RC to read or not to read the passage

[osimsDDS]

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Question everyone wants to know from those who got +20 on RC....to read or not to read the passage tis the question??

Anyone that got above 20 respond on the strategy you had in tackling RC section on DAT...thanks!!!

 

[happyasaclam88]

before the dat i'd never not read the passage through before answering questions, but i actually just looked for answers to the questions on the test. the thing that worked for me was to use my search for the answer to a particular question as a way to read the passage ... so while i was looking for the answer i was storing the topics of the paragraphs i was skimming to help later.

 

[eldirty]

So your advice would be to read a few questions and then search for those answers by reading and then by reading you were more prepared to answer later questions?

 

[happyasaclam88]

pretty much, yeah ... it made a whole lot more sense in my head. =)
the paragraphs on the test are really short so its usually pretty easy to isolate the one with the answer you're looking for, like if the questions mentions some really specific vocab then you just go hunting for it ... then later on you'll know what was in that paragraph.

 

[Jmacc]

I just took my DAT today and got a 23 on RC...

I personally read through the whole thing first and map out the passage as Kaplan teaches you to do. That involves you writing out the main topic of each paragraph and a couple of key words for each paragraph. That way, when you get to the questions, you know where to refer back to in the passage when you look at your map. This saves you alot of time scrolling back and forth through the passage to find the section you are looking for.

Sometimes its hard to answer questions like "what is the overall tone of the passage" without actually reading the full passage. While not reading the passage will allow you to spend more time on the questions, I really feel as if you are not going to get the full idea of the passage if you do not read and understand the whole thing.

 

[osimsDDS]

thats very true, iam taking kaplan right now we havent gotten to RC yet so iam looking forward to it and trying out their technique...thanks

 

[Hugh Mannity]

Unless you can remember every single ridiculous detail, do not read the passage entirely before the questions. Most come directly from the text so the 5+ mins you spent reading could be used to get 2-3 questions. Then if you read the passage you still have to find the part it pertains to because you can't distinguish between those answers from memory. I would just suggest going straight at the questions while skipping tone/inference ones until done with the passage. By the time you do all of the factual questions you should have a decent understanding of the article.

 

[prydA]

IMO don't do the kaplan strat, i don't think there's enough time. i just read the entire passage semi-carefully, and take mental notes about the progression of the passage (which topics are covered where). then i go back and look up the answer to every question... hopefully if you read it carefully enough you will remember where each topic is.

btw to all those in the OC planning to take kaplan for the DAT this summer.. i might be your teacher 😀

 

[eldirty]

This has turned into quite the debate

 

[klutzy1987]

I know there are 3 passages but how many questions are there in total and how much time do you get???

 

[DCRedskinsRule]

thats very true, iam taking kaplan right now we havent gotten to RC yet so iam looking forward to it and trying out their technique...thanks

I also used the Kaplan strat and it worked for me...but I tweaked it a little. When you get to the lesson and practice in class... what they tell you to write down IMO was a little TOO vague. I wrote down a few more details than they did, but made sure to never spend more than 9-9.5 min on the passage. Then used that map to answer the questions and on both test day and practices, there were a few questions that I never had to search the passage for, i had the answer directly on my sheet.

Be warned though. I think almost everyone who took the kaplan class can back me up on this. The practice tests for RC in Kaplan as way too many specific detail questions. While they do represent about 1/2 the questions on the real DAT, they're sometimes 75-85% of the Kaplan Practice. Make sure you understand how to get the main idea, tone and more conceptual/less factual questions too. Kaplan underestimates their presence on test day.

Go dominate osims. Waiting to hear about your 28 😀

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

I also used the Kaplan strat and it worked for me...but I tweaked it a little. When you get to the lesson and practice in class... what they tell you to write down IMO was a little TOO vague. I wrote down a few more details than they did, but made sure to never spend more than 9-9.5 min on the passage. Then used that map to answer the questions and on both test day and practices, there were a few questions that I never had to search the passage for, i had the answer directly on my sheet.

Be warned though. I think almost everyone who took the kaplan class can back me up on this. The practice tests for RC in Kaplan as way too many specific detail questions. While they do represent about 1/2 the questions on the real DAT, they're sometimes 75-85% of the Kaplan Practice. Make sure you understand how to get the main idea, tone and more conceptual/less factual questions too. Kaplan underestimates their presence on test day.

Go dominate osims. Waiting to hear about your 28 😀

agreed! so how are you suppose to prepare yourself for those tone, main idea type of questions? I made that mistake last year, thinking that the RC answers are straight from the passage (like kaplan, topscore, achiever), until I saw that first main idea questions - I was shocked!!!!

 

[flaka43]

So i had the kaplan RC class yesterday and i'm practicing their method. BUT i run out of time as soon as i finish mapping out the 3rd passage. Which leaves me with 16 answers left unanswered!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm considering a tweek in this method.....dik what to do

 

[informatique]

I got a 21 or 22? last year in RC and didn't read the passages at all. I looked at the questions and searched for answers. I probably got some of the tone questions wrong though. When I take the test this week, I'm pretty much going to use the same strategy but briefly skim through it and try to nail the tone of the passages.