Hello SDNers,
I have been struggling since June 1, 2008 to start restudying for the DAT, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. When I open Kaplan blue book, I feel like I have repeated the materials so many times that I can't even look at them again. I wish there were some other major DAT prep book besides Kaplan that we could study from. :(
The main reason I am retaking my DAT is to mainly boost my RC score (15). My QR and PAT scores aren't so attractive either (17 in both sections). I did pretty well in science sections, but I have forgotten most of the materials, since I took the exam in the October of 2007. It sucks that schools look at the most recent exam. I am afraid to retake the exam and not be able to boost my RC score and lower my science sections as well.

Any advice on how to get back on the track and start re-studying for the DAT.

Thanks guys for your input.

If I was you, I would start practicing RC for as long as I can.
Science will come back to you quite fast I would say.
PAT needs practice and QR isn't that important.

Hello SDNers,
I have been struggling since June 1, 2008 to start restudying for the DAT, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. When I open Kaplan blue book, I feel like I have repeated the materials so many times that I can't even look at them again. I wish there were some other major DAT prep book besides Kaplan that we could study from. :(
The main reason I am retaking my DAT is to mainly boost my RC score (15). My QR and PAT scores aren't so attractive either (17 in both sections). I did pretty well in science sections, but I have forgotten most of the materials, since I took the exam in the October of 2007. It sucks that schools look at the most recent exam. I am afraid to retake the exam and not be able to boost my RC score and lower my science sections as well.

Any advice on how to get back on the track and start re-studying for the DAT.

Thanks guys for your input.


I'm in the same boat. I took the exam last year in August 2007 and didn't get the scores I needed. I started studying as of June 1 as well. It's tough to study especially if you have other responsibilities. I keep reminding myself every day that since I didn't get 30's on my sciences, I know there was something I missed in kaplan. Look it over, repeat, and remind yourself that it'll all be worth it in the end. Afterall, I truly believe persistence pays off. gl studying...we can do it! :thumbup:

im also in the same boat ... whoa thanks for the encouragement and good luck to you all

I am also retaking the DAT. If only I had scored 2 points better on my PAT. If only....

Anyways, I keep myself motivated by continuously thinking about my new dat scores and how great they'll be. Every 5 seconds should do the trick.

The only thing that keeps me going is by thinking that I am going to do everything I can and this is my only chance.
Do things different than how you did them when you took the test first time. It is our mentality of keep pushing things away when we are not good with them or when we don't like them.
I woldn't say that QR is not important because if you do good on it, it could add to your total avg and despite of low RC, your overall scores will look good with good scores on sciences of course.
If you feel like you know everything in Kaplan book, try doing some other materials like schaums, princeton review, destroyer, or achiever to test how much you actually know...that revelation would definitely encourage you to study!!!

Hello SDNers,
I have been struggling since June 1, 2008 to start restudying for the DAT, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. When I open Kaplan blue book, I feel like I have repeated the materials so many times that I can't even look at them again. I wish there were some other major DAT prep book besides Kaplan that we could study from. :(
The main reason I am retaking my DAT is to mainly boost my RC score (15). My QR and PAT scores aren't so attractive either (17 in both sections). I did pretty well in science sections, but I have forgotten most of the materials, since I took the exam in the October of 2007. It sucks that schools look at the most recent exam. I am afraid to retake the exam and not be able to boost my RC score and lower my science sections as well.

Any advice on how to get back on the track and start re-studying for the DAT.

Thanks guys for your input.

My advice is to see your first experience in a positive light, because now you know what the test is asking for. Obviously target your weak areas, but I wouldn't ignore the other areas either, because if you slip in those subjects any improvements you make will be negated. Target a balanced, even score set and work on timing issues.

Thank you all for your replies.


If I was you, I would start practicing RC for as long as I can.
Science will come back to you quite fast I would say.
PAT needs practice and QR isn't that important.

You are right, but what are your suggestions on how to improve my RC skills? I haven't still found a strategy that works best for me and I also have timing issue as Shunwei said.

regarding RC. The technique i found to be most helpful was read while being aware of the questions. Don't skip around, but if you are reading and you come across the material that's asked for on the question, you answer and move to the next question. If the material from the next question has been discussed previously from your reading, it should look familiar to you so you can just go back and find the material pretty easily. I tried this method out during the actual exam, first time haha and it worked out very well. I used it for the last two passages and it worked very well. I ended up with about 5-10 minutes left to go back and check my answers. I got a 19 btw. Not stellar but it's probably due to the first passage which I really hated. It was about floating bridges or something. Really bland material that i found really hard to read and comprehend.

regarding RC. The technique i found to be most helpful was read while being aware of the questions. Don't skip around, but if you are reading and you come across the material that's asked for on the question, you answer and move to the next question. If the material from the next question has been discussed previously from your reading, it should look familiar to you so you can just go back and find the material pretty easily. I tried this method out during the actual exam, first time haha and it worked out very well. I used it for the last two passages and it worked very well. I ended up with about 5-10 minutes left to go back and check my answers. I got a 19 btw. Not stellar but it's probably due to the first passage which I really hated. It was about floating bridges or something. Really bland material that i found really hard to read and comprehend.


Oh, I exactly know what you are talking about; I got the exact same passage, Floating Bridges, on my exam. It threw me off, so I couldn't really concentrate on the other two passages. English is my second language, so I wasn't confident in my reading skill to begin with and when I got that boring first passage, I lost my focus for the rest, but good that you still read the other two passages and got a good score. :thumbup:

I will definitely try your strategy. I used Kaplan method of mapping the passage; it's a good method but takes way too much time. I didn't even reach the last passage when time was out.

haha yea that strategy didn't work out for me very well. I always ended up writing the wrong "key" words down haha so i'd waste even more time. this strategy worked well for me. hopefully it will work for you as well =)