Hi all SDNers,

I took the Dat today, 08/18. I was stressed for the past two weeks. Surprisingly, I was not stressed at all the day before the exam. I just relaxed (went to the pool and watched TV).
Honestly, I think the DAT is VERY doable. It's a matter of how much work you put into it.
I neither had the sea urchin question, nor the other questions I saw on SDN. However, SDN was a very good therapy to reduce my stress. Thank you to all the SDN community.

As for the test itself,

I was aiming for 19's accross the board. I always score 16-19 on Topscore for the science part, 23 on PAT, 18-19 on RC, and 22 on QR. DAT achiever was hard for me, I had a hard time with the PAT section (average was 19), but it's a really good practice for the real test since it is easier on the real one. Expect to have a score on the PAT between your Topscore and DAT Achiever PAT scores.

My Scores

Bio - 21
Gen Chem - 23
O Chem - 21
PAT - 21
RC - 20
QR - 23
TS - 22
AA - 22

[Biology]
The section wasn't bad. I only found one "out of the blue" question about human anatomy I think. The rest of the questions were really straight forward. I had like 4 ecology questions, 4 genetics questions, no plant bio, no classification, but 3 biochem questions.

[General Chemistry]
I really liked this section. It's doable if you practice on basic calculation questions. I practiced a lot on Kaplan and Topscore for that. I found the Kaplan questions way harder than the real one. Topscore is the closest for this section. I had a lot of simple calculation questions and few theoretical questions. Nothing bad at all

[Organic Chemistry]
If you already took the OChem series, then you will do fine on this section. It was surely easier than any Ochem classes I took. Lots of reaction questions, couple of SN1-2 / E1-2 questions, few nomenclatures, no IR, one NMR. I must have missed easy questions because I felt it was quite straightforward.

[PAT]
I was scared for this section because the opinion were controversial on SDN. I found the aperture and top-front-end relatively easy. The angles were definitely a challenge, but I used the foldable ruler (I use the technique where you fold a corner of a paper in half, then fold this half again. This gives you a 90, 45, 22.5 degree angle). The folding pattern was way harder than topscore and as hard as DAT achiever. One advice: practice DAT achiever (forget Kaplan for this section).

[Reading Comp]
This is the section I had the most trouble with when I was practicing on Topscore and Kaplan. I was shocked when I saw my score. However, I thought the questions were not too bad. I had the passages on Cancer, Stock, Sympathetic/Parasympathetic system.

[QR]
Easy section. Very doable. I did not practice this section much because I felt much more confident with math. A substantial amount of algebra. I only had two probability questions and one on circle equation.


Overall I am really shocked to see that I obtain those scores. I practiced only on Kaplan, DAT achiever, Topscore. I used the Kaplan BB and Schaum's as my info reference (I think it's way enough).
I wish you guys all the best luck. I am going on a trip tomorrow. However, you guys can send me messages. I should be able to answer.

Cheers.

Just want to say congratulations! Thank you for taking time to post! Posts from people like you give me lots of hope. I especially like seeing that you scored 16-19 on Topscore in the science and then did so well on the real thing. It also gives me confidence to see your reading score and then how you did on the real thing. Reading also scares me!

Good job and be proud of yourself. I am so jealous. You deserve those great scores and should be very proud! Your hard work paid off in the end.

Excellent job, SteakNature. Truly enviable achievement with all scores >=20. :thumbup: :thumbup:

I bet you must have'd the same set of tests the author of DAT Achiever sat for based on the RC topics you furnished here. Did you not use it to prepare for your SNS, RCT, and QRT other than the PAT? cuz I'm sure questions like the cheetah population, analogous structure of a heme group, fate of an enzyme and/or acetylcholine at the end of its activity,..., share investment, ... word problem on theatre ticket income, biggest capturing area of a corral fronting a river ... (from DAT Achiever) would have appeared on your test though.

And again, congratulation to your great DAT results!

Good job man, I envy you! I had mine today too, but never really grasped O Chem. Impressive scores tho, you're set for Dent School. Congrats!

Excellent job, SteakNature. Truly enviable achievement with all scores >=20. :thumbup: :thumbup:

I bet you must have'd the same set of tests the author of DAT Achiever sat for based on the RC topics you furnished here. Did you not use it to prepare for your SNS, RCT, and QRT other than the PAT? cuz I'm sure questions like the cheetah population, analogous structure of a heme group, fate of an enzyme and/or acetylcholine at the end of its activity,..., share investment, ... word problem on theatre ticket income, biggest capturing area of a corral fronting a river ... (from DAT Achiever) would have appeared on your test though.

And again, congratulation to your great DAT results!

Hi dlink,

Thanks for your message. I did use DAT achiever for all the sections. I actually did much worse on the DAt achiever science section (16-18) and on RC (18) than the real one.
I saw some recurrent topics. Reading articles beforehand really help.
Among the topics I recommend, I favor: comets, stocks, herb medicine, cancer, parasympathetic/sympathetic, calcium and magnesium function...
However long or short these articles might be, I think it is a really good practice. For instance, I had the stock one on my real test and it was extremely similar to the one I saw on DAT achiever.

For your info, I only had one question like "What is the tone of the article". Other answers to questions can be easily found or inferred from the text.

Good luck to everyone.

Steak

Hi dlink,

Thanks for your message. I did use DAT achiever for all the sections. I actually did much worse on the DAt achiever science section (16-18) and on RC (18) than the real one.
I saw some recurrent topics. Reading articles beforehand really help.
Among the topics I recommend, I favor: comets, stocks, herb medicine, cancer, parasympathetic/sympathetic, calcium and magnesium function...
However long or short these articles might be, I think it is a really good practice. For instance, I had the stock one on my real test and it was extremely similar to the one I saw on DAT achiever.

For your info, I only had one question like "What is the tone of the article". Other answers to questions can be easily found or inferred from the text.

Good luck to everyone.

Steak

Nice work. can you help us by telling us what the biochem questions were about. Thanks

Hi guys,

Well I do not remember all the biochem questions except one. It asked about the degradation of glucose (what does it degrade into?)
Honestly the biochem questions were quite general compared to the biochem knowledge I needed to know in my upper division class. Don't worry too much about it, focus more on the general aspect of bio.

Hope that helps.