6/22/2012 DAT Breakdown!!!

[Amberena]

Just got home from the testing center! This was my first and only time taking the DAT. I'm very happy with how it all turned out!

PAT 20
QR 20
RC 25
BIO 19
GC 18
OC 26
TS 20
AA 22


PAT:
I thought I'd score a little higher than 20 on this, but I'm definitely happy with this score. To study, I mainly used Crack DAT PAT. It was pretty similar to the actual test. I think angle ranking was a lot easier on the actual DAT. Top Front End was a lot easier on the DAT than they were on Achiever.

QR:
To study for this I used Destroyer and Achiever. The problems were very approachable. The calculator worked fine (I'd heard it was slow and laggy for a lot of people). I didn't get any questions that were insanely difficult. Destroyer problems were very representative of the actual problems. Achiever was harder. Most of the time I couldn't finish the QR section on Achiever.

RC:
I didn't study at all for this one. I'd taken a couple practice tests with Achiever and Crack DAT. The passages were not too incredibly boring. They were much more pleasant to read than the ones in the practice tests.

BIO:
I studied for this with Destroyer, Achiever, Kaplan Blue Book and Barron's DAT book. Achiever and Destroyer questions are WAY harder than the actual DAT questions. The questions didn't seem over my head. I didn't get any development questions, which I studied pretty hard.

GC:
I knew this would be my lowest scoring section. I studied for it by using Chad's Video's, Destroyer, and Achiever. Chad is an absolute gem. Didn't get any delta H/multiple equation calculations at all.

OC:
This score blew my mind. When I took Organic Chemistry, I got a B and two C+s. I failed the ACS. I studied for this section using Chad's Video's, Destroyer, and Achiever. I was consistently getting 17's in this section on Achiever. Chad is what saved me. I just remembered the reactions he highlighted, and it got me a great score.


I'm so flippin' happy to get this done! I've been studying for the last three months while taking 19 credits at school. I was shaking and almost crying when my score popped up on the screen! Made the last few months totally worth it!

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[Amberena]

I didn't use Topscore, so I don't know. Compared to Achiever, I thought the actual RC was way easier. The passages weren't as horribly boring, and the questions were straight forward. I only had two questions about the tone or opinion of the passage. The rest of the questions were things you could easily just look for in the passage.

My strategy for RC was to go straight to the questions without reading the passage. I guess I used a Seek and Destroy method by just looking for exactly what the question was asking. Once you've done a few questions, you pretty much can find everything pretty easily.

 

[EpicDentist]

Very solid scores, congrats. So search and destroy worked for you, ok thanks for the advice.

It seems most people have mixed reviews with Real PAT vs Crack PAT, glad it worked out for you though.

 

[Amberena]

Very solid scores, congrats. So search and destroy worked for you, ok thanks for the advice.

It seems most people have mixed reviews with Real PAT vs Crack PAT, glad it worked out for you though.

I guess the real DAT must have been a little harder than Crack PAT since I've been averaging 22's on my practice tests. I felt Crack PAT was pretty representative of what was on the test though.

 

[jhc83]

Great OC score! and overall very well done

Did you take the ADA 2009 sample test??
If so, how did you perform on that?

 

[Amberena]

Great OC score! and overall very well done

Did you take the ADA 2009 sample test??
If so, how did you perform on that?

Nope, I didn't take that sample test.

 

[jhc83]

How difficult was GC?
Were there a lot of calculation questions? or just concepts?
Is Chad's videos not enough for this section?

I'm getting nervous......and scared.......

 

[Amberena]

How difficult was GC?
Were there a lot of calculation questions? or just concepts?
Is Chad's videos not enough for this section?

I'm getting nervous......and scared.......

I knew GC was going to be my worst. Most of the questions were conceptual, although there were definitely some calculations. Chad's videos are perfect for this section. They taught me everything I needed. They are the only reason I passed GC at all. I'd say focus on concepts. If you can remember the equations for GC, you'll be fine. They'll tell you any numbers you need (like molar masses of things).

 

[biomolecmed]

You did very well. Your scores prove that you know the material. Congratulations.

 

[Dotoday]

You did well. Very good job. Congratulations.

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[theGNOME]

Congratulations on the competitive scores! Very jealous that you are done! Any comments on your angle toward the reading section? I am nervous about this one and the fact that you didn't study at all for it makes me curious and envious

 

[Amberena]

Congratulations on the competitive scores! Very jealous that you are done! Any comments on your angle toward the reading section? I am nervous about this one and the fact that you didn't study at all for it makes me curious and envious

What worked for me on reading was going straight to the questions instead of reading the passage first. The majority of the questions were things that could be found directly in the text. I just picked out a few key words from the question (like a name or year) and found it in the passage. After answering 9 or 10 questions using this method, you pretty much can tell what the tone of the passage is. Each passage did have a question about the tone, or how the author would have felt about something.

So the seek and destroy method worked great for me. If it makes you nervous, though, or you test it out on some practice tests and you don't like it, then don't do it!