I have my DAT in less than 3 weeks and im still struggling to find a strategy to use for RC. Reading is one of my weaker areas. Ive done two of the practice tests on BC and got as low as a 16 which im very concerned about. I didn't even get to reading the last passage, let alone answering the questions. I was reading American scientific everyday but now ive stopped as I keep forgetting to do it. I tried search and destroy but I can never find the answer by just skimming. I have to thoroughly read the passage in order to find the answer which is a huge waste of time because im a slow reader. Has anyone every tried question mapping and does anyone have any advice as to how I can improve my RC score??
Reading Comprehension
- Thread starter desiboho
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I was trying the mapping strategy all the way up to few days before my test. I would read the WHOLE passage and write a 1 to 2 line summary for each paragraph and then would go to the questions. I always struggled on my practice tests to finish.
I chose to abandon this strategy and read the questions first. Some questions might ask for tone of a specific paragraph or definition of a word.
Search and destroy to me was the only option going into test day.
Practice tests I was scoring 17/18 and struggling with time. Real thing I scored a 21. Best of luck!!
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I used a combination of Passage Mapping and Search and Destroy and got through RC pretty quickly, but that's just me. You may want to try different strategies and see which one suits you best. DAT Bootcamp goes through quite a few strategies you can use if you have a way of finding that.
I used Crack the DAT to study and scored about 15-17 on the practice tests. When I took my test I ended up getting a 23. I believe they have a highlight tool during the DAT you can use to highlight important parts. I read all of the questions first and then would go through the paragraph and highlight any of the words from the questions to find the answers easier.
I had a week before my DAT and was scoring as low as 14 on some BC RC tests. I rarely ever got to the third passage. Im a pretty slow reader so even with mapping, I was not even getting a 19. Actual test I just did search and destroy - it really works. I scored a 25. You will be fine, good luck!
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I feel like the actual DAT RC was easier than 2009 RC. Mostly bc they have highlight function! which helped ton. I am usually slow reader and get very nervous on test day. Also English is my second language. Write key words or dates as you read on the note. If they have few comparison type contents, sure bet they will ask about those differences. Good luck.
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RC is one of the top scores dental schools look at, as research has shown it to correlate with academic success.
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Was averaging about 20-21 for RC on practice tests. Got a 28 on the real thing. I think a 17 average when studying will correlate to a 21-22 most likely.
That said, you gotta figure out what works for you. I would read the paragraph and write down the specific stats or info that most stood out and then moved on. It’s a very quick section so you cannot allow yourself to panic if you can’t find an answer. Give it a few seconds and if you can’t, move on. Good luck!
That said, you gotta figure out what works for you. I would read the paragraph and write down the specific stats or info that most stood out and then moved on. It’s a very quick section so you cannot allow yourself to panic if you can’t find an answer. Give it a few seconds and if you can’t, move on. Good luck!
