re-taking DAT, advice welcome!

[Ranasayys]

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I'm re-taking the DAT next month. I'm in the current cycle and have already been offered interviews, but some schools told me I won't get considered unless I re-take and some schools have put my app on hold until my new score comes in.

Any advice on RC? I'm a really slow reader and not sure what the best method is for the DAT as I did not do well on the RC part the first time around.

Also, Bio kicked my butt! Bio is my strongest subject but the questions on my DAT were definitely foreign to me. I bought the AP cliff bio notes and have been reading that along with other genetic study materials because my DAT focused heavily on genetic stuff.

I thought Orgo and Gen chem were pretty straight forward, and QR was all timing issues on my part.

Good luck to everyone, and thanks!

 

[pewpeww]

I never practiced for RC but here was my strategy. I know a lot of people do search and destroy but in my opinion it's not that great. If you come across a question that isn't search and destroy, you lose time having to reread stuff. What I do is to skim through the passage. Don't read into the material in depth because you're not going to remember specifics anyways. Skim through the passage and mentally MAP out where all the topics are. For example, if the passage is about some disease then I will map out where diagnosis, treatment, what causes the disease, etc in my head. That way, when I come across a question that relates to one of the subjects, I can easily go back to that paragraph because I know where it is. I guess you have to be a semi-quick reader but it worked for me.

For bio, I recommend looking at Alan's notes (just google it). Those helped a lot. The AP cliff book is good but is really weak on anatomy. It doesn't go over parts of the brain or eye.

 

[awaitsimpatient]

what are your DAT scores? wondering if you already got some interviews then they shoud had been over 17?
I never practiced for RC because i was falling asleep and couldnt keep up on with timing. Slow reader too 🙁

 

[dental diva]

I'm re-taking the DAT next month. I'm in the current cycle and have already been offered interviews, but some schools told me I won't get considered unless I re-take and some schools have put my app on hold until my new score comes in.

Any advice on RC? I'm a really slow reader and not sure what the best method is for the DAT as I did not do well on the RC part the first time around.

Also, Bio kicked my butt! Bio is my strongest subject but the questions on my DAT were definitely foreign to me. I bought the AP cliff bio notes and have been reading that along with other genetic study materials because my DAT focused heavily on genetic stuff.

I thought Orgo and Gen chem were pretty straight forward, and QR was all timing issues on my part.

Good luck to everyone, and thanks!

hey, we're in the same boat! when do you plan on retaking? bio and qr were my weak points too 🙂

 

[Ranasayys]

I'm retaking it at the end of October... not feeling as confident as I did when I took it the first time so I'm even more nervous! But I want to still be considered for early admissions so if I get it done before November and send them my unofficial scores, I can get a possible interview before the official scores come through. How about you?

 

[15960]

maybe my breakdown can help you?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=952419

 

[warmbroom]

Any advice on RC? I'm a really slow reader and not sure what the best method is for the DAT as I did not do well on the RC part the first time around.

A Pre-professional adviser at my school said that most students will improve their reading comprehension for whatever test they'll take (LSAT, DAT, MCAT) by reading something everyday that is at a high level. They suggest something like the Wall Street Journal, or something like that. They stressed daily practice in reading will increase your speed and comprehension.

 

[mrtconnickjr]

My philosophy on RC and what worked well for me is to review the 17-18 questions for the paragraph before you even begin to read the paragraph. It makes your reading much more focused and strategic. I feel that if you just start out reading the paragraph first you feel that you have to read and remember everything because you don't know what the questions will ask you about. You shouldn't read the whole paragraph word for word. So during the tutorial before you begin the test take one of the scratch paper grids they give you and write out numbers 1-50 to represent the 50 RC questions. When you begin each paragraph take 5 min and go through the 17-18 questions for the paragraph first before you begin reading and write down a key word or the topic that the question is asking about next to the number on your scratch paper. If its a tone question then just write down tone next to the number on your scratch paper along with a key word or topic from the question. Sometimes on the tone questions they will also tell you the paragraph something like "at the end do the first paragraph the author....." So write down first paragraph on the scrap paper next to the question number. After you have gone through the questions then start reviewing the passage starting at the first paragraph and skimming and working your way down looking for the key words and topics from the questions. You will be amazed how you will see them. When you come to a key word or topic that you remember from the questions look on your scrap paper find the question number that corresponds to that topic and go to that question and answer it. Once you answer it put a check next to the question on your scrap paper so you know it's been answered to help you keep track because the questions are not asked in order. Meaning that the answer to question #15 could come from the first paragraph and not necessarily the last. I generally answer the tone questions last for each passage. Then just repeat the process for each new passage. Hope this helps.

 

[Dotoday]

Try to go over all the concepts that you are not sure about using Cambel`s bio or Schaum`s outlines bio. Once you think you understand the concepts, do some problems from Kaplan, Destroyer or Crack the DAT.

Good luck.

 

[LaughingGas]

Can't comment much on RC, but for bio, when I took mine, I thought knowing barron's ap bio was good enough for bio. Cliffs miss couple of concepts. Also i tried to understand instead of pure memorization. GL!!

 

[ds2012tg]

For reading, I wrote numbers on my laminate sheet for each passage. For all three passages, I quickly read the full passage just to get a feeling of what the passage was about and wrote key words for each paragraph. I then did "search and destroy" using my key words list as a point of reference. The tone ones I answered at the end when I had gone through the entire passage after answering the other questions. It got me a 22 so I think it worked for me. But you do what makes you more comfortable. I would say practice different methods on practice tests to see what works for you 🙂

 

[alexeb91]

Not what I did, but I read an interesting strategy that helped someone. They read the first two and last two paragraphs really well and skimmed the middle so they could get a good grasp of where everything was in the paper better than just skimming the entire thing. Then, they read the questions and did a S&D type method. Just an idea! Good luck!