Using 101 passages in MCAT to study for RC section in DAT

[nhasifuture]

Hi every one! I'm fairly new to this forum. I have a quick question that I hope to hear feedbacks from you guys. English is not my native language, so RC section always worries me the most. I was just wondering if anyone has used 101 passages in MCAT to study for RC section in DAT? If you have, did it really help to improve your RC scores? Thanks so much, guys!

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[Mamona]

I am using it right now, but I have never take the real test before, so I don't know if it is really helpful......
Anyone???????????

 

[Mamona]

 

[Thundercatz]

Im working with the Barrons Critical Reading Workbook for the SAT. The passages probably are not as long as the passages on the DAT, but most of their questions are tone, style, and inference type questions. I think some of the passages in here are pretty challenging, but it is good practice.

I just completed the book and tried the Kaplan DAT RC workshop, and I am killing it. Hopefully all this pays off.

Also as a side note, while doing these passages, I am working myself a little faster than the pace on the DAT and I definitely see an increase in my speed. I am giving myself 1 minute per question whereas on the DAT you have 1 min and 20 sec per question.

 

[Mamona]

Thanks for the info!!!!

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

yea I need to find some of those materials as well. Kaplan, topscore, achiever all have detail questions, whereas atleast 40% of the questions on the real thing is tone, interface type of questions ( i was freaking shocked to see that on the real thing last year when I took it, I was so not prepared for it - hence the result ). Kaplan, topscore, achiever gives you "false thinking" of the real RC section.

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

Is this the one that you guys are using?

http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213722818&sr=8-1

 

[Mamona]

Is this the one that you guys are using?

http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213722818&sr=8-1

Yes that is the one I am using!!!!

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

Yes that is the one I am using!!!!

nice we are from the same school

 

[TexasDDS2012]

When I studied for the DAT, i looked at MCAT passages and read very few. I guess they are good if you want to practice your speed reading but i found them to be more difficult then the DAT passages. What worked best for me was practicing with topscore and the Kaplan DAT book. When I took the DAT the passages were not as difficult as the ones I had practiced with, especially the MCAT ones. My advice would be to glance over the first few questions to see what they are asking and then begin reading the passage. Thats what I did, others prefer reading the passage then going to the questions. I really didnt find the outlining and notetaking helpful. It was too time consuming for me. The key is to find what works best for you. Message me if you have any other questions.

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

When I studied for the DAT, i looked at MCAT passages and read very few. I guess they are good if you want to practice your speed reading but i found them to be more difficult then the DAT passages. What worked best for me was practicing with topscore and the Kaplan DAT book. When I took the DAT the passages were not as difficult as the ones I had practiced with, especially the MCAT ones. My advice would be to glance over the first few questions to see what they are asking and then begin reading the passage. Thats what I did, others prefer reading the passage then going to the questions. I really didnt find the outlining and notetaking helpful. It was too time consuming for me. The key is to find what works best for you. Message me if you have any other questions.

But how did you prepare for main idea, tone, etc type of questions? Topscore and kaplan hardly has these type of questions in the practice test.

 

[shoombol tallah]

Dont waste your money and time on that examkrackers book. I like their products but the MCAT verbal is completely different than the DAT RC section. You need to work on reading 3 much longer passages in 50 minutes (DAT) rather than 6 short passages in 80 minutes (MCAT). The MCAT verbal reasoning section is more similar to the LSAT than it is DAT.

 

[sweetpea2]

Does any experienced DAT people have any suggestions on how to improve..i have a week left and i already took every practice exam there is, but ive been getting 18's on topscore which isnt that impressive. This is my worst section for sure..what can i do this next week, just read a few science journals. Does anyone know where i can get free journals online?

 

[ruomengd2000]

Dont waste your money and time on that examkrackers book. I like their products but the MCAT verbal is completely different than the DAT RC section. You need to work on reading 3 much longer passages in 50 minutes (DAT) rather than 6 short passages in 80 minutes (MCAT). The MCAT verbal reasoning section is more similar to the LSAT than it is DAT.

I completely agree. My friend is taking her MCATs soon and i looked over all of her RC passages and not only are they much shorter, but more often than not the type of questions they ask are much different than the ones i've seen for the DAT. Good to practice reading for the sake of reading. But not at all analogous to DAT RC.

 

[Thundercatz]

Yea, I would not use the EK books for the RC. The passages are harder but its also very short, and you have much more time on the MCAT. If you are serious about improving your RC, read articles on the New York Time everyday a month or two before your test. There is no quick fix for this section.

 

[TexasDDS2012]

On questions that were about passage tone or main idea that were difficult to answer i would leave these till the end after you read the whole passage. I dont know of a way to "prepare" for these kinds of questions since it depends on the passage topic. After you read the passage or skim over it you should think about what the big picture was. Another technique that could work is sometimes the main idea or tone of the passage is presented in the last couple sentences of the passage or the tone might be set at the beginning. Most are like scientific excerpts from journal articles (i think), humanities type passages (like i had one about the stock market when I took the DAT). Hope that helps.