RC Improvement

[rebecca_chatul_tov]

Hi there everyone, I have been reading a lot of DAT breakdown posts in the last 2-3 weeks and have gotten some good tips for how to raise my score. However, I'm feeling a little concerned about RC. It seems to be a hard section to improve in.

Right now I am using Bootcamp as my primary prep resource, but aside from the tests the only thing they give you for practice is the daily articles they select. My gripe with the articles that they pull is that they are journalistic- written to entertain and inform- short and not exactly the fare IMO of what you will encounter on the DAT which will be more detailed and drier. I'm not sure how reading the same type of articles that I've been reading forever (I subscribe to Scientific American & Nat Geo) is going help, especially when there are no follow up questions at the end.

I pulled out my Kaplan blue book and read their strategy which is mapping and also purchased just the RC section of QVault. I read one passage from QVault daily and do the associated questions, so it takes about 3 days to do one timed test. I got an estimated score of 20 on my first completed test (36 correct out of 50 questions).

I have noticed that one passage tends to be really hard and detail heavy, requiring a lot of recall, one tends to be pretty easy and one is somewhere in between the two levels of difficulty. I'm wondering if doing the two easy passages first is a better strategy and how easy it is to skip around between passages on the actual DAT.

I don't think that search and destroy is going to be a good strategy for me. Reading other posts makes me think that this method doesn't work that well for a lot of people.

Other than just going out and finding additional practice materials and practicing, practicing, practicing I don't have any ideas on how to get this section score up. The Kaplan BB only has one full practice test, so any other resources out there besides DAT Bootcamp, QVault would be helpful if anyone has any suggestion.

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[FeralisExtremum]

In my opinion on the real exam it's best to deal with the passages in the order they're presented - it's kind of difficult to get a gauge for which ones will be easier or harder until you start to actually read them, and I wouldn't want to take any chances with potentially wasting time. The easy/medium/hard passage thing was pretty accurate for my exam, but only in retrospect.

The other resource (in addition to the ones you listed) that I used for RC was CrackDAT. The passages tended to be a lot longer and had a lot of tone/inference questions (way more than I actually encountered on the real exam), but it's there for more practice if you need it and don't mind spending extra for one section.

In my experience RC really just comes down to practice, paying close attention to your errors/answer review, and staying focused during the exam. If you move quickly enough, there's enough time to verify most of your answers in the passage. The challenge is reading fast but still absorbing what you're reading so you know where to look for answers in the passage later, and that's what benefits the most from reading those science-dense articles on a regular basis.

 

[averageasian]

I used this guys strategy minus the mapping part (takes too much time for me).

I think it helps to look at the questions long before reading the actual passage.

Also reading the passage in chunks helps as well.

I guess it will work for some versions of the test and not as well for others but i really helped me bring up my practice RC scores.

I credit this guy for helping me score a 25 RC. But again, it depends on your version of the exam

 

[Pearl E. White]

Got a 24 on RC. I used a similar method to the above. I read Scientific American articles most days. Only had Bootcamp for practice (cause I already had a subscription and didn't have any other resources). It was sufficient. I feel like I had 2 medium passages and 1 difficult passage, but I at least found them interesting to read. My advice: hype yourself up about the articles you are given. Hard to practice with but just a test day tip. If you say to yourself, "Wow, this is the most interesting thing I have ever read" It might engage you more. It worked for me. Just practice as much as you can and try not to stress about any practice exam scores.

 

[dmd.22]

I struggled with bringing my RC score up too. I started out getting <15 on bootcamp, but managed to get a 25 on RC on the actual exam. There was no trick to it for me. I didn't make a habit of reading Scientific American articles for the same reason that you said, that they didn't seem as detailed/dense as the DAT's passages. Instead, I tried all the different types techniques that were advised on bootcamp, kaplan and sdn - like the BYU4you, vicviper, vanilla, mapping, search and destroy methods etc... I gave all of these techniques a try with different individual practice exams, but none of them really helped me master the RC section. I ended up blending a few of these techniques together and molded them into something that worked for me: First, i would quickly swift through the entire exam and see which passages were the shortest/longest. I'd go in the order from shortest to longest. I read as much as I could (at least 1/2 to 2/3 of the passage) in 8ish minutes, and with each paragraph, I highlighted keywords and important phrases that would likely be asked in the questions. I answered questions as I read. I just kept my eye on the clock, to make sure that I finished all the questions of each passage within 20 minutes. I wasn't afraid to skip around questions and mark harder questions that I'd need to come back to. The main goal was to be as efficient with time as possible, and since all the questions are worth the same amount of points, it only logical to finish the easiest questions of the easiest passages first.

The main point to get from this is that everyone has a method that works for them. And you'll only figure out what works for you if you experiment around and try out different methods and mold them to your needs.

 

[rebecca_chatul_tov]

I credit this guy for helping me score a 25 RC. But again, it depends on your version of the exam

Hey, thanks for posting this video. I'm going to give this a shot and see how it goes.

 

[Roc Marciano]

Speaking of Bootcamp RC, is it just me or do the tests get harder after #5? I was steadily improving from 1-5 then shot down hard for 6 and 7.

 

[Pearl E. White]

Speaking of Bootcamp RC, is it just me or do the tests get harder after #5? I was steadily improving from 1-5 then shot down hard for 6 and 7.

Technically, you're supposed to save 1 through 5 because those are the tests in the full length exams. But yes! They're harder. Just learn from your mistakes. It could show up on your exam!

 

[Kingfish23]

Hi there everyone, I have been reading a lot of DAT breakdown posts in the last 2-3 weeks and have gotten some good tips for how to raise my score. However, I'm feeling a little concerned about RC. It seems to be a hard section to improve in.

Right now I am using Bootcamp as my primary prep resource, but aside from the tests the only thing they give you for practice is the daily articles they select. My gripe with the articles that they pull is that they are journalistic- written to entertain and inform- short and not exactly the fare IMO of what you will encounter on the DAT which will be more detailed and drier. I'm not sure how reading the same type of articles that I've been reading forever (I subscribe to Scientific American & Nat Geo) is going help, especially when there are no follow up questions at the end.

I pulled out my Kaplan blue book and read their strategy which is mapping and also purchased just the RC section of QVault. I read one passage from QVault daily and do the associated questions, so it takes about 3 days to do one timed test. I got an estimated score of 20 on my first completed test (36 correct out of 50 questions).

I have noticed that one passage tends to be really hard and detail heavy, requiring a lot of recall, one tends to be pretty easy and one is somewhere in between the two levels of difficulty. I'm wondering if doing the two easy passages first is a better strategy and how easy it is to skip around between passages on the actual DAT.

I don't think that search and destroy is going to be a good strategy for me. Reading other posts makes me think that this method doesn't work that well for a lot of people.

Other than just going out and finding additional practice materials and practicing, practicing, practicing I don't have any ideas on how to get this section score up. The Kaplan BB only has one full practice test, so any other resources out there besides DAT Bootcamp, QVault would be helpful if anyone has any suggestion.

Search and destroy is your friend

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Search and destroy is your friend

Not always..

 

[Kingfish23]

Not always..

Only reason I got a 26...Gotta do what works for you, because many times traditional methods result in minimal improvement.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Only reason I got a 26...Gotta do what works for you, because many times traditional methods result in minimal improvement.

Congrats on a 26!!! Yes I absolutely agree to do what works, but from years of experience working with students search and destroy does not work for all passages. The best advice I can give a student is to increase reading and comprehension speed. If those skills are solid you will have a much easier time tackling whatever type of passage you are presented.

I am sure you are busy with interviews, wishing you the best, and thanks for the input.

 

[ProspectivePostPreDent]

In my opinion on the real exam it's best to deal with the passages in the order they're presented - it's kind of difficult to get a gauge for which ones will be easier or harder until you start to actually read them, and I wouldn't want to take any chances with potentially wasting time. The easy/medium/hard passage thing was pretty accurate for my exam, but only in retrospect.

The other resource (in addition to the ones you listed) that I used for RC was CrackDAT. The passages tended to be a lot longer and had a lot of tone/inference questions (way more than I actually encountered on the real exam), but it's there for more practice if you need it and don't mind spending extra for one section.

In my experience RC really just comes down to practice, paying close attention to your errors/answer review, and staying focused during the exam. If you move quickly enough, there's enough time to verify most of your answers in the passage. The challenge is reading fast but still absorbing what you're reading so you know where to look for answers in the passage later, and that's what benefits the most from reading those science-dense articles on a regular basis.

100%

That's always what I did, and I never got below a 25 on practice tests or the real thing.

IMO, the only part of the test where it's worth it to skip an entire sub-section is PAT, because 1. the question types are so vastly different on timing and 2. there are only like 15 of them.

Every other section else I just prioritized by individual questions - quick answers > moderate time answers > slow answers.

 

[Roc Marciano]

Technically, you're supposed to save 1 through 5 because those are the tests in the full length exams. But yes! They're harder. Just learn from your mistakes. It could show up on your exam!

Ok glad I'm not alone on that lol. And I haven't really bothered with the FL's cuz I'm doing the Canadian exam