Reading Comprehension advice for DAT

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

soccerfan01

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
44
Reaction score
2
Ok guys I have always been the slow reader in class it takes me longer to digest the material, and having it a timed test does not help much. I just spent the week trying different Search and Destroy techniques with my RC Bootcamp practice tests, I burned through 3 out of 5 finding testing different techniques, sort of wish I did not do that but its done now... Anyways what my question is I am constantly doing very poor on them I am getting a 16, currently what I am doing is I read the first two paragraphs and then I look through the first 4 questions to see if anything was asked in those two paragraphs and then I repeat until I end the passages. I normally get 8 to 10 right with timing and I get 11 to 12 right with untimed testing so it does look like if I was a faster reader it would help but most importantly none of this foreshadows a good RC score can anyone that is or was a poor Reading comp person who ended up at least with a 19 have any advice for me?

Members don't see this ad.
 
I got 330 on the reading section of my SATs... so I know how you guys feel, the struggle is real over here as well
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I have never been great at reading either. I got 18 18 20 19 20 on bootcamp and got a 25 on the dat. I thought the questions tended to be easier and I could find the answers pretty quickly using search and destroy. I marked any tone questions which weren't many because they were easier to answer after i searched and destroyed the article. I found this method to be best for me after doing the practice tests. I also had about 5 min left to review which i never had on bootcamp
 
Last edited:
I got a 24, and always considered myself a poor reader. Bootcamp scores ranged from 18-23.

I did a combined approach of straight read through with search and destroy. Read the first question, and read the article til you find the answer. I think this works better than reading 2 paragraphs first, then reading questions - read just one, and you know EXACTLY what answer you're looking for. If you read the questions after, you're just going back re-reading what you already read, wasting time.

I also forced myself to read faster by directing my pen along the lines of the script - you don't get every last detail but you get the gist, which is enough. If you're 4-5 paragraphs in and haven't found the answer, guess, mark it for review and read the next question. I found search and destroy alone too stressful, too disconnected from understanding what the article is about. But this way, I read quickly, identified the exact sentences containing the answer, and could be very sure of my answers. To get these questions right, I found I had to match the exact sentence to the question, since the questions tend to be quite detailed.

If I ever marked a question, I'd write on my scratch sheet 1-2 words ONLY, to remind me of the question. Then, when you continue reading, when you get to the part that answers it, you know which question to go back to.

Whatever strategy you do, PICK one, and PRACTICE it. You need to be well adjusted to how you're going to do it on the real dat, so you can just dive in and go. At first I struggled with forcing myself to read quicker, but after practicing it and realizing that it worked, I became well adjusted, and even confident in it. I was aiming for a 20, and ended up with 24!

And... bit of encouragement though for ya - I definitely thought the DAT readings were much easier than Bootcamp!
 
Hi guys,
I am taking my exam 3 weeks from now. I am really struggling with RC. I am not scoring more than 15 inn royal flush edition of crack DAT. only 3-4 questions are straight forward, rest are either tone, opinion or summary of paragraphs. How close is the real DAT RC to crack DAT? I also took one Bootcamp test and did not score very well. I am really worried. Can somebody please help me to find answers?

Thanks in advance
 
Top