section that greatly lowers my score. English is actually my first language and I read newspaper everyday so I am very frustrated with how low my RC score is. Oh yah, I haven't recieved my score yet but I know that it will be low since I guessed a lot.

THANKS!!!!!

 

[UofT09]

I am from canada also, i wrote the american DAT and scored a 16 🙁, i used topscore and i was getting 17/18, and i tried achiever and i got 15 and 16, i think you should try achiever, because it's really similar to the real DAT.
Good luck and who knows, maybe you guessed right!

 

[FutureDent020]

Hi,

I recently took the Canadian DAT exam and I totally screwed up the RC section despite practicing a lot with materials like MCAT-type question. People say "practice makes perfect" but I scored very low while I was practicing with MCAT-type passages & IQ Publication book.

However, I am getting very good score (well, 17-18 which is good enough for me) on passages from Topscore. I will really want to know if the REAL American DAT is very similar to the passages from Topscore.

I really hope to hear feedbacks from you all. I worked very hard studying every section BUT it's ALWAYS the RC section that greatly lowers my score. English is actually my first language and I read newspaper everyday so I am very frustrated with how low my RC score is. Oh yah, I haven't recieved my score yet but I know that it will be low since I guessed a lot.

THANKS!!!!!

Topscore passages are easier. I was getting 20, 21's on top score RC and got a 19 on the real thing. I guess it also depends on the passages you get though. I felt like 2 of my 3 were difficult

 

[DrDientes]

Its really hard to say with study materials. Some people say some stuff is easier some stuff is harder.
I for instance studied for three weeks straight took practice exams here and there and never got above 16 on my sciences. Two days before the test I took my final practice Kaplan exam and got a
Bio 15
Chem 16
Ochem 15
RC 15
QR 17
PAT 19

I was stressin out so bad, but I didn't not want to postpone my test date. I ended up with a

Bio 21
Chem 20
Ochem 23
RC 20
QR 15
PAT 21
AA 20
TS 22

So it really varies with how focused you are and how much you can remember the day of.
I would say get your hands on as many practice tests as you can, you start to see some repeats that you can get easy.

 

[bennijai]

Topscore's RC is all search and destroy meaning it is not a good reference for the real DAT when it comes to inference/tone questions.

Practice, practice, practice? Unless you are utilizing a strategy (roadmapping?) there is no practice other than to be able to comprehend what you are reading. Since english is your second language, roadmapping may help you alot by saving time.

 

[Meas]

Thanks for all your replies! No, English is actually my FIRST language. That's why I am so frustrated with how horribly I am doing with the RC section.

What did you mean by "roadmapping"? What I do is I always write key words on the side of the passage. At least this is what I do when studying for Canadian DAT which is on paper. However, I always end up spending too much time reading.

Yah, I guessed it also depends on how lucky you are on the day of the exam. Some people taking the Canadian DAT had a major in neuroscience, so they didn't even have to read the passage (topic: brain) when doing the questions!