Hello,
So I took the DAT last summer and I got 17-19 in all of them beside the RC. I'm retaking the test in 20 days and I have been studying for a long time now, which helps me improve over all but not the RC.
Right now I don't know what to do with the RC section, English is not my native language and I have been practicing this section for over a month with zero improvements. I'm using Bootcamp (less than 15), and I have DAT genius too
Hellllllp me please
Hi!
I had the same problem when I first started RC in Bootcamp. I constantly got lower than 15 on my first 4 RC tests. I tried so many popular techniques that people use, but it never worked for me. It stressed me out so much to the point i thought i would never be able to pursue dental school. English is my second language so I understand where you coming from. One of the main reason I think is that because we are not native speaker, so some of the popular techniques such as search and destroy, or mapping would never work for us.
This is my main way to improve my reading score. I use Acceleread app to improve my reading speed. This app is amazing seriously. And for the test, I try to spend 20' for each passage and answering questions: read ENTIRE passage on the first screen in 10' (PLEASE use highlighter. I cant never stress how it helped me to answer the questions), and then another 10' for answering. Sometimes if i run over time for a passage or two, i would try to read faster for the next one, but remember: read ENTIRE passage fast before answering. Even if you dont understand what you read (can happen because we have to read fast), just keep moving forward. It will kinda come together after you read entire passage. My score on BC went up to 18, 19, then 20, and average at 19 for 5 tests. I took the real test yesterday, and i got 18 on BC. It is kinda bummer since i feel that i did really good on the science passage (the one people tend to think its the hardest) it was much easier than BC, and i was able to read and answer most of the questions of that passage in 20'. But my second passage talked about truth and professional code stuff which took me 25' to finish answering (it confused me so much with many psychological terms) and leave 15' for last one. Overall i woukd say RC on the real DAT is little bit easier than BC.
I stopped doing practicing RC test completely 2 weeks before the real DAT (going out of town for a friend's wedding and then realized that i need to focus more on other subjects after coming back) Dont be like me, keep doing practice RC tests, at least 1 test every 2 days so you dont forget the momentum. I'm satisfied with my 18 on RC (along with TS 22 and AA21) since RC score would make or break my test. At least it didnt break my test so I'm happy.
Besides, try to read 3 American Scientific articles daily. It would broaden your knowledge. Again, I strongly recommend using Acceleread app to practice your reading speed (its hard at first but I promise you will improve and read so much faster during 1 week even).
I'm the worst person when it came to reading In English, but it works for me. Hope it will work for you too! Good luck!