- Joined
- Feb 29, 2012
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 1
PA-19
QR-17🙁
RC-19
BIO 21
GC-22
OC-25😀
TS- 22😎😎
AA - 21
So I'm going to write about my whole experience of the dat but Im going to write about the experience of it rather than the materials I used. Lets be honest, theres a million breakdowns and we all know by now which programs work and which dont.
The whole time span spent studying for this exam was 3 months. I started off the first month with straight subject review only. I skimmed a lot and then went back to re-read stuff and read more slowly to help absorb all the info. At that point, I began making notes on equations and concepts only - very broad notes
I had droppedn$1400 on an online Kaplan course which was a great starting point. A lot of people talk about how useless Kaplan is but the program provides great structure if you have no idea where to begin. And in my opinion, theyre practice exams were most realistic - not too hard, not too easy. But I also believe in preparing for the absolute worst which is why I used the Dat achiever. That program was straight torture and it really whopped my ass but it allowed me to walk into the science section with some swag in my step.
Do not, I repeat, do not start using dat achiever without first going through dat destroyer. And do not start destroyer until you've done a good amount of review and feel confident in your prep. If you can feel comfortable with the dat achiever or even do faintly well, u will def rock the dat.
Destroyer is packed deep with hard questions and what I did was basically make mini exams out of all the sections (40 bio, 30 g chem, and 30 o chem and just do that for the second month and really soak in everything for the sciences. If you can do well on the destroyer g Chen and o chem, it's time to graduate to achiever and let it whoop your ass cause achiever is about twice as hard as destroyer. I can honestly say that even though destroyer beat my ass, achiever totally threw me around like a rag doll.
The thing with these standardized exams is that they arent that thought, theyre just very fast paced and that drains u mentally.
There are a few principles that I was living by during this exam that helped me do so well:
1) Over prepare prepare for the worst by using the toughest stuff out there
2) Keep your sleep cycle in line do not, for anything, ruin your sleep cycle. U needs to stay consistent and practice at the same hours that youre going to be taking the exam. It helps with the mental stamina
3) You gotta eat healthy and workout. Its something that I believe in strongly and would never give up even if its the exam that decides whats going to happen with my future lol
4) The last 2 points lead me to another point: dont bother with sleep aids or depressants within the last week of prep leading up to your exam. I made the mistake of taking a dose of Nyquil 3 days before my exam cause I was starting to lose my cool and I cannot even tell how horrible I felt in the morning. Yeah, I fell asleep within 20 min but the morning that I had to sacrifice just to feel right was not worth it. And I was fortunate enough to make this mistake a few days before my exam rather than on the morning of my exam. Basically, while I was doing practice exams the morning after taking the Nyquil, I basically half assed the first half of my practice exam at which point I paused and had to go workout and shower just to wake up. I really didnt wanna balance one drug with another caffeine.
U need to surround yourself with positive people that can help you keep your cool. After disappearing from your social circle for a lil while, your friends will bring up your ego and tell you how hard youve been working how much they miss you but dont take their words to heart till your exam is over. Its like this, if you feel like you over achieving without seeing the results you want to see, then you will believe that youve already achieved it. Whereas if you roll with people that make u achieve more and more every day, those are the people you want to be around. Theyre gonna help you bring the best outta u and not let u settle for anything less. Its the same when it comes to working out. If you see yourself slowly getting a six pack and you decide to get comfortable with yourself, you gains will occur more slowly. One quote that I lived by was everyday, strive to me bore awake and less distracted.
Now for the exam, there was only one point during the exam in which I began hyperventilating like crazy. So much so that I heart pace was at the same rate of a medium paced job and my head began spinning. And this happened during the last portion of the reading comprehension. I began taking deeper breaths to help control this but the longer the breaths were, the more my head began spinning. This had never happened to me before. At this point, I knew I had to sacrifice some time, close my eyes, and just pray. I prayed for about 2 minutes and i just relaxed myself. I tried to push out the stress that the RC section poses on you and just exist in the moment. After about 45 seconds of this, my head stopped spinning and my heart beat came back to normal. That moment right there was my biggest victory in the DAT because I didnt let it beat me; I was able to keep my cool. And I honestly believe that had I not prayed and sacrificed 2-3 minutes to cool down, I would have done A LOT worse on the last 2 sections of the DAT. Not to brag like I killed the QR and RC, but I feel like my score could have been worse, a lot worse.
I tried to make this breakdown as diff from a traditional breakdown as possible to provide some insight on the process and not so much the materials that were used
QR-17🙁
RC-19
BIO 21
GC-22
OC-25😀
TS- 22😎😎
AA - 21
So I'm going to write about my whole experience of the dat but Im going to write about the experience of it rather than the materials I used. Lets be honest, theres a million breakdowns and we all know by now which programs work and which dont.
The whole time span spent studying for this exam was 3 months. I started off the first month with straight subject review only. I skimmed a lot and then went back to re-read stuff and read more slowly to help absorb all the info. At that point, I began making notes on equations and concepts only - very broad notes
I had droppedn$1400 on an online Kaplan course which was a great starting point. A lot of people talk about how useless Kaplan is but the program provides great structure if you have no idea where to begin. And in my opinion, theyre practice exams were most realistic - not too hard, not too easy. But I also believe in preparing for the absolute worst which is why I used the Dat achiever. That program was straight torture and it really whopped my ass but it allowed me to walk into the science section with some swag in my step.
Do not, I repeat, do not start using dat achiever without first going through dat destroyer. And do not start destroyer until you've done a good amount of review and feel confident in your prep. If you can feel comfortable with the dat achiever or even do faintly well, u will def rock the dat.
Destroyer is packed deep with hard questions and what I did was basically make mini exams out of all the sections (40 bio, 30 g chem, and 30 o chem and just do that for the second month and really soak in everything for the sciences. If you can do well on the destroyer g Chen and o chem, it's time to graduate to achiever and let it whoop your ass cause achiever is about twice as hard as destroyer. I can honestly say that even though destroyer beat my ass, achiever totally threw me around like a rag doll.
The thing with these standardized exams is that they arent that thought, theyre just very fast paced and that drains u mentally.
There are a few principles that I was living by during this exam that helped me do so well:
1) Over prepare prepare for the worst by using the toughest stuff out there
2) Keep your sleep cycle in line do not, for anything, ruin your sleep cycle. U needs to stay consistent and practice at the same hours that youre going to be taking the exam. It helps with the mental stamina
3) You gotta eat healthy and workout. Its something that I believe in strongly and would never give up even if its the exam that decides whats going to happen with my future lol
4) The last 2 points lead me to another point: dont bother with sleep aids or depressants within the last week of prep leading up to your exam. I made the mistake of taking a dose of Nyquil 3 days before my exam cause I was starting to lose my cool and I cannot even tell how horrible I felt in the morning. Yeah, I fell asleep within 20 min but the morning that I had to sacrifice just to feel right was not worth it. And I was fortunate enough to make this mistake a few days before my exam rather than on the morning of my exam. Basically, while I was doing practice exams the morning after taking the Nyquil, I basically half assed the first half of my practice exam at which point I paused and had to go workout and shower just to wake up. I really didnt wanna balance one drug with another caffeine.
U need to surround yourself with positive people that can help you keep your cool. After disappearing from your social circle for a lil while, your friends will bring up your ego and tell you how hard youve been working how much they miss you but dont take their words to heart till your exam is over. Its like this, if you feel like you over achieving without seeing the results you want to see, then you will believe that youve already achieved it. Whereas if you roll with people that make u achieve more and more every day, those are the people you want to be around. Theyre gonna help you bring the best outta u and not let u settle for anything less. Its the same when it comes to working out. If you see yourself slowly getting a six pack and you decide to get comfortable with yourself, you gains will occur more slowly. One quote that I lived by was everyday, strive to me bore awake and less distracted.
Now for the exam, there was only one point during the exam in which I began hyperventilating like crazy. So much so that I heart pace was at the same rate of a medium paced job and my head began spinning. And this happened during the last portion of the reading comprehension. I began taking deeper breaths to help control this but the longer the breaths were, the more my head began spinning. This had never happened to me before. At this point, I knew I had to sacrifice some time, close my eyes, and just pray. I prayed for about 2 minutes and i just relaxed myself. I tried to push out the stress that the RC section poses on you and just exist in the moment. After about 45 seconds of this, my head stopped spinning and my heart beat came back to normal. That moment right there was my biggest victory in the DAT because I didnt let it beat me; I was able to keep my cool. And I honestly believe that had I not prayed and sacrificed 2-3 minutes to cool down, I would have done A LOT worse on the last 2 sections of the DAT. Not to brag like I killed the QR and RC, but I feel like my score could have been worse, a lot worse.
I tried to make this breakdown as diff from a traditional breakdown as possible to provide some insight on the process and not so much the materials that were used
