RC score is pretty low and taking my DAT in about 2 weeks

[dentist_dude]

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So I just took RC test1 Bootcamp and it said that my estimated score is less than 15!!! I'm taking my DAT in two weeks and I'm not sure what to do!
The technique that I'm using is that I go over the questions first and take kewwords then go to the passage and while I'm going through passage I look for those keywords! I ran out of time, I barely I went only through 1 passage and half didn't even get to look at the final passage!

 

[JLT223]

Practice. Why have you only taken 1 bootcamp rc exam?

 

[dentist_dude]

Practice. Why have you only taken 1 bootcamp rc exam?

Today is the first time I'm definitely going to do all 5 of them and probably some of DAT Genius if I have time! But I'm not sure if I can at least raise my score up to 17-18 if I started out this low and I only have until Feb 1st

 

[JLT223]

I'd keep going and make sure you read the explanations for what you get wrong after each exam, it really helps to raise your score. If you don't find a method that works for you by exam 4 (as in a score of 19+) I'd maybe suggest pushing back your exam. RC is an extremely important score to dental schools!

 

[dentist_dude]

I'd keep going and make sure you read the explanations for what you get wrong after each exam, it really helps to raise your score. If you don't find a method that works for you by exam 4 (as in a score of 19+) I'd maybe suggest pushing back your exam. RC is an extremely important score to dental schools!

Thank you!

 

[TheBlueJay24]

Keep on practicing as the others have said. I remember getting a 15 on the first one, then eventually I scored 18, 22, 23, and 19. On the real deal, I got a 20. It takes a lot of getting used to because Bootcamp's passages are long, and the questions are more tone and true/false heavy. On my real test, it was actually more S&D. In fact, I thought I personally should've done even better than that on the RC, but basically, it's all about practice.

Feel free to read my breakdown for more tips!

 

[dentist_dude]

I remember getting a 15 on the first one, then eventually I scored 18, 22, 23, and 19. On the real deal, I got a 20.

Thanks! This really gives me hope!

 

[DJI]

Thanks! This really gives me hope!

I think my scores were something like 17/15/17/18/19. Those were very disheartening. On test day, I scraped my strategy 5 minutes in (because I realized I didn't have a large proportion of tone questions) and started doing SnD. I managed to finish with 17 seconds to spare (never finished a single practice test without guessing ~10 questions). Please don't feel bad about your scores, just keep practicing and find what works best for you! I honestly think I just worked faster and more efficiently with a fire lit under my... you know.

 

[BioForLife]

My approach: Take your time to really read through the article first and understand it. After each paragraph, make a mental note of what each paragraph was about (a one or two word summary) and then when you answer questions, you'll have a rough idea of where to look. The extra time you take reading through the article will help you in the long run.

 

[fogorvostan]

I scored a 23 on RC without any prep. I used SnD for all of it. For each question, I wrote down one or two words that related to the question and then when I found the correct paragraph, I wrote that paragraph # down next to it. That way, if I had another question that referenced a similar topic, I already knew what paragraph to go back up to. I know some people do the opposite, read the paragraphs, number them, and then write a couple of words summarizing them.

In addition, I think one thing that benefited me is that I am a quick reader, so I was good at skimming paragraphs. I also have a Masters degree and have done research, so I have a background in reading scientific texts.