DAT done 9/8/08 - advice

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Score breakdown -

PA - 20
QR - 18
RC - 30
Bio - 29
GC - 27
OC - 26
TS - 28
AA - 26

I've got to say, I did a LOT better than I was expecting - I didn't use topscore or crackDAT so I was a little nervous after seeing all the materials that some other people were using. I took the Kaplan review course (never went to class but studied the book carefully and did all the online materials. Made tons of flashcards. I also used my old bio textbook and the ExamCrackers books for bio, chem and ochem as well as the Cliffs AP bio review. Here's a more detailed breakdown:

PA -
Keyholes are my weakness, I'm just bad at them. They were slightly harder than most of kaplan's online material, although I felt like it was hard not because the structures were complicated (they weren't as bad as some of the ones I'd seen in Kaplan) but because the answer choices were a lot more similar to each other.
Top/Front was comparable to kaplan; cube counting was easier (fewer cubes to count) and paper folding was a lot harder; that's usually the one I have the least trouble with but I really had to work at it. And angle ranking was harder than Kaplan (as some people have noted) but a lot of times you could just do biggest/smallest and narrow it down that way.

QR -
Really, really tough. I'm usually pretty good at math but it seemed pretty much impossible to me - I guessed a LOT of these because I had about 10 minutes left with 15 problems to go still. Every problem pretty much requires thinking and setting up equations, you can't just plug stuff into a formula. Luckily some of them can be guessed just by looking at answer choices - definitely practice using shortcuts because there's no time to do lots of long calculations. Practice permutations/combinations and trig problems, they seem to love those. I consider myself lucky to have gotten an 18 on this section, I was freaking out at the end there.

RC -
This section is the one I always seem to do well with - question difficulty and paragraph length was about what I expected or a little easier. I'm a fast reader and that's a huge advantage when you're skimming these paragraphs trying to find something specific. What I do is read the whole paragraph - actually making myself focus on it instead of just trying to skim through - and make quick notes on what each paragraph is about. That saves time when you're trying to figure out what paragraph you should be looking at to answer a particular question.

BIO-
I studied the most for bio - I made tons of flashcards from the kaplan white book, plus supplemented it with the ExamCrackers bio book, the Cliffs AP book and my bio textbook. Basically went through and read the whole thing, made flashcards on stuff that I thought might be significant. Plus doing the online Kaplan stuff. I felt pretty overprepared for this part, I felt like the DAT was less detailed than the questions that were asked in most of the kaplan materials; I think the DAT detail level was comparable to questions in the Cliff's AP review book.

CHEM, OCHEM -
I used (again) kaplan pretty much exclusively for the material, plus some online research about concepts I didn't understand. I went through the ExamCracker's 1001 questions for chem and ochem and tried to do every problem; that really helped because they're largely conceptual and showed me what concepts I was weak on. I'd definitely recommend those books. I don't think I saw anything on the DAT that wasn't covered in Kaplan though, but in chem/ochem you want to do as many different practice problems as possible.

If anyone has any questions feel free to ask - I used this board a lot to prepare myself mentally so hopefully this helps someone else!

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. Time to withdraw my applications.

out of words. congrat.

With 26 AA/28 TS, we'd have to see a scan.

If true, amazing scores!!!

word. you don't need any advice. I need your advice. kk

congrats...

You seriously blew the test away!

Thanks you guys - I've been studying literally all summer so this is a huge relief and I'm really happy! My grades aren't great - okay, they're actually pretty bad because I slacked off in college - so I really needed this score.

im with water88 we definitely have to see a scan

What do you think of the AP Bio Kaplan Review compared to the AP Bio Cliff Review? I am currently using the AP Kaplan review, but I heard the AP Cliff Review might be better?

i'm jealous! those are sick scores
mad props...

28 TS is just ridiculous. According to the DAT score frequency tables from 2007, only 2 people scored 28 or better for TS. For AA, no one scored 26, 1 person scored 27, and no one scored anything above that. Maybe its just much more competitive this year, I don't know. Also, only 2 people scored 30 on the RC.

Anyway, if these are real, amazing job.

perfect on RC!!...wowwww.....

whoa... amazing. Congrats

joedat -
It's hard to say. The Kaplan book went into a lot of detail in some areas (like hormones) but not so much detail on others (plants...) where the Cliffs book really helped. I think the best thing to do is to use one review book as your "base" source - either kaplan or cliffs - and then also go through another source and reinforce things that weren't so well covered.

Yea I hear that, it seems that the Kaplan book is an easier read, but the Cliff book has a little more detail.

wow thats pretty amazing! How good is your GPA??

yeah a scan would be nice. Im not trying to hate or anything but either the DAT has gotten super easy this year or there are some incredibly smart people applying this time around . Last year 2 people got those scores this year seems like there is one every week.

why don't u give us an advice instead of asking us for one ;P

Originally Posted by sl2obel2ts

why don't u give us an advice instead of asking us for one ;P

For real, adviiiiseee us! Where do we go from here ???

wow if those scores are real congrads man those are epic...

However, like a few of the people I gotta pay the post the score report card I am not trying to hate, those are just the best scores I've ever seen posted

CongratS!
Amazing scores. Which method did you use for "pattern folding" ? It's my weakest area in PAT.

Have fun in dental school!

Just curious... what were the percentiles for everything? 100% pretty much the entire way down?

that is freakin amazing! now i got some incentive to kick some real ass on my next one! congratulations, i dont think youll have a problem getting into, well, anywhere!

Good job. She/he defiitely know s how to read , I think even FRAP passages would not be a problem :0 Good Luck.

holy moly, nice score!

First off bullsh-t, I dont believe these scores for a sec, nooone gets a 30 on RC. Secondly Ths seems to be an addy for Kaplans. Unless you provide a scan this is nonsense.

Originally Posted by water88

28 TS is just ridiculous. According to the DAT score frequency tables from 2007, only 2 people scored 28 or better for TS. For AA, no one scored 26, 1 person scored 27, and no one scored anything above that. Maybe its just much more competitive this year, I don't know. Also, only 2 people scored 30 on the RC.

YEA.... Plus do you think that one person who got a 27 AA was also one of the only 2 people to get a 30 rc....

You know what they say seeing it believing!

i think these are the best scores ive ever seen ... congrats and good luck to the rest of us

Prove us skeptics wrong with a scan.

Scan wud be gr8

I mean its no big deal ... just another day at the office ... doing what I do.

Originally Posted by eldirty

I mean its no big deal ... just another day at the office ... doing what I do.

nice...

Originally Posted by eldirty

I mean its no big deal ... just another day at the office ... doing what I do.

its hard being a g but someones got to do it right

Originally Posted by eldirty

I mean its no big deal ... just another day at the office ... doing what I do.

awesome...

its crazy because I was really nervous going in but then I got focused and cranked it out in a little over an hour ... haha ... good luck everyone

With scores like that, you could walk into the interview naked!

Originally Posted by eldirty

I mean its no big deal ... just another day at the office ... doing what I do.

burst out laughing!

I don't believe the thread starter at all, and if so, the hell with applying seriously

This doesn't prove anything (see above) but whatever. If I was going to make up a score I would have given myself a little boost in PA! Like I said, my GPA sucks so I needed this bad. Thanks for all the congratulations

owned...

lol nice, because im using primarily Kaplan..

did you get frapped, pianoed?

Originally Posted by supraman

lol nice, because im using primarily Kaplan..

did you get frapped, pianoed?

Anti-frap, anti-piano

Nope, didn't get frapped or pianoed. Part of me was sort of hoping that I WOULD get frapped because I'm dying to know what that question is!

amazing scores.....thanks for the scan

Originally Posted by sunshine222

Nope, didn't get frapped or pianoed. Part of me was sort of hoping that I WOULD get frapped because I'm dying to know what that question is!

lol someone spilled the question on here before it got deleted, don't think i was able to glance it but it was hard

owned lol

take it as a compliment your scores are out of this world, totally insane


what were your reading comp paragraphs???

Crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Scores

Get on predents lets see the whole picture, GPA schools applying, extras...

Achilles - I don't even remember what my paragraphs were anymore, I think all the DAT-related information left my brain about an hour after I finished!

I'm interested to see what you guys think about this; my GPA is super low (2.94) because I didn't give a crap about my grades in college and never went to class. After college I went back and took my sciences (physics, biochem, bio, micro) and have a 3.96 in all those, but it probably won't impact my overall GPA very much. I shadowed all last year (while taking those classes) and I'm working for an orthodontist now... I have a decent amount of volunteering.

Also have a couple of.. quirks.. in my transcript like an academic suspension for failing physics my sophomore year. (Like I said, I was an idiot!). But I did start a business in college, too, so that might help a little.

At this point I think it's basically a crapshoot for me.. especially since I'm applying late in the cycle. I'm only applying to U of Washington this cycle. What do you guys think? Do schools even consider applicants with sub-3.0 GPA's?