- Joined
- May 17, 2010
- Messages
- 1,898
- Reaction score
- 712
Finally done!!!!
GCHEM=23
OCHEM=23
BIO=24
TS=23
RC=19
QR=20
PAT=22
AA=22
Topscore
20/22/21 TS=20
17/16/18 TS=17 (3 days before the test!!)
Qvault Avg
Bio = 20
CHEM=22
OCHEM=23
I started studying mid May, but got really distracted because of Diablo 3, work, Supernatural (damn you netflix). First two months I studied average 4 hours per day making notecards, summaries,etc. Last two weeks I studied 12+ hours per day, which I don't recommend.I changed my test dates literally 5 times because I felt under prepared. My advice is change it if you need to. This was my first time taking the full test and I did not want to retake it ever again, and I'm sure none of you would want to take it again. English is my third language so that may explain low RC, but I'm happy its above the cut off. I took all the topscores and I want to emphasize don't get discouraged. My topscore scores 3 days before the test were BIO17GCHEM16OCHEM18.
I also took doxiderol for focus. This is like double sword for me. I would be focusing at the random times, i.e. 3 am.
I try to understand the concept on why things happen, including the concepts behind the calculation. Everyone says to do destroyer but I felt it was overkill. Everyone has their own way of learning so I did semi-passive way. Day before test day, I didn't eat anything heavy that would made me go to restroom during test. I highly suggest use melatonin pills the night before because I couldn't sleep until 7 am when my test was 12:30pm because I was way too nervous. Also I restrained from drinking water 2 hours before the test.
Overall I had no problem with the computer or staff during the test.
Chem = Chads, Zumdhal Chem book, ACS, DATQVault.Destroyer
The test itself had more concepts than calculations. Chad chad chad. He covers everything you need to know for Gchem. I started studying using my college textbook but I felt it was way too much information. Chad does good job at explaining things and I learned stuff that I never understood in my gen chem year. For me destroyer was overkill, so I stopped using it. I did qvault and topscore to practice and learn weak areas. I made notes for 1 week and actual studying were 3 days before the test
Ochem= Chad, Bruice O.Chem book, ACS, Q vault, Destroyer.
Personally I felt Chad 2010 videos weren't so good until the new 2012 version came out. It was a fast and good review. I had my own notecards back from ochem class so having those were handy. Destroyer again felt overkill so stopped using it. Did qvault. once in a while. Because I had good professor during postbac and didn't have to study much. Same as chem, actual studying spent about 5 days before the test.
Bio= Kaplan MCAT Biology Review(8/10) + DATQVAULT(10/10)+ postbac textbooks for bio.
I understand why people say this section is so random. It's because it's so broad. I had questions from embryo, genetic, molecular bio, cell bio,etc to ecology, plants. I spent majority of my time studying bio ( >2 months). Made about 400 notecards. I made notes from Kaplan book and added information that was presented in qvault and literally memorized all the answers from qvault. I had 4 question that were WTF. Some required application of knowledge but would never guessed it right. DAT destroyer is overkill for me once again. It's good for practice, but without a good bio foundation, I felt I was just memorizing facts without understanding. I had started studying from textbooks used for LS1~LS4 from UCLA extension, but then I felt I wasted my time, so I skimmed through and made concise notes supplementing Kaplan. I feel if you take more upper div bio classes, makes your life a bit easier to understand bio in general.
QR=DATQvault+ some of Chads
I pretty much gave up on this section because I didn't want to study. I'm sure I got all wrong on the trig questions, lol. Had some conversions which had no clue either . Qvault is a good representation of real DAT IMO.
RC=None.
I felt RC is not something that I can improve drastically with practice, because I'm a slow reader compared to others. Also english being my third language did affect a bit. I tried to do search and destroy ?? method but some questions required actual understanding of the context to answer. Thankfully I had all passages related to science (hurricane, bacteria, physics), so it was easier for me to follow than I anticipated.
PAT = Crack PAT
I only did 1 practice test and scored 19. Went to the section of my weakness and restudied. Besides that no practice because I felt TS was most important section, so spent most of my time on sciences. I personally think PAT comes somewhat natural to people and it can be practiced but didn't think it was worth my time.
Overall I'm satisfied and a bit unsatisfied a bit. The questions that I wasn't unsure was because I haven't studied enough (Gchem, ochem, qr) and could have gotten higher scores but I'm glad I'm done with this part.
-If you do bad on practice tests, don't get discouraged, but learn from the questions you got wrong and find the areas of weakness ASAP and study those.
-review your materials DAILY!!.. I wasted so much time forgetting things and re-learning, resulting in multiple rescheduling.
-sleep well the day before the test (had less than 5 hours of sleep). I was pretty wired and literally wanted to cry because was my first time taking full length test and really didn't want to do it and give up.
-Use well MARK and if you know the answer for sure skip. I felt I was short on every section even when first round of science finished with 40 minutes left.
-Be confident!! Can't stress this enough.
-Sorry for my grammar btw
Best luck
GCHEM=23
OCHEM=23
BIO=24
TS=23
RC=19
QR=20
PAT=22
AA=22
Topscore
20/22/21 TS=20
17/16/18 TS=17 (3 days before the test!!)
Qvault Avg
Bio = 20
CHEM=22
OCHEM=23
I started studying mid May, but got really distracted because of Diablo 3, work, Supernatural (damn you netflix). First two months I studied average 4 hours per day making notecards, summaries,etc. Last two weeks I studied 12+ hours per day, which I don't recommend.I changed my test dates literally 5 times because I felt under prepared. My advice is change it if you need to. This was my first time taking the full test and I did not want to retake it ever again, and I'm sure none of you would want to take it again. English is my third language so that may explain low RC, but I'm happy its above the cut off. I took all the topscores and I want to emphasize don't get discouraged. My topscore scores 3 days before the test were BIO17GCHEM16OCHEM18.
I also took doxiderol for focus. This is like double sword for me. I would be focusing at the random times, i.e. 3 am.
I try to understand the concept on why things happen, including the concepts behind the calculation. Everyone says to do destroyer but I felt it was overkill. Everyone has their own way of learning so I did semi-passive way. Day before test day, I didn't eat anything heavy that would made me go to restroom during test. I highly suggest use melatonin pills the night before because I couldn't sleep until 7 am when my test was 12:30pm because I was way too nervous. Also I restrained from drinking water 2 hours before the test.
Overall I had no problem with the computer or staff during the test.
Chem = Chads, Zumdhal Chem book, ACS, DATQVault.Destroyer
The test itself had more concepts than calculations. Chad chad chad. He covers everything you need to know for Gchem. I started studying using my college textbook but I felt it was way too much information. Chad does good job at explaining things and I learned stuff that I never understood in my gen chem year. For me destroyer was overkill, so I stopped using it. I did qvault and topscore to practice and learn weak areas. I made notes for 1 week and actual studying were 3 days before the test
Ochem= Chad, Bruice O.Chem book, ACS, Q vault, Destroyer.
Personally I felt Chad 2010 videos weren't so good until the new 2012 version came out. It was a fast and good review. I had my own notecards back from ochem class so having those were handy. Destroyer again felt overkill so stopped using it. Did qvault. once in a while. Because I had good professor during postbac and didn't have to study much. Same as chem, actual studying spent about 5 days before the test.
Bio= Kaplan MCAT Biology Review(8/10) + DATQVAULT(10/10)+ postbac textbooks for bio.
I understand why people say this section is so random. It's because it's so broad. I had questions from embryo, genetic, molecular bio, cell bio,etc to ecology, plants. I spent majority of my time studying bio ( >2 months). Made about 400 notecards. I made notes from Kaplan book and added information that was presented in qvault and literally memorized all the answers from qvault. I had 4 question that were WTF. Some required application of knowledge but would never guessed it right. DAT destroyer is overkill for me once again. It's good for practice, but without a good bio foundation, I felt I was just memorizing facts without understanding. I had started studying from textbooks used for LS1~LS4 from UCLA extension, but then I felt I wasted my time, so I skimmed through and made concise notes supplementing Kaplan. I feel if you take more upper div bio classes, makes your life a bit easier to understand bio in general.
QR=DATQvault+ some of Chads
I pretty much gave up on this section because I didn't want to study. I'm sure I got all wrong on the trig questions, lol. Had some conversions which had no clue either
. Qvault is a good representation of real DAT IMO. RC=None.
I felt RC is not something that I can improve drastically with practice, because I'm a slow reader compared to others. Also english being my third language did affect a bit. I tried to do search and destroy ?? method but some questions required actual understanding of the context to answer. Thankfully I had all passages related to science (hurricane, bacteria, physics), so it was easier for me to follow than I anticipated.
PAT = Crack PAT
I only did 1 practice test and scored 19. Went to the section of my weakness and restudied. Besides that no practice because I felt TS was most important section, so spent most of my time on sciences. I personally think PAT comes somewhat natural to people and it can be practiced but didn't think it was worth my time.
Overall I'm satisfied and a bit unsatisfied a bit. The questions that I wasn't unsure was because I haven't studied enough (Gchem, ochem, qr) and could have gotten higher scores but I'm glad I'm done with this part.
-If you do bad on practice tests, don't get discouraged, but learn from the questions you got wrong and find the areas of weakness ASAP and study those.
-review your materials DAILY!!.. I wasted so much time forgetting things and re-learning, resulting in multiple rescheduling.
-sleep well the day before the test (had less than 5 hours of sleep). I was pretty wired and literally wanted to cry because was my first time taking full length test and really didn't want to do it and give up.
-Use well MARK and if you know the answer for sure skip. I felt I was short on every section even when first round of science finished with 40 minutes left.
-Be confident!! Can't stress this enough.
-Sorry for my grammar btw
Best luck
Last edited:
