The last 2 weeks before the DAT, an RC-only crash plan

You are 2 weeks out. Your RC score is not where you want it. You feel the urge to overhaul your strategy.

Do not.

The principle

Under test pressure, your brain reverts to whatever you have done most recently and most often. If your last two weeks of practice involved a strategy you only just learned, you will not use it on test day. You will revert to your old habit. The new strategy was for nothing.

So the rule for the last 14 days is simple. Drill what already works. Protect your sleep. Do not change your strategy.

The day-by-day plan

Days 14 to 8, the consolidation week

One full timed RC section every other day. On the off days, do 1 to 2 untimed passages reviewing every single answer in detail. Tag every wrong answer by question pattern. The point is to know exactly which patterns are still leaking, not to introduce new fixes.

Read 30 vocabulary flashcards a day. The 173-word list is small enough that you can do the whole thing twice in this week.

Days 7 to 4, the drilling week

Drop to 1 timed section every two days. Spend the time saved on targeted question-pattern practice. If inference is your weak spot, do 15 inference questions a day. If tone, 15 tone questions. Track accuracy. The goal is to push your weakest pattern from 60 percent to 75 percent in this week.

Continue vocabulary at 30 a day. By now the words should feel familiar.

Days 3 and 2, the taper

One short timed section per day, ideally 1 passage. The point is to keep your reading speed and stamina warm without exhausting your brain. Light review of any wrong answers. No new content.

Sleep 8 hours both nights.

Day 1, the day before

Do not study. Drive to the test centre if you have not seen it. Go to bed early. Lay out everything you need.

Test day

Eat. Get there 30 minutes early. Bring water. Trust the work. The strategy you used in your last 2 weeks of practice is the strategy you will use on the section. That is exactly what you trained for.

What to skip

1. 1
   New strategies.

   Two weeks is not enough time to make a strategy automatic. Stick with what you have practiced.
2. 2
   Practice volume above 1 timed section a day.

   Burnout in the last week erases gains from the last 2 months.
3. 3
   Late-night cramming the day before.

   Sleep matters more than another passage.
4. 4
   Reading score-prediction tools obsessively.

   They cannot tell you anything you do not already know. The score moves with practice, not with measurement.

See the full 12-week improvement plan for the longer view.

Related: How accurate is score prediction · Why you are bad at DAT RC