Which RC strategies worked for you?

[DenTony11235]

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Hi all

I'm getting some trouble from the RC section of the DAT practice tests.

I used a method in which you read the first paragraph, then make an outline of the rest of the paragraphs in the passage using one or two keywords from the topic sentence of each. Then, tackling the questions.

Has this method worked for anyone? Would you guys advise that I not use the method, or try to develop it further?

What good methods do you guys know of?

 

[IsaacYankem]

Haven't taken the DAT since 2007, but hit a 25 in RC by using search and destroy

 

[babowc]

I got 22, using search/destroy method.

 

[DAT2013]

I got 22, using search/destroy method.

That is a great score, what is the search and destroy method?

 

[jmh018]

That is a great score, what is the search and destroy method?

It is where you look at the questions and then scan the section looking for the answers. It works for a lot of people but definitely practice it a lot. It never worked for me. It wasn't efficient enough. I read the whole article then looked at the questions and answered them and ended with 10 to 15 minutes left. I like reading though and didn't really have to look for the answers after reading it through. It all depends on how comfortable you are with reading/ comprehension.

 

[Dent22519]

I also got a 22, and I read/skimmed the entire article. I would number the paragraphs (1-20 or whatever) and then write down key words, topic sentence keywords, any numbers that jump out at me. Then I would go through the questions and go back to the paragraph it pertains to and then search for the answer, so I guess that's a little bit search and destroy. Sometimes I would already know the answer. There are definitely tone/analysis questions, so read/skimming the article is a good idea. Timing is also super important. Give yourself 20 minutes only for each of the 3 topics. If you run out of time on one topic, guess and mark those questions. If you have time, go back to the marked questions. It's important to move on to the next topic even if you run out time because you never know if that next topic is harder or easier than the topic you're already reading. Practice, practice, practice. Good luck!

 

[aqz]

If none of those above methods work for you, check out my method in my breakdown.

It's basically reading a little, answering a few questions, reading a little, answering a few questions.

 

[DenTony11235]

If none of those above methods work for you, check out my method in my breakdown.

It's basically reading a little, answering a few questions, reading a little, answering a few questions.

Thanks that actually sounds like a good idea

 

[ktran17]

I used a modified RC strategy. I basically read the first question and kept reading the entire passage until i found the answer. Then I repeated this with the second question. By the time you get to your 3rd or 4th question, you should have finished reading the entire article. In addition, if the article listed things, i wrote down what kind of things they were listing and the paragraph number (examples, type of drugs; 5).
fwiw got a 20 in the RC section
I think I did this for the SAT, but that was such a long time ago =).