Freaking Out About DAT Destroyer!

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Holy cow, I am freaking out about the DAT Destroyer. Here is my situation. I THOROUGHLY finished Chad's chem videos while going over KBB's chem section the past two weeks. I retook notes and made an outline of everything (on top of my original notes). I thought I was super confident in the section until I started DAT Destroyer yesterday. Oh god.

I tried putting myself in a "test" situation by doing the first 30 problems of the chemistry section of the DAT DESTROYER in 30 minutes and did horrible. I took thorough notes of the questions I got wrong and then, feeling a little more confident, I did another 30 problems in 30 minutes today and got totally wrecked. No matter how fast I tried to work, it STILL took me longer than 30 minutes (probably 40-45). I feel like time was the biggest issue, along with a few insane problems. I ended up getting a few questions wrong due to dumb mistakes just because I was just pushing through to the max and zipping through the problems in order to meet the 1 question per minute rate.

Does anyone have any input or words of encouragement, based on their experiences? I am really really really REALLLLLLLLLLY freaking out right now. I know the DAT destroyer is suppose to be hard but I feel like the actual DAT will only be a tad bit easier... which means only getting 2-3 questions wrong ( 22-23 chem score) is insane!

Also, everyone has been saying you only need to really know chad's videos... but there are def. quite a bit of questions on the DAT Destroyer that chad doesn't prepare you for. Is this because Chad actually goes over whats ON the DAT while DAT Destroyer just goes above and beyond????

Originally Posted by Felix24

Holy cow, I am freaking out about the DAT Destroyer. Here is my situation. I THOROUGHLY finished Chad's chem videos while going over KBB's chem section the past two weeks. I retook notes and made an outline of everything (on top of my original notes). I thought I was super confident in the section until I started DAT Destroyer yesterday. Oh god.

I tried putting myself in a "test" situation by doing the first 30 problems of the chemistry section of the DAT DESTROYER in 30 minutes and did horrible. I took thorough notes of the questions I got wrong and then, feeling a little more confident, I did another 30 problems in 30 minutes today and got totally wrecked. No matter how fast I tried to work, it STILL took me longer than 30 minutes (probably 40-45). I feel like time was the biggest issue, along with a few insane problems. I ended up getting a few questions wrong due to dumb mistakes just because I was just pushing through to the max and zipping through the problems in order to meet the 1 question per minute rate.

Does anyone have any input or words of encouragement, based on their experiences? I am really really really REALLLLLLLLLLY freaking out right now. I know the DAT destroyer is suppose to be hard but I feel like the actual DAT will only be a tad bit easier... which means only getting 2-3 questions wrong ( 22-23 chem score) is insane!

Also, everyone has been saying you only need to really know chad's videos... but there are def. quite a bit of questions on the DAT Destroyer that chad doesn't prepare you for. Is this because Chad actually goes over whats ON the DAT while DAT Destroyer just goes above and beyond????

thats very common.... its called "destroyer" cause it destroyes you lol ~ seriously. I had a VERY strong orgo and GC background, and did KBB well for those 2, and when I hit destroyer, it took a crap on me. First time around I think I was only getting 50% correct (by guessing lol ~ yeh it was that sad)

the idea is, this destroyer book (ESPECIALLY for GC) is supposed to be many-many-many times harder than the real DAT. And the ultimate trick, is to go through it multiple times (2-3 is highly recommended, more is useless IMO).

Orgo is, still harder than real DAT from what I remember, but its sorta comparable as far as difficulties go.

Go though this book (GC and Orgo) multiple times, you'll be glad you did.

I only used Chad's videos and Destroyer also for the chemistry sections. I definitely got destroyed the first time around I think everyone gets destroyed at first also. I suggest going over Destroyer WITHOUT being timed. I went through Destroyer un-timed and just repeated it over and over again before the DAT. Try to use it as a learning guide, not as a score predictor Do not be discouraged, I was in the same position as you once. You can do it. I ended up with a 22 GC and a 20 OC. Good luck!

Hi! Don't give up . The DAT Destroyer is definitely challenging, I wouldn't use it as a timed section I would personally just make sure I could go through each problem and know how and why to do it. Also, the Destoyer has complicated problems that actually are much easier with a calculator, so while it is not the most ideal b/c this is not how we take the actual test...I would definitely use one just for practice. Go into using the destroyer as a tool to help you understand both complicated and easy questions and learn the methods of how you get from A to B. I totally understand your frustration, I did that the first time around too!! But try a different approach and I think you'll feel better ! DAT Destroyer helped me get a 24 on orgo and a 22 on Chem!

Yeah, the destroyer is not really good as practice test material. Use it instead to make sure you understand concepts and know them well enough to do the problems.

Just go through it, circle the ones you missed. Go through it again, make sure you get correct the ones you missed last time. Go through it again, until you're comfortable with everything.

The ochem section on the DAT is a cinch if you do that. Gchem should be too but I didn't spend much time with it so I can't really say.

I too am going through the destroyer, mainly for gen chem and organic. First time through I got 50% and the second time through I got ~70% but I definitely learned a lot just from the first run through. How does this correlate to the actual DAT? My test is next week so I figured one more run through it should be adequate. The part I'm worried most about I guess is that I have no idea how in depth/intense the real test will be compared to destroyer. I plan on getting achiever this week along with qvault (topscore doesn't work with macs I guess and I don't feel like running windows on it) so hopefully these will help too.

You're freaking out? At least you have time. I take mine this Friday and I've only gone through gen chem quickly and halfway through Ochem. Still haven't taken a practice test or studied for the PAT, Bio, and Quantitative.

Yup, I plan on ingesting nothing but water and 5 hour energy for the next 4 days.

Originally Posted by copout

You're freaking out? At least you have time. I take mine this Friday and I've only gone through gen chem quickly and halfway through Ochem. Still haven't taken a practice test or studied for the PAT, Bio, and Quantitative.

Yup, I plan on ingesting nothing but water and 5 hour energy for the next 4 days.

Yikes. If I were in that situation, I'd probably be too nervous and pay the fee to re-schedule. I'd want to know I felt ready. Either way, good luck.

As you can probably tell it's common to get destroyed by Destroyer lol
Me too, don't freak, you'll be fine.

Originally Posted by copout

You're freaking out? At least you have time. I take mine this Friday and I've only gone through gen chem quickly and halfway through Ochem. Still haven't taken a practice test or studied for the PAT, Bio, and Quantitative.

Yup, I plan on ingesting nothing but water and 5 hour energy for the next 4 days.

Good luck 0.o

I have actually taken the DAT once a few years ago, and another 2 years before that- studying with Crack the DAT, DAT Destroyer, Kaplan, etc. I think all the sections of the exam are actually easier than the Destroyer except for the G/O Chemistry sections. Those sections are similar from my stand point. I am retaking the DAT again-- but I'm doing so after deciding to get a second BS degree in Dental Hygiene (to increase my GPA and increase my chances).
Make sure you know everything about stoichiometry, balancing equations, and I cannot stress the importance of knowing different ochem mechanisms and common reagents (this was 2 years ago though) I am studying a lot myself. Good luck to you! You'll be fine!

Originally Posted by Felix24

Holy cow, I am freaking out about the DAT Destroyer. Here is my situation. I THOROUGHLY finished Chad's chem videos while going over KBB's chem section the past two weeks. I retook notes and made an outline of everything (on top of my original notes). I thought I was super confident in the section until I started DAT Destroyer yesterday. Oh god.

I tried putting myself in a "test" situation by doing the first 30 problems of the chemistry section of the DAT DESTROYER in 30 minutes and did horrible. I took thorough notes of the questions I got wrong and then, feeling a little more confident, I did another 30 problems in 30 minutes today and got totally wrecked. No matter how fast I tried to work, it STILL took me longer than 30 minutes (probably 40-45). I feel like time was the biggest issue, along with a few insane problems. I ended up getting a few questions wrong due to dumb mistakes just because I was just pushing through to the max and zipping through the problems in order to meet the 1 question per minute rate.

Does anyone have any input or words of encouragement, based on their experiences? I am really really really REALLLLLLLLLLY freaking out right now. I know the DAT destroyer is suppose to be hard but I feel like the actual DAT will only be a tad bit easier... which means only getting 2-3 questions wrong ( 22-23 chem score) is insane!

Also, everyone has been saying you only need to really know chad's videos... but there are def. quite a bit of questions on the DAT Destroyer that chad doesn't prepare you for. Is this because Chad actually goes over whats ON the DAT while DAT Destroyer just goes above and beyond????

This is totally normal. When I used DAT Destroyer for the first time; going through the sections, I was absolutely destroyed . But you have to be diligent with repetition and going over the questions again and again, until you really internalize what's being taught and understand your mistakes. It will pay off when you take your DAT, trust me. I got 21 TS by the way

Dr. Romano designed Destroyer so you learn from your mistakes and are challenged. There is no better book out there for DAT - just make note of your mistakes so you learn. Would you rather be fooled during practice with the Destroyer or on the actual DAT? That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

Go through the book as many times as possible. You'll start catching the mistakes you're making and they will become memorable...making future practice problems (with other sources like Kaplan) a breeze. Memorize the organic chemistry roadmaps which are located in the organic chemistry solutions section. Those pay off big time.