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Rc Strategy For Slow Readers?


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I got 25 on the RC section when I wrote it a few years ago. Im not sure if they made any changes to the DAT. But what I found to helpful personally was to skim through it rather than memorising or understanding the passage. Then recall where each piece of information is when answering each question. I remember I had about 10 minutes to go over my answers on RC using this method. Good luck.

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I got 25 on the RC section when I wrote it a few years ago. Im not sure if they made any changes to the DAT. But what I found to helpful personally was to skim through it rather than memorising or understanding the passage. Then recall where each piece of information is when answering each question. I remember I had about 10 minutes to go over my answers on RC using this method. Good luck.

What do you mean by skim? 

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I did the dat about 10 years ago and my strategy was to avoid reading the essays but instead read the first question and skim the essay for the answer/key words. And then repeat for the next question. Ironically I never actually read the essays or 'comprehended' them. It worked well for me - I got 98 percentile as I recall.

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I did the dat about 10 years ago and my strategy was to avoid reading the essays but instead read the first question and skim the essay for the answer/key words. And then repeat for the next question. Ironically I never actually read the essays or 'comprehended' them. It worked well for me - I got 98 percentile as I recall.

 

I used this method also and found it helped a lot in terms of scores in my practices

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wrote the DAT Feb 2016 - and my advice is that you get as much practice exams as possible. DAT bootcamp and Crack the DAT is really good. Although the format is different (its on the computer, you only see one question at a time, and you get 10 more mins) there so much practice material that if you do enough your reading speed should improve and your ability to take in information should be better to. Although when I practiced I used a separate timer that was set for 50mins but since you have trouble with timing I would use 60mins and try to see if I can at least answer all the questions accurately. After a couple of tests - you should shorten that to 55mins and then 50mins. (You want to do most of your practice tests at 50mins though!) 

 

My method was to read through it once and know generally the main idea of the paragraphs - I wrote down 1-2 keywords beside each paragraph after I finished reading it. This way when you read a question, you dont have to waste time reading everything again in order to find which paragraph the answer is in. Also allows you to answer inquiry questions which I think is becoming more prevalent in the DAT now. In the beginning, I always ran out of time and couldn't finish 1-2 questions at the end but after I did like 10+ reading exams I was able to finish with like 2-3 mins left and 5mins left on the actual one. Also I find the American RC questions to be much harder than the Canadian ones so if you can score over 20 in American DAT RC for Crack the DAT or DAT bootcamp than you can score over 20 for cDAT. Actually for reference I scored 19-21 on DAT bootcamp and crack the DAT tests but scored 25 on my actual test. 

 

Start studying for reading at least 3months ahead (since this is your main area of weakness and reading isn't something you can improve quickly) - try to see which strategy you feel comfortable with and work on it like there is no tomorrow - good luck. 

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wrote the DAT Feb 2016 - and my advice is that you get as much practice exams as possible. DAT bootcamp and Crack the DAT is really good. Although the format is different (its on the computer, you only see one question at a time, and you get 10 more mins) there so much practice material that if you do enough your reading speed should improve and your ability to take in information should be better to. Although when I practiced I used a separate timer that was set for 50mins but since you have trouble with timing I would use 60mins and try to see if I can at least answer all the questions accurately. After a couple of tests - you should shorten that to 55mins and then 50mins. (You want to do most of your practice tests at 50mins though!) 

 

My method was to read through it once and know generally the main idea of the paragraphs - I wrote down 1-2 keywords beside each paragraph after I finished reading it. This way when you read a question, you dont have to waste time reading everything again in order to find which paragraph the answer is in. Also allows you to answer inquiry questions which I think is becoming more prevalent in the DAT now. In the beginning, I always ran out of time and couldn't finish 1-2 questions at the end but after I did like 10+ reading exams I was able to finish with like 2-3 mins left and 5mins left on the actual one. Also I find the American RC questions to be much harder than the Canadian ones so if you can score over 20 in American DAT RC for Crack the DAT or DAT bootcamp than you can score over 20 for cDAT. Actually for reference I scored 19-21 on DAT bootcamp and crack the DAT tests but scored 25 on my actual test. 

 

Start studying for reading at least 3months ahead (since this is your main area of weakness and reading isn't something you can improve quickly) - try to see which strategy you feel comfortable with and work on it like there is no tomorrow - good luck. 

 

What was your general time breakdown allotted to reading the passage and to answering questions per each passage? Especially since you mentioned writing keywords down and even going back to exact locations for and answering questions. It seems like a lot of time. Did you attempt to read slowly remember everything, or did you read quickly for the main idea and to locate topics when coming back later?

 

I have been trying a similar method for awhile but I am still going over time because I still feel like I have to go back and re-read for the questions I am answering. Most questions that seem to show are very detailed oriented in comparison to the main idea questions, so sometimes I have to go back to find the exact word that makes the difference in answer or if there are multiple options for the one question. Part of it goes to the poor retention I have after reading through everything once but maybe I am spending too much time in general reading? 

 

Any details would be great, thanks! 

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Nov 2016's RC wasn't what RC is normally. It was actually similar to the American RC. All those tone questions... omg. But, what I do is I don't ever really read the entire article, i use "search and destroy" which basically involves "reading/skimming" every line pretty fast. If i don't find a keyword that the question has in the article within about 30 seconds, i skip it and move on and i don't come back to any of the questions I've skipped until i've completed all three passages. For nov 2016's dat, i finished with 10 minutes to spare which I then used to go over my skipped questions. 

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Nov 2016's RC wasn't what RC is normally. It was actually similar to the American RC. All those tone questions... omg. But, what I do is I don't ever really read the entire article, i use "search and destroy" which basically involves "reading/skimming" every line pretty fast. If i don't find a keyword that the question has in the article within about 30 seconds, i skip it and move on and i don't come back to any of the questions I've skipped until i've completed all three passages. For nov 2016's dat, i finished with 10 minutes to spare which I then used to go over my skipped questions. 

How did you end up doing on the RC portion?

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What was your general time breakdown allotted to reading the passage and to answering questions per each passage? Especially since you mentioned writing keywords down and even going back to exact locations for and answering questions. It seems like a lot of time. Did you attempt to read slowly remember everything, or did you read quickly for the main idea and to locate topics when coming back later?

 

I have been trying a similar method for awhile but I am still going over time because I still feel like I have to go back and re-read for the questions I am answering. Most questions that seem to show are very detailed oriented in comparison to the main idea questions, so sometimes I have to go back to find the exact word that makes the difference in answer or if there are multiple options for the one question. Part of it goes to the poor retention I have after reading through everything once but maybe I am spending too much time in general reading? 

 

Any details would be great, thanks! 

Hey ya so i tried my best to stick to 15mins/passage: ~4mins to SKIM the whole passage and the rest of the time I'll spend on the 15ish questions I believe for each passage. Generally the easy questions that are just straight from the passage shouldn't take more than 30s to get. If I felt like I spent too much time on one question I just guessed and moved on (too much time = more than 1min). Don't force yourself to write a key word for each paragraph - if you can't think of anything then just move on.. I only wrote if it was very clear to me what this paragrah was about and I can summarize it in less than 1sec what it was about. 

 

I think reading is a mental game - I found that the biggest impediment to finishing on time was my drive to get everything perfect which led me to waste a lot of time searching for the answer for just 1 question which in the end I sacrifice 3-4 questions. So try to stick to 15mins/passage. If you finish one passage at 12-13mins than you can spend a bit more time on the other ones and adjust your time that way. 

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I'd consider myself a slower reader, at least compared to people I know, so maybe I can offer some advice.

I wrote the Feb 2016 test and the questions were all in order and knowledge-based, making the Search and Destroy method very useful since you'd know exactly where to look to find the next answer, without having to read anything from the passage at all. I scored a 25 on that without much practice.

For the Nov 2016 test, I was expecting it to be the same but it ended up being more like the American DAT with out-of-order, tone/inference questions similar to the practice tests you'd see on Bootcamp or any other practice test for that matter, except you get ten fewer minutes to complete the whole RC section, which in my opinion makes it harder than the American DAT since you are very pressed (and stressed) for time. For this, I used ~2 minutes to quickly skim through the passage without comprehension and circled words that seemed important, and then continued with the Search and Destroy method afterwards. I spent way too much time on the first passage, reaching about 20 minutes, so I ended up having to guess for several questions and moved on to the next passage. Some answers were very difficult to find so I made sure to not spend too much time on those and just make an educated guess. I'd definitely recommend spending only 15 minutes on each passage and if it goes beyond that, guess for the trickier questions and move onto the next passage. Only after all three passages if you still have time left, go back to the questions you were unsure of. In the end I finished the whole RC section right on time and ended up scoring a 22.

I thought it was very tricky of CDA to suddenly switch to the American DAT RC style after at least a couple of years of in-order, straight-out-of-the-text questions. Future writers definitely have an advantage now because you'd know to prepare for the American style instead of expecting the easier in-order style. If they end up switching back to the in-order style then you'll definitely realize how much easier it is compared to the practice tests you've done. 

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I'd consider myself a slower reader, at least compared to people I know, so maybe I can offer some advice.

 

I wrote the Feb 2016 test and the questions were all in order and knowledge-based, making the Search and Destroy method very useful since you'd know exactly where to look to find the next answer, without having to read anything from the passage at all. I scored a 25 on that without much practice.

 

For the Nov 2016 test, I was expecting it to be the same but it ended up being more like the American DAT with out-of-order, tone/inference questions similar to the practice tests you'd see on Bootcamp or any other practice test for that matter, except you get ten fewer minutes to complete the whole RC section, which in my opinion makes it harder than the American DAT since you are very pressed (and stressed) for time. For this, I used ~2 minutes to quickly skim through the passage without comprehension and circled words that seemed important, and then continued with the Search and Destroy method afterwards. I spent way too much time on the first passage, reaching about 20 minutes, so I ended up having to guess for several questions and moved on to the next passage. Some answers were very difficult to find so I made sure to not spend too much time on those and just make an educated guess. I'd definitely recommend spending only 15 minutes on each passage and if it goes beyond that, guess for the trickier questions and move onto the next passage. Only after all three passages if you still have time left, go back to the questions you were unsure of. In the end I finished the whole RC section right on time and ended up scoring a 22.

 

I thought it was very tricky of CDA to suddenly switch to the American DAT RC style after at least a couple of years of in-order, straight-out-of-the-text questions. Future writers definitely have an advantage now because you'd know to prepare for the American style instead of expecting the easier in-order style. If they end up switching back to the in-order style then you'll definitely realize how much easier it is compared to the practice tests you've done. 

Thanks for the advice, 22 is a great score. Do you have any tips for the search and destroy method? I've been trying to practice it on bootcamp, but I always feel so lost and sometimes I end up having to skim from the first paragraph to the last. By the way, what are some examples of keywords that you were mainly trying to look for?

 

Hopefully this format does not stick, if it does, I agree with you about it being harder than the american RC.

 

20 which i know it not fantastic by any means lol. I usually score better but novs RC was something else

20 is a pretty good score, it's actually what I'm trying to get on the DAT.

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Thanks for the advice, 22 is a great score. Do you have any tips for the search and destroy method? I've been trying to practice it on bootcamp, but I always feel so lost and sometimes I end up having to skim from the first paragraph to the last. By the way, what are some examples of keywords that you were mainly trying to look for?

 

Hopefully this format does not stick, if it does, I agree with you about it being harder than the american RC.

 

I don't know if you've been doing this already but I printed out practice tests instead of doing it on the computer to help simulate the actual Canadian DAT. For keywords I'd circle unique terms related to the topic that wouldn't be used elsewhere, or numbers/stats that might be an answer to a question. For example, if a passage is talking about reptiles, I'd circle species names. I'd also make darker circles/underlines for words that basically summarized that one paragraph. Using the same example, while skimming if I saw a couple of words like "reptiles prey on..." I'd circle that, knowing that paragraph is probably talking about reptilian diets. Then I'd immediately skip to the next paragraph which might be talking about where they're found because I saw a keyword like "Southern Asia." Then again I'd immediately skip to the next paragraph and do the same. That way, when you're doing the search and destroy later you'll know what each paragraph is talking about and jump to the appropriate ones. If a question asks about what reptiles might eat, then you can just read that one paragraph on diet that you skipped before. After you're done the questions you should have basically read all the paragraphs, just not in order.

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I never did the DAT exam, but I did well on MCAT reading compression, although I am slow reader.

 

Here is some advice that might help: At the beginning, do CARS  or reading comprehension SLOWLY , take as much time as you need, but make sure to write down the main point and tone of each paragraph. Also,make sure you highlight transitional words (ex., however, but, except, additionally, furthermore, moreover). Try to understand the main idea of passage, highlight new concepts/ key terms, try to understand contrasting/contradictory themes, and try to sense the author's tone ( Is the author appreciative of ideas, approving them criticizing them, against the idea, or is the author proponent of a particular idea or is the author neutral). TRY to IMAGINE the author, as if the author is personally talking to you. Try to appreciate the literature piece, and try to anticipate what the author will tell you as you read the passage ( i.e. Be an ACTIVE reader). Additionally, I would also try to understand the author claims/ assertions, what does the author try to argue?, how do they support their claims? What evidence do they provide? Does the evidence substantiate their arguments? Does it corroborate it or does it weaken it? . I also take a note of the type of passage is a descriptive passage ( a passage where the author is just trying to describe something or tell a story) OR is it an argumentative passage ( where the author is trying to convince the readers about a particular subject). When answering the questions, I also try to go back to the passage to make sure I have selected the right choice. Also, I try to use the POE actively, because quite often you will be selecting the less wrong answer, not the right answer. One last tip, is to try to think of the answer before looking at the choices so you would not be distracted by the choice. Lastly, whenever the author adds an example or another critic's idea try to understand why the author is doing that, and always try to connect it to the author's purpose ( the author's point of writing the article). If you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them :) Best of Luck!!

 
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I did both the DAT and MCAT many years ago, and got a 22 on DAT Reading Comprehension. This section is not actually about reading comprehension. It is a timed, verbal "Where's Waldo?", where the vast majority (if not all) of the answers come directly from the passage. No comprehension or reasoning required. All you have to do is either jot down, or make a mental landmark, of where certain things are mentioned, and then find the appropriate area once you read the question stem. Even if inference questions are asked, those can generally be answered from the main point and gist of the passage. The rest is speed and time management.

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If future DAT exams are like the most recent one, then search and destroy no longer works. You will be disappointed if you use that method to prepare. It would be better to actually read the passages and really develop your reading comprehension, in the traditional sense, if you want a good score. The section now resembles the American RC and you would probably be better off using American materials to prepare. I did a couple of tests from DAT Bootcamp and I think those were most representative of the most recent RC, relative to the CDA manual and IQ Publications.

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Does anyone remember those two questions on nov 2016's RC, (first article) where it gave you idk 5 proteins and asked you which one would be expressed under whatever circumstances???

I remember thinking "............................................................................................................................................................". Let's hope that RC tomorrow is not like what it was in November lol. 

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Does anyone remember those two questions on nov 2016's RC, (first article) where it gave you idk 5 proteins and asked you which one would be expressed under whatever circumstances???

I remember thinking "............................................................................................................................................................". Let's hope that RC tomorrow is not like what it was in November lol. 

LOL I agree 

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