Verbal Strategy

[eligirnfeld]

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Hey guys. I am studying for DAT and having trouble with the verbal part.
I can never finish 3 passages. Actually I only barely finish 2.
Do you have any strategy that you think can help a slow ready as me?
Please share your idea.
Good luck to everyone!!!

 

[rOOt_cAnAl]

I remember someone posting a website that helped increase a person's reading speed. Search for it in his forum - it wasn't posted earlier than july.

 

[ToothPrincess]

i know this sounds really lame and it may sound like a bit of overkill, but adcoms say that rc and bio are the most important sections so i figured why not... i am a very slow reader too, so i went to the library and got sat book, gmat, lsat, and mcat books and i am doing all of the rc/va sections in those books... i have the exam crackers 101 passages and i am almost finished with that as well... just so that you know, it is really helpful because they are different types of reading, but still they are timed and will give you a good feel for the time constraint... what i find most helpful in increasing my reading efficiancy (which is the most important thing) is doing the old school mcat exams (prior to the cbt), there were 60 questions in 85 min... it gets you used to something more strenuous (geez my spelling is horrific... dont judge) and it forces you to get used to that vs. the dat which is 60 min (not a walk in the park, but those extra 25 min really get you)

hope this helps...

 

[rOOt_cAnAl]

I remember someone posting a website that helped increase a person's reading speed. Search for it in his forum - it wasn't posted earlier than july.

Here's the website:
http://web.umr.edu/~gbert/links.html
The credit goes to wow widow.

Also, I agree with toothprincess. Practice reading Examcrackers 101 passages, read lotsa novels and anything you can lay your hands on. Newspaper articles and reading textbooks over and over could also work.

 

[eligirnfeld]

Thank you guys (and ladies) for the support. I think I actually found a system that works for me. I found out that the last passage is the almost always the easiest, so I do it first. The a I back to the first one and do only easy questions by scanning for the key words. The ones I don't know I guess and mark and move on. After I am done with all 3 passages I click on the one I marked before and try to search for the answers.
This way I don't wait time on reading the passages and getting stuck on hard questions. I tried this technique with my last practice test and got 24.
Also I had another 2 minutes left to review everything.
🙂

 

[Montserrat]

Thank you guys (and ladies) for the support. I think I actually found a system that works for me. I found out that the last passage is the almost always the easiest, so I do it first. The a I back to the first one and do only easy questions by scanning for the key words. The ones I don't know I guess and mark and move on. After I am done with all 3 passages I click on the one I marked before and try to search for the answers.
This way I don't wait time on reading the passages and getting stuck on hard questions. I tried this technique with my last practice test and got 24.
Also I had another 2 minutes left to review everything.
🙂

Watch out for the scanning technique. From some DAT feedback I've been reading, some exams have a greater frequency of tone type questions that others. It might be a crapshoot if you decide to use this method exclusively.

I've been practicing with the mcat verbal reasoning workbook from the princeton review, it's given me good practice with tone and specific questions. I'm earning higher scores on my topscore exams, and finishing with more time to spare. While these passages might not be representative of DAT passages, it has helped me to sift through passages quicker and more accurately.