Reading Comp problems

[Thercias]

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Hi, I'm a freshman at my college and for some reason I realized that I'm not that good at reading comprehension. I took my ACT last year and my reading comp score was a terrible 24, and I took 2 practice tests before that and they were 18 and 19 collectively so it was probably lucky. I know that when I take the DAT I'm going to have to score well in reading comprehension, so I'm wondering If it's possible to make any significant improvements in my reading comp ability with a few years of work (ie. read 1 hour a day). I believe that looking at this weakness early will not only help me in my DAT score but with my overall ability to read effectively. A 24 on the ACT is around 65% percentile and is obviously not taken as seriously as the DAT. Do you think someone that someone like me would be able to get a 90% percentile score on the DAT if I tried making long term changes?

 

[tadolsen]

For me there didnt seem like all that much to do to improve. Mostly techniques for the DAT. But yeah, reading scientific papers would help a lot. For testing, the method I found the best was to read the first 6-7 questions and write down key words, and then start reading. When I answered about 3 of them, I'd read some more questions and write keys words. And keep going that way through the 3 passages. I didn't score Great, but good enough I think, I'm applying right now.
AA-20
TS-20
Ochem-17
Gchem-23
Bio-20
RC-21
QR-19

Good luck!

 

[aqz]

Hey.

I think it's a myth that you can improve your RC score through reading journals or online news or what have you. Even for international students, I think a better method would be to just talk to native english speakers because that's how you develop your language skills. By living in an environment where you can practice it.

But even for RC, I think there's a couple strategies out there that can help you get a better score without really improving your "true" reading comprehension ability. I got a 25 on RC and I've never finished a book past AP Literature and Composition. Take a look at my RC strategy in my breakdown and let me know if that helps. Good luck.

 

[azimmer]

Hey! I recently retook my DAT the first time I got a 20 on RC and the second time I got a 22. I think the 2 point difference was because of the 8 DAT practice tests I did. I did 5 kaplan tests and 3 topscores. I think reading scientific articles on the side is probably unnecessary. If you keep practicing your timing with timed practice tests, you should do fine. The method I used was just search and destroy: I didn't bother reading the passages, I just scanned them for key words in order to conserve time.
Best of Luck!

 

[Predoctalk]

Hey.

I think it's a myth that you can improve your RC score through reading journals or online news or what have you. Even for international students, I think a better method would be to just talk to native english speakers because that's how you develop your language skills. By living in an environment where you can practice it.

But even for RC, I think there's a couple strategies out there that can help you get a better score without really improving your "true" reading comprehension ability. I got a 25 on RC and I've never finished a book past AP Literature and Composition. Take a look at my RC strategy in my breakdown and let me know if that helps. Good luck.

I agree with the idea of not reading journals. I got a 28 on reading comp by following the idea of "road mapping" which I picked up in the Kaplan test prep course. The idea behind it is that you Jot down any important dates and or names as you read them, and do NOT try the search and destroy method where you just look for answers. Also as you read, stay focused and do not allow yourself to zone out, which happens to me every time I read, minus that one test lol. If you take your time and try to understand it, it will allow you to answer the questions that ask about the "authors tone" or whatever other useless question that won't help you in dental school at all 🙂 and the dates and names you jotted down will help you answer the other questions directly, or by helping you go right back to the area as your mind makes a better connection when you find something important enough to make a note of. I'm not saying you will get a 28, nor would I if I took it again, but you will up your scoring ability

 

[NDPitch]

I second NOT doing search and destroy. I don't know how to do the Kaplan mapping method, but I wish I knew when I took my DAT. I recommend finding the mapping method and getting good at it. If you do search and destroy you might end up with a RC score like mine.

 

[Blue87Fiero]

Seriously your a freshman in college relax and worry about getting A's in the classes you take now. I think I got a 20 maybe a 21 on my ACT and I did fine on the dat. I got a 20 RC which is not great but it is acceptable for most non ivy schools.

Good luck and don't worry about the DAT for three more years.......worry about college physics and orgo

Edit: for future references (three years from now) search and destroy isn't very helpful just read the passage

 

[debyeh77]

For me there didnt seem like all that much to do to improve. Mostly techniques for the DAT. But yeah, reading scientific papers would help a lot. For testing, the method I found the best was to read the first 6-7 questions and write down key words, and then start reading. When I answered about 3 of them, I'd read some more questions and write keys words. And keep going that way through the 3 passages. I didn't score Great, but good enough I think, I'm applying right now.
AA-20
TS-20
Ochem-17
Gchem-23
Bio-20
RC-21
QR-19

Good luck!

Hahaha I got the same score for RC (21), and I'm pretty happy with it 🙂

I did the same thing too! I read the first 7 questions, jotted down the keywords, and then started reading the passage. After I was able to answer 3-4 of them, I read the next 3-4 questions, jotted down keywords, and continued this way until I finished reading the passage. After reading the passage, I searched and destroyed like crazy to finish answering the unanswered questions.

I got CDR, DAT qVault, and also TopScore. I think qVault and TopScore were the most reflective of my score. CDR had too many tone questions, but on the actual test, the answers were ALWAYS right there in the passage. You just have to search for them. When I did my practice RC tests, I always ran out of time and had to guess on like 2-3 problems. But on the actual test, I think I had 2-3 minutes to spare at the end 🙂

 

[Dainotda]

If it's any help, I read each passage fully while jotting down key words/ideas/points. That ended up being the best strategy for me. (RC 23)

 

[cwoodds]

This is the section I was most concerned about going in. I always ran out of time on the practice exams (DAT Achiever and TopScore), sometimes with 10+ questions to go. The actual test was so much easier I couldn't believe it. I scored 28 with 10 minutes to spare. Like Debyeh77, I would read the first few questions before reading the passage. Then I went through the passage and wrote down key words in each paragraph. As I answered some questions, I would go back and read a few more. By the time I was done reading the full passage, most of the questions were answered and I had notes on each paragraph, so search and destroy on the last few was a breeze.

 

[pinpoint212]

I got a 560 on the SAT Reading section when I applied to undergrad. For the DAT, I studied a total 3-4 hours for the reading comprehension section and got a 19. It's just reading scientific articles and them asking you questions based on the passage. The answers ARE in there somewhere.

 

[jhc83]

I would highly recommend reading scientific journal articles. The semester, right before i took the dat in the summer, i took a neurobiology seminar class which is basically reading scientific journal articles and writing summeries abt them. I did not touch a bit on RC until the day before the actual test date. I was just hoping to get at least a 19 or so. Well, believe it or not, my actual score was a 23!!! And it was one of my highest scores overall.

So i would recommend that you practice reading scientific journal articles and try to speed up the reading time as you get used to reading them. Once you get a handle of it, it will be easy.