Reading = Nightmare

[Dentalkid434]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello all,

I am taking the DAT in less than 24 hours and am having a difficult time with the reading (time wise). I think I came down with a case of dyslexia to be honest. I tried everything- the kaplan method, search and destroy, a combination of the two...and I never finish on time. I always need at least 24 minutes per passage and still get many of the questions wrong. I scored a 12 on achiever just now. But, scored 18's on topscore and that was strictly search and destroy. I am not sure what to do at this point. Are there schools that do not weigh the reading section that much?

 

[dentalgirl16]

This is the method I used on the real DAT and it got me a great score:

1) I wrote 1-50 on my laminated sheet.

2) Then I read first the first two paragraphs to get an idea of what the article was about.

3) Afterwards, I read the first 2-3 questions. If I knew the answers to these questions from reading the first two paragraphs, then I would do those questions and mark them off on my sheet, indicating I had answered them. If not, then I wrote a few key words from each question on my laminated sheet so that I knew what to look for while reading the rest of the article.

4) I read the next two paragraphs, looked at the next 2-3 questions, answered what I could, marked the ones I didn't know, and continued reading.

5) Once I finished the article, I had answered the majority of the questions. The ones I didn't know were either tone/inference questions (but these questions were really easy on my test) or factual questions (by which point, I was able to use the search and destroy method to quickly find the answers).

6) Repeat this method for the other two articles.

Hope this helps!

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck on your test!

 

[Dentalkid434]

Thanks for the advice! I will be sure to try it. As an aside, did you have any biochemistry on your versus, such as mutarotation, D and L sugars, etc ?

Thanks again!

 

[BRZ24]

is english your 2nd language?

 

[Dentalkid434]

Yes, but I learned to speak english at the age of 3. I am also multilingual....Been here my entire life and only went to english speaking schools. I do not know what is wrong with me. I self-diagnosed myself with dyslexia. I am freaking out since my exam is tomorrow!

 

[BRZ24]

Yes, but I learned to speak english at the age of 3. I am also multilingual....Been here my entire life and only went to english speaking schools. I do not know what is wrong with me. I self-diagnosed myself with dyslexia. I am freaking out since my exam is tomorrow!

Dude we are kind of in the same boat. I moved to this freakin country at the age of 14. I did my first topscore test minutes ago and only got an 18 using search and destroy. I feel like all of the questions were search and destroy type.

Do you write down notes as you read the passage ?

I find it freakin impossible to read the whole passage first and then read the question. Seriously, there is no way a normal person can retain that much info.

I usually just read the question first AND then look for the answer on the passage. But I keep going back reading from the 1st paragraph for every single freakin question.

any tips man?
lol

 

[Swoops]

Dude we are kind of in the same boat. I moved to this freakin country at the age of 14. I did my first topscore test minutes ago and only got an 18 using search and destroy. I feel like all of the questions were search and destroy type.

Do you write down notes as you read the passage ?

I find it freakin impossible to read the whole passage first and then read the question. Seriously, there is no way a normal person can retain that much info.

I usually just read the question first AND then look for the answer on the passage. But I keep going back reading from the 1st paragraph for every single freakin question.

any tips man?
lol

First thing's first, my DAT RC was WAYYYY harder than topscore and DATQvault. This section has some luck in it. I felt like it was way to hard to read the whole passage and found that I would run out of time only if i read the whole passage. I would suggest using Search and destroy on a practice test and see how you do. If you get 20+ I would stick with it. If that doesn't work I would use vicvipers method on a different practice test. This section is extremely difficult to study for, do as many as you can with different methods till you find one that gives you a score you are happy with and STICK with it.

 

[BRZ24]

First thing's first, my DAT RC was WAYYYY harder than topscore and DATQvault. This section has some luck in it. I felt like it was way to hard to read the whole passage and found that I would run out of time only if i read the whole passage. I would suggest using Search and destroy on a practice test and see how you do. If you get 20+ I would stick with it. If that doesn't work I would use vicvipers method on a different practice test. This section is extremely difficult to study for, do as many as you can with different methods till you find one that gives you a score you are happy with and STICK with it.

Dude, I think Im F**** for this test

I have to take it next tuesday.

Also, do you feel that the length of the passages on topscore was similar to the real DAT? topscore passages were simple and easy to read I think but my time management sucks big time. I keep reading from the 1st paragraph for every single question. WOW. I had 30 seconds left with 11 questions and had to guess on all damn...

Dental schools need to cut ESL students some slacks. I speak read and write another language for god's sake. Learned english at the age of 14.

 

[aqz]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=943867

See if that helps at all.

 

[gumdrop16]

Dude, I think Im F**** for this test

I have to take it next tuesday.

Also, do you feel that the length of the passages on topscore was similar to the real DAT? topscore passages were simple and easy to read I think but my time management sucks big time. I keep reading from the 1st paragraph for every single question. WOW. I had 30 seconds left with 11 questions and had to guess on all damn...

Dental schools need to cut ESL students some slacks. I speak read and write another language for god's sake. Learned english at the age of 14.

with my expirience, topscore passages are VERY SHORT compared to the real dat. my real DAT had about 24-46 paragraphs. whereas on topscore, im pretty sure the passages had like 12 paragraphs max?? something short like that. but like someone else mentioned, this section is also a bit of luck. just hope that you get great passages.......read read read readddddd

 

[aqz]

with my expirience, topscore passages are VERY SHORT compared to the real dat. my real DAT had about 24-46 paragraphs. whereas on topscore, im pretty sure the passages had like 12 paragraphs max?? something short like that. but like someone else mentioned, this section is also a bit of luck. just hope that you get great passages.......read read read readddddd

Seriously.

What the hell kind of test did you get?

 

[BRZ24]

with my expirience, topscore passages are VERY SHORT compared to the real dat. my real DAT had about 24-46 paragraphs. whereas on topscore, im pretty sure the passages had like 12 paragraphs max?? something short like that. but like someone else mentioned, this section is also a bit of luck. just hope that you get great passages.......read read read readddddd

Dude, you better not ****tin me aight?

24-26 paragraphs? seriously?

any chance that there were 3 sentences in some of the paragraphs?



Yes, topscore passages had like 14-17 at the most.

 

[gumdrop16]

Dude, you better not ****tin me aight?

24-26 paragraphs? seriously?

any chance that there were 3 sentences in some of the paragraphs?



Yes, topscore passages had like 14-17 at the most.

DEAD SERIOUS. i was like WTFFFFFFFFFFFF when i got to it. my 1st passage was 26 paragraphs long, on ETHICS. .....so was the second......and the third......but the 3rd wasnt ethic based, but had MADDDD tone/inference. i was unlucky. YOU COULD get EASY passages, and just pray that you do....
ITS A CRAPSHOOOOT

 

[BRZ24]

DEAD SERIOUS. i was like WTFFFFFFFFFFFF when i got to it. my 1st passage was 26 paragraphs long, on ETHICS. .....so was the second......and the third......but the 3rd wasnt ethic based, but had MADDDD tone/inference. i was unlucky. YOU COULD get EASY passages, and just pray that you do....
ITS A CRAPSHOOOOT

what's ur strategy for RC

 

[Swoops]

Haha... mine was not even close to 24-26 paragraphs and it was still REALLY hard. So here was my take on passage length after I took the DAT-- I read on the forums over and over again that the passages on the real DAT were much much shorter than those on Qvault and Topscore. I remember qvault being close to 22ish paragraphs per passage...which was way overkill. Topscore on the other hand was pretty short, the passages were more dense in terms of harder words and I thought the RC was pretty hard (got 22's on the first 2). After taking the real DAT, the passages were shorter in terms of number of paragraphs...but my paragraphs were NOT short like people had mentioned on SDN. My paragraphs were all pretty long with the exception of 1 or 2. The passages were extremely dense.. packed with information that was at times hard to comprehend. Also, I had a TON TON TON of inference question. Which of the following of koch's postulates associates with this.. literally 7 times in a row. I only had one passage I thought was easy on the DAT. The other 2 were absolutely ridiculous. Dont freak out about it though.. Im not trying to scare you, im just trying to let you know to not overlook it like a lot of people do. You can't study for it, but you can prepare by finding out which strategy works for you and practicing with that strategy. Just another thing that pissed me off haha.. I used S and D and typically when asked for anything with numbers i would just go straight to the passage and look for the number--seems easy enough right?-- well on one my passages some of the numbers were written out in words.. I can't remember what exactly it said but it was a year and the seriously wrote it out.. nineteen forty five. not that i didn't find it, but it was just that kind of test. THEY WANTED ME TO DO BAD! haha you will be fine though. Another message you should keep in mind is that luck and RC= directly related.. Hope and pray you get one of the easy ones 🙂 Fiber optics.. go kill yourself.... prions... go kill yourself

Sorry for bad grammar/punctuation... i am lazy right now

 

[gumdrop16]

what's ur strategy for RC

always when i do RC i just read the entire passage and then go back and answer the questions, and if i need to refer to the passage then i do so. this was my strategy on my dat however once i realized it was paragraph after paragraph after PARAGRAPH like 26 paragraphs long, no exaggeration, i went into a tiny panic mode and ended up skimming the last few paragraphs to get the gist of what they were about in case i needed to find an answer there. horrible horrible expirience that dat was. ugh

 

[Dentalkid434]

Thank you all for the advice! I am honestly a nervous wreck now. Never did a full length practice test and think I came down with a serious case of ADHD and Dyslexia. I am so nervous and want to cry.


Anyway, does anyone know how the RC on the 2009 DAT compares to that of the RC of the real DAT?


Thanks in advance!

 

[aqz]

Girl, you need to calm yourself. You don't have ADHD and you don't have dyslexia.

The only diagnosis you have is a lack of self-confidence.

And 2009 ADA doesn't seem to be a good indicator apparently.



Seriously though, the only breaking down I want to see is your DAT breakdown. No crying, no stressing, your test is soon and there's nothing you can do about it. Now go kill it.

 

[gumdrop16]

Seriously.

What the hell kind of test did you get?

Lolollllll a one from HELL. Im telling you, im not exaggerating the messedup-ness/ridiculousness/unfairness of my exam. It was straight from hell. ALL of my passages were at least 24 paragraphs mimimum. I say paragraphs, i do not mean like 2-3 sentences i mean full paragraphs.
Why how long were yours? Wow im mad

 

[aqz]

I hope I got that 26 paragraph passage today because a power outage happened so I couldn't take the test.

And I'm hoping I don't get that one while taking the test in 4 days.

Was it by any chance related to "physics" ?

Apparently the "physics" passage is the new "piano" passage.

 

[gumdrop16]

I hope I got that 26 paragraph passage today because a power outage happened so I couldn't take the test.

And I'm hoping I don't get that one while taking the test in 4 days.

Was it by any chance related to "physics" ?

Apparently the "physics" passage is the new "piano" passage.

Thats so crazy! if anyone gets the test i have theyll KNOW its the same one i had from start to finish bc theyll just be wtf-ing the whole time. By QR i was literally shaking i was so over my expirience.
No my passages were ethics based. Ridiculous

 

[aznnytezx]

What kind of physics is mentioned in the DAT sometimes? I just finished the two physics course, and I would love to have a physics passage because I am familiar with it now.

 

[jhc83]

No way. The passages are only at max 12-14 paragraphs long. You cant get anything more than that, like 24 paragraphs??? Whoever took that test is bsing. Seriously stop misleading people. Look on the ADA practice tests. Read the instructions for RC and it states that you are given about 12 paragraphs per passage ( i dont remember the exact words from the test) but thats what it is.

I took my third exam on 7/16. RC was the least prepared section for me. I did not touch on it until like two days before my exam! I am not trying to brag or anything but i literally just let it go and hope to get at least a 19. English is my second language. I came here when i was 10 years old. On the sat and gre i did really poorly on the verbal/english sections and had to raise my scores up on the math sections.

My method on RC was to spend about 20 min per passage. I read about 5 paragraphs for 10 min and went right on to the questions for the 10 min. Repeated this for all three sections. It worked out fine bc i was able to pull a 23. I didnt skip around but instead just answered the questions in order. It is true about the luck of the day bc i got all three scientific passages which i was comfortable reading after taking intense graduate level courses in my masters program.

I just wanna let you guys know not to freak out too much when reading. Take deep breaths and calm down. You will do great!!! Good luck to all of you 🙂

 

[wo5678]

No way. The passages are only at max 12-14 paragraphs long. You cant get anything more than that, like 24 paragraphs??? Whoever took that test is bsing. Seriously stop misleading people. 🙂

Maybe it FELT like 24 paragraphs to them.

 

[wo5678]

Hello all,

I am taking the DAT in less than 24 hours and am STRUGGLING with the reading. I think I have dyslexia to be honest. I tried everything- the kaplan method, search and destroy, a combination of the two...and I never finish on time. I always need at least 24 minutes per passage and still get many of the questions wrong. I scored a 12 on achiever just now. But, scored 18's on topscore and that was strictly search and destroy. I am not sure what to do at this point. Are there schools that do not weigh the reading section that much?

There is no magic method to improve your reading. It takes time to get better. It took me at least 9 months of practice to get my reading to an acceptable level. I still don't think my reading is the best. Your brain just has to learn to process information faster. Practice practice practice!

 

[wo5678]

I hope I got that 26 paragraph passage today because a power outage happened so I couldn't take the test.

And I'm hoping I don't get that one while taking the test in 4 days.

Was it by any chance related to "physics" ?

Apparently the "physics" passage is the new "piano" passage.

Oh, the physics passage. I got that one too. I did physics research and my professor was telling me about that topic because the person who did the experiment won the nobel prize. When I saw the passage, I was like "YES!"

lol.

 

[wo5678]

What kind of physics is mentioned in the DAT sometimes? I just finished the two physics course, and I would love to have a physics passage because I am familiar with it now.

We are not allowed to say what kind of physics is mentioned. But... it is not something that you encountered in your classes.

 

[gumdrop16]

No way. The passages are only at max 12-14 paragraphs long. You cant get anything more than that, like 24 paragraphs??? Whoever took that test is bsing. Seriously stop misleading people. Look on the ADA practice tests. Read the instructions for RC and it states that you are given about 12 paragraphs per passage ( i dont remember the exact words from the test) but thats what it is.

I took my third exam on 7/16. RC was the least prepared section for me. I did not touch on it until like two days before my exam! I am not trying to brag or anything but i literally just let it go and hope to get at least a 19. English is my second language. I came here when i was 10 years old. On the sat and gre i did really poorly on the verbal/english sections and had to raise my scores up on the math sections.

My method on RC was to spend about 20 min per passage. I read about 5 paragraphs for 10 min and went right on to the questions for the 10 min. Repeated this for all three sections. It worked out fine bc i was able to pull a 23. I didnt skip around but instead just answered the questions in order. It is true about the luck of the day bc i got all three scientific passages which i was comfortable reading after taking intense graduate level courses in my masters program.

I just wanna let you guys know not to freak out too much when reading. Take deep breaths and calm down. You will do great!!! Good luck to all of you 🙂

im pretty certain i know how to count and how to read. my passages were 24-26 paragraphs long. i couldnt care less if anyone on here believes me. youre not the ones who had to take my exam, i took it. i got the score. just sharing my expirience as everyone else does.

 

[Kingsta2426]

gumdrop you sure your not exaggerating just a little bit? there's no way ADA is gonna make 1 DAT with 3 passages of 24 paragraphs and another with 3 passages of 14 paragraphs. The average length of DAT RC passages is about 12-16 paragraphs. And yes RC on the DAT is getting much more difficult because of the elimination of S&D questions.

 

[wo5678]

im pretty certain i know how to count and how to read. my passages were 24-26 paragraphs long. i couldnt care less if anyone on here believes me. youre not the ones who had to take my exam, i took it. i got the score. just sharing my expirience as everyone else does.

maybe they were shorter paragraphs?

 

[gumdrop16]

gumdrop you sure your not exaggerating just a little bit? there's no way ADA is gonna make 1 DAT with 3 passages of 24 paragraphs and another with 3 passages of 14 paragraphs. The average length of DAT RC passages is about 12-16 paragraphs. And yes RC on the DAT is getting much more difficult because of the elimination of S&D questions.

when and if some other predent gets the exam i had, then u should ask them if theyre exaggerating as well. im actually getting pissed off now and am wondering if i should call the ADA but i dont even know wat id say. i told you, there was another poster on dat forums maybe a month -1.5 months ago who posted the SAME exact thing i did, i cant find his post though and ive been looking for it.

 

[Kingsta2426]

when and if some other predent gets the exam i had, then u should ask them if theyre exaggerating as well. im actually getting pissed off now and am wondering if i should call the ADA but i dont even know wat id say. i told you, there was another poster on dat forums maybe a month -1.5 months ago who posted the SAME exact thing i did, i cant find his post though and ive been looking for it.

I can promise you ADA wont do anything so don't waste your time.

 

[21092109]

It's true, I took the dat today and my first passage had 22 paragraphs, BUT they were very short paragraphs. My second had 16 paragraphs but I would say these 2 passages were pretty equal in length. I don't think it matters how many paragraphs, just how it's split. Some passages have longer paragraphs with fewer number and others have short paragraphs (few sentences) that can reach up to 22-26 in number. Overall, it all evens out, so I wouldn't debate over this.

 

[foreveros]

when and if some other predent gets the exam i had, then u should ask them if theyre exaggerating as well. im actually getting pissed off now and am wondering if i should call the ADA but i dont even know wat id say. i told you, there was another poster on dat forums maybe a month -1.5 months ago who posted the SAME exact thing i did, i cant find his post though and ive been looking for it.

Lol you should never listen to anythign anyone says anyways. Its completely doable. RC is just practice practice practice and trust me you will do good.

Thats what i did practiced over and over again with a lot of material and i did very well in rc.