navajoDDS
07-21-2007, 11:16 PM
The day finally arrived for me to face the beast. I actually felt pretty confident about my chances. After a nice breakfast and some last minute cramming, I put in some Bob Marley and headed to Prometric testing center. If the title of the post didn't tip you off, it didn't go as well as I expected:
PAT: 20
RC: 19
QR: 15
BIO: 19
G-CHEM: 22
O-CHEM: 25
TS: 21
AA: 20
Let's start with the worst
QR - I had the most retarded marker. The tip was so dull, and on top of that, it dried out during QR, so I had to request another one. I had SO many word problems it was ridiculous! There were 10-15 NON-word problems. I didn't have much probability. I never scored below a 19 on topscore or Kaplan. I'm speechless about this one...
PAT - I had some insane hole punching questions that I had never seen before. These are usually cake, but I had to take some time on these. Angles weren't too bad. I would score 23+ on topscore. I was definitely hoping to do better here.
RC - What's the deal with this? My lowest practice score for RC was a 25! They asked some pretty retarded questions. It was definitley different than what's in the practice tests.
BIO - I really wanted to get above 20 on this, but there's so much stuff they can throw at you. A lot of it is luck of the draw. There were many "application" questions. They even asked about cloning "Dolly". The questions weren't as straighforward as most practice tests.
G-CHEM - this section wasn't too bad. Not many calculations, but I had a few weird conceptual questions. It was pretty much what I expected.
O-CHEM - pretty straight forward. I had about 3-4 questions on lab tachnique. RXNs were simple.
My Study Materials:
DAT DESTROYER: This book rocks. It's is right on for G-Chem and o-Chem. The Bio section is great as well, but I just had some random questions. Like everyone says, know the stuff in this book and you'll do good. The math sections is helpful, especially with the word problems! practice those bad boys.
KAPLAN BLUE BOOK: I read through everything and used old textbooks to solidify loose concepts. (practice tests were helpful, especially the one on the CD)
BARRON'S: .........uhmmm...... at least it was made from recycled paper.
TOPSCORE: I really liked having three practice exams. I was feeling good b/c a friend told me that the test he took last year was easier than the Topscore. My last topscore test was: 22(bio) 22(g-chem) 25(o-chem) 25(RC) 23(PAT) 21(QR). Topscore is pretty accurate w/ Gen and O-Chem. The RC and QR were harder (for me) on the real thing. PAT was close, except for the hole punching.
I'm hoping schools will look past that nasty little 15, and give me a shot. I usually do very well on standardized tests, but I guess it was time for me to eat some humble pie. I'm applying to 11 schools with a 3.88/3.79(sci).
PAT: 20
RC: 19
QR: 15
BIO: 19
G-CHEM: 22
O-CHEM: 25
TS: 21
AA: 20
Let's start with the worst
QR - I had the most retarded marker. The tip was so dull, and on top of that, it dried out during QR, so I had to request another one. I had SO many word problems it was ridiculous! There were 10-15 NON-word problems. I didn't have much probability. I never scored below a 19 on topscore or Kaplan. I'm speechless about this one...
PAT - I had some insane hole punching questions that I had never seen before. These are usually cake, but I had to take some time on these. Angles weren't too bad. I would score 23+ on topscore. I was definitely hoping to do better here.
RC - What's the deal with this? My lowest practice score for RC was a 25! They asked some pretty retarded questions. It was definitley different than what's in the practice tests.
BIO - I really wanted to get above 20 on this, but there's so much stuff they can throw at you. A lot of it is luck of the draw. There were many "application" questions. They even asked about cloning "Dolly". The questions weren't as straighforward as most practice tests.
G-CHEM - this section wasn't too bad. Not many calculations, but I had a few weird conceptual questions. It was pretty much what I expected.
O-CHEM - pretty straight forward. I had about 3-4 questions on lab tachnique. RXNs were simple.
My Study Materials:
DAT DESTROYER: This book rocks. It's is right on for G-Chem and o-Chem. The Bio section is great as well, but I just had some random questions. Like everyone says, know the stuff in this book and you'll do good. The math sections is helpful, especially with the word problems! practice those bad boys.
KAPLAN BLUE BOOK: I read through everything and used old textbooks to solidify loose concepts. (practice tests were helpful, especially the one on the CD)
BARRON'S: .........uhmmm...... at least it was made from recycled paper.
TOPSCORE: I really liked having three practice exams. I was feeling good b/c a friend told me that the test he took last year was easier than the Topscore. My last topscore test was: 22(bio) 22(g-chem) 25(o-chem) 25(RC) 23(PAT) 21(QR). Topscore is pretty accurate w/ Gen and O-Chem. The RC and QR were harder (for me) on the real thing. PAT was close, except for the hole punching.
I'm hoping schools will look past that nasty little 15, and give me a shot. I usually do very well on standardized tests, but I guess it was time for me to eat some humble pie. I'm applying to 11 schools with a 3.88/3.79(sci).