Reading Comp help

[petervantran]

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Hey guys, I have been studying lately and I have just a little under two weeks left until the OAT. I rarely started practicing using the kaplan practice test. I need help with reading comprehension really bad, because my score is low. Does anyone have tips for how to take this section? I seem to run out of time easily.

 

[mattosu]

when i was studying I found that the Kaplan reading was very hard. much harder than the real thing. I didn't use the techniques that they suggested where you outline the whole passage and refer back during the test. What I did was go straight to the questions and hunt for the answers that way. the passage was still up when I was reading the questions so you don't have to worry about going back and forth. doing that also helps because while you are hunting for the question you are on you will also find the answers for other questions you will get later in the section. But I can't stress enough that the real thing (just talking about the reading comp) was much easier than any thank Kaplan will give you. doing that got me a 380 on the reading comp but my Kaplan scores were in the 300-320.
Also if you go over a section and cant find the answer mark it and move on. Either you will find it when searching for another question or you can guess at the end.
One final thing, if you finish a section early and have a few min left get up and walk around, stretch or do something to help you relax. it may make the test take a little bit longer but it will help you in the end to stay focused and alert.
Good luck

 

[petervantran]

Sounds like a plan. I try to do it kaplan's style and I always tend to run out of time. thanks mattosu!

 

[BradleyROD]

when i was studying I found that the Kaplan reading was very hard. much harder than the real thing. I didn't use the techniques that they suggested where you outline the whole passage and refer back during the test. What I did was go straight to the questions and hunt for the answers that way. the passage was still up when I was reading the questions so you don't have to worry about going back and forth. doing that also helps because while you are hunting for the question you are on you will also find the answers for other questions you will get later in the section. But I can't stress enough that the real thing (just talking about the reading comp) was much easier than any thank Kaplan will give you. doing that got me a 380 on the reading comp but my Kaplan scores were in the 300-320.
Also if you go over a section and cant find the answer mark it and move on. Either you will find it when searching for another question or you can guess at the end.
One final thing, if you finish a section early and have a few min left get up and walk around, stretch or do something to help you relax. it may make the test take a little bit longer but it will help you in the end to stay focused and alert.
Good luck

I'm always interested to know how people did on the real test compared to Kaplans. You said you got around 300-320 on the other sections, so you got around a 320 AA? How did that compare to your Kaplan practice tests 1-3 or final? My test is on 1 week from today, I havnt broke a 320 AA or TS yet. Were you doing better on Kaplans or the real thing? Thanks in advance!

 

[mattosu]

What I was trying to say was that on the reading comp section I had been getting 300-320 on the practice exams. But that was also the range for most of my other scores (diagnostic, 3 practice, and final) with only a few outliers. My final OAT scores were:
QR 310
RC 380
Bio 400
Gen Chem 370
Org Chem 390
Phys 380
TS 400
AA 370
All of my scores except the math section were much higher on the real test. The math section wasn't hard just a lot of time consuming problems and I didn't manage my time well on that section. (oddly enough on my final Kaplan test I got a 400 on the math section).
I'd say that if you are getting 320 AA on the Kaplan tests you should be in very good shape for test day. Remember they have to be harder than the real thing so 1) you look at your scores and feel that you improved and tell all your friends about how great they are and 2) their higher score guarantee will apply afterward and they don't have to risk loosing money.

 

[petervantran]

So what materials did you use besides kaplan? Those are definitely not average scores. I have about one week left starting today. I was planning on trying out a few test from OAT Achiever. What do you think? Also, what amount of time did you put in to study - weeks and hours/day?

 

[mattosu]

I used the Kaplan prep everything but the organic chemistry because I was still taking that class right before I took the test. I can't comment on the OAT Achiever but I have heard good things. The biggest prep tip I can give is make sure you take the practice test is as similar an environment as you can multiple times. my test was scheduled at 8am so I arrived at the library at 8 and worked it through as though it were real. Afterward I looked over every answer (both right and wrong) and read the explanation for every question. it took time but it helped a lot. I did a lot of the section test for any area I felt weak in and I used the flash cards to hammer home bio and chem facts.
The last week I was spending about an hour or two a day just reviewing everything and trying to work on speed (flash cards).

 

[petervantran]

You seem like you had a good background on the subjects. I will take the test at 12:45 on saturday the 22nd. So paranoid!

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I just took the OAT today...i've been getting sub 300 on RC except for one test and I got a 400. It really depends on the topics you get...fortunately mine were all pretty interesting to read..or at least i made myself believe it was interesting lol