RC to Read or to HUNT!

[artmed12]

I am on the fence on the issue of whether or not to read the passages on the real DAT.

On topscore 1 i got: 22 on rc with simplywriting down 1 word for each of the 12 or so paragraphs on my scratch paper, kinda as a quick finder for key words, and then hunting for answers.
I also scored 21-22 on all of kaplans RC sections on their full length exams with this method because all of the answers are verbatim in the passage.

Everybody on here says the real DAT asks you theme based questions which force you to read and find the tone of the paragraph.

I also find that after 5 or so questions on a passage, I have a gist of what's going on anyway.

So the question: should i read the things or should i hunt?

p.s. I always finish JUST on time, like exactly 1 minute per question, is the real thing similar?

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[vha7777]

When I was using topscore I was getting 20-21 on the tests using the scan/find method and it worked well because their questions were almost word for word out of the passages. However, when I took the DAT the questions were much more in depth, what does this mean, what is author trying to convey, ect. I used ths scan/find method for the DAT and ended up with a 20 but I had one science passage in which I knew most of the answers off the top of my head (totally lucked out). Otherwise I think my score would have been a few points lower. I say go with one method and stick to it otherwise your just going to have problems the day on the test wasting time trying to figure out which method to use. One less thing to stress about test day! Oh yea, I just wanted to add that I usually suck at these kinds of tests. I was just trying to survive. haha gl

 

[Ething]

i also got 22 on rc on topscore using the hunt for answer method. I did the same on the real dat and got a 21......i also finished these tests just in time like you.

 

[jackbauer!]

i never practiced RC...when i took the DAT i took the "hunt" route and scored a 20...however, like another poster i was familar with a passage and was able to answer a few questions without hunting.

jb!

 

[UCFpremed]

I am on the fence on the issue of whether or not to read the passages on the real DAT.

On topscore 1 i got: 22 on rc with simplywriting down 1 word for each of the 12 or so paragraphs on my scratch paper, kinda as a quick finder for key words, and then hunting for answers.
I also scored 21-22 on all of kaplans RC sections on their full length exams with this method because all of the answers are verbatim in the passage.

Everybody on here says the real DAT asks you theme based questions which force you to read and find the tone of the paragraph.

I also find that after 5 or so questions on a passage, I have a gist of what's going on anyway.

So the question: should i read the things or should i hunt?

p.s. I always finish JUST on time, like exactly 1 minute per question, is the real thing similar?

I use the "read as fast as I can while still absorbing the gist" method. This strategy works wonders for me and I got a 21 on the real deal. I still had time to relieve myself before that dastardly QR. You'll do fine mikey. By the way, I believe the "med forum" is ---------> that way artmed.

I am no flamer, but a navigator.

 

[bruinpredent]

I use the "read as fast as I can while still absorbing the gist" method. This strategy works wonders for me and I got a 21 on the real deal. I still had time to relieve myself before that dastardly QR. You'll do fine mikey. By the way, I believe the "med forum" is ---------> that way artmed.

I am no flamer, but a navigator.

and that includes not writing anything down? i've tried this method with mixed results...on the whole it works unless the passage is filled with a gazillion different names and details in each paragraph, makes finding them a bit more difficult. Or atleast thats what i've found...

 

[UCFpremed]

and that includes not writing anything down? i've tried this method with mixed results...on the whole it works unless the passage is filled with a gazillion different names and details in each paragraph, makes finding them a bit more difficult. Or atleast thats what i've found...

I don't write anything down when I would take the RC because it interrupts my flow of incoming information. Examkrackers has a great strategy for MCAT verbal (just plow through the entire thing and do your best). You form a mental map but because the RC is shorter on the DAT, there is ample time to refer to the passage. I approach RC as if I'm reading a short story without remembering details. I remember bits and pieces and can go back in the passage where they are found.

It works for me.

 

[twilight11]

The passages are shorter on the real thing and in my opinion, much much easier than what you see on topscore. They're almost like articles you might see in TIME magazine. I would go ahead and keep your strategy of writing down key words from each passage since some of the qustions do force you to hunt down the answers, but I found that the vast majority of the qustions can be answered if you just do one good read through. There were a lot of theme based questions, and there were actually a lot of questions that could be answered with common sense even if you had never read the article in the first place. There were also some inference questions that would be difficult to answer if you didn't "get" the overall point of the article. You know...those "what would the author say about....(some other topic)" type questions. I scored 22 in RC on the real thing without running out of time, but would consistantly run out of time and score lower on topscore's RC.

The real test is kind of annoying since it re-sets the passage to the beginning everytime you move on to the next question, so if your current strategey is in any way dependent on "keeping your place" in the passage, you need to plan for that.

GOOD LUCK and I hope this helps!

 

[twilight11]

Uh, so long story short, I guess my answer is READ READ READ, but write down those key because you will ocasionally be forced to hunt.

I was kinda OCD about key words on the practice tests...don't get bogged down by that on the real thing, just one or two or three key words per paragraph will do!

 

[Yellow Snow]

I scored a 23 on RC. I looked at the first question and started reading. Once I found the answer to the question I read the other one and determined if I had already read the answer or if I needed to keep going from where I left off. I just kept doing this until I was out of questions. You just need to be able to remember the themes of what you read. I didn't do any writing.

 

[Ething]

I scored a 23 on RC. I looked at the first question and started reading. Once I found the answer to the question I read the other one and determined if I had already read the answer or if I needed to keep going from where I left off. I just kept doing this until I was out of questions. You just need to be able to remember the themes of what you read. I didn't do any writing.

I did exactly the same thing as Yellow Snow and got a 21. And I agree with a post earlier that your mind will make a "mental map" and you will remember roughly which paragraphs you saw stuff in.

 

[Rezdawg]

I hunted...got a 24 on RC...

Just to put it in perspective...I got 20th percentile on reading comp on the MCAT...so my reading sucks.

The hunt method is the best for the RC section.

 

[DMD to Be]

Not to scare you or anything, but I never got anything below a 23 on topscore in RC. On the real thing I got a 21, and I thought it was harder than topscore. 98% of topscore's questions were asked directly from the passage. On the real thing, there were 6 (I counted) inference questions. The answer was not in the passage and they required a knowledge of the paragraph. Like, what is the writer's focus of this passage or what is the writer's opinion of so-and-so. You have to be able to read and sort of understand what's going on. I also had a couple that asked what would be the best sentence to sum up this paragraph, etc. They all sounded good, but they wanted the best answer. I know I missed this one. Don't stress out though. I think I got the hardest passage - the investment/stock one and 3 or 4 of the questions required plugging in number in formulas that they had given in the passage. Crazy, huh? The only reason I finished in time was because my last passage was on the brain, and I knew most of the answers from my studying. Anyways, just hope to not get the stupid investment passage. And if you do...get your pencil ready. Good luck. I'm sure you will be just fine.

 

[DMD to Be]

Oh, and I did read through all of the passages first. Really quickly, like maybe 90 seconds. Then I had a good idea of where certain topics generally were. This really helped. I never just read the questions and searched for the answers. That would totally freak me out. Oh, and another question asked like what percentage of people are affected, and in the passage it just stated one time that in a national study that 80 out of 1000 people were affected...so be able to do percentages like that.

 

[toothfairy85]

For my RC I lucked out... I had the investment/stock passage and had just finished my economics course from summer I. My last passage was all bio related which I knew most of the answers to from my studying. I guess it just depends. There were some inference questions, but not too difficult. I was scoring 22-23 on Topscore, 19-20 Kaplan, 21 on test day. I used the key word strategy. Quickly skim the paragraphs for key words or topic sentence. This helped me locate things in the passage much quicker. I usually finished with 3 or so minutes to spare. Everyone has what works well for them, so do what suits you. Good luck!

 

[Dr. juju]

For my RC I lucked out... I had the investment/stock passage and had just finished my economics course from summer I. My last passage was all bio related which I knew most of the answers to from my studying. I guess it just depends. There were some inference questions, but not too difficult. I was scoring 22-23 on Topscore, 19-20 Kaplan, 21 on test day. I used the key word strategy. Quickly skim the paragraphs for key words or topic sentence. This helped me locate things in the passage much quicker. I usually finished with 3 or so minutes to spare. Everyone has what works well for them, so do what suits you. Good luck!

so, it seems like everyone's last passage on the real DAT is the easiest, am I right?