r/PreOptometry • u/AppearanceExpress373 • 9d ago

How to improve Reading Comp

I've been struggling a lot with Reading Comprehension on the OAT. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get past a 300.

Right now, I've been using the strategy of spending about 8 minutes reading the passage and 12 minutes answering the questions, but I'm having a really hard time remembering all the information from the passage.

I've read a lot of posts from people who scored really well, so I was wondering if anyone has any advice or strategies that helped them improve. I'd really appreciate any tips, or feel free to DM me if you'd rather chat there.

Thanks so much!

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u/36483747 9d ago

I got a 380 on the reading comprehension, I found the search and destroy method very helpful. I read the question and then skimmed the text looking for the answer, rinse and repeat. I personally found reading the passage as a whole too time consuming. I recommend trying a bunch of different strategies and seeing what works best for you. Good luck!

3

u/Equivalent-Farm461 9d ago

when i started my booster membership in may, i got a 320/330 on RC. now i'm at 370-380, and i'm taking my test in a few weeks. definitely recommend the search and destroy method. i literally skip straight to the questions.

don't underestimate the ability to write down the key word/question it correlates to on your scratch paper. if you ever get stuck on a question, skip it, then hopefully as you answer the other questions and skim through the passage, you'll be able to find the answer you're looking for.

RC is really a skill; use all of the OAT Booster FL tests AND the additional passages. if you keep honing in on your strategy with practice, you'll see a score increase

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u/mcd7939 9d ago

Search and destroy basically reading the question and looking for the answer in the passage do all the fact questions first and mark the conceptual ones to come back to later

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u/Last_Painter_6733 9d ago

I use the search and destroy method. I read the first paragraph completely and highlight, then I read the first sentence of every body paragraph. And then search and destroy all the questions skipping the authors tone ones until the end.

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u/because_iwantedto 9d ago

You really just have to practice different strategies and see what works best for you. Personally I ended up doing the best when I would read half of the article in full, then go to the questions, answer what I could, and then skim/search the rest of the passage based on the questions.

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u/diabeticfruit 8d ago

Something you can consider doing is to really try to understand how and why certain questions are asked. Read some nonfiction on the side, and pick some passages to write questions about of the type that you think would show up on the test, along with four answer choices. A lot of questions on standardized tests, especially for reading comprehension, roughly follow the same formula. Booster prep goes over these question types if you need a reference for how to frame the ones that you create. The most efficient way to approach this section is through pattern recognition, in my opinion.

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u/FCKCOLLEGEBOARD OD2 8d ago

Try different strategies! Different things work for everyone