- Joined
- Jan 7, 2012
- Messages
- 237
- Reaction score
- 2
23 PAT
24 QR
22 RC
24 BIO
20 GC
25 OC
23 TS
23 AA
First things: I posted my scores last week as I left for spring break, so that part might be redundant. Considering how much I referenced the SDN forum during the 2 months of study, I hope I can help at least somebody with a more complete break down. Thank you all again for the openness and help whenever I needed a hand.
Study time: 2 months (first 2 weeks while taking a class and working full time, and the last 6 weeks during a full semester. Just in case anybody has doubts about whether its possible to study during the semester, I have still been able to make midterm A's. It definitely required an unusual amount of time, focus, and determination, but this is one of those things worth sacrificing for. (On a side note, I also unknowingly lost 15 pounds from a healthy 185, which my family pointed out when I finally came back home for break.)
Prep Materials:
***CHADS VIDEOS*** (10/10)
-CHADS Quizzes (10/10)
-2012 DAT Destroyer (10/10)
-Alan's Bio Notes, heavily modified to 50 pages (10/10) (Can be found here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=968243)
-Cliff's AP Biology (9/10)
-datQvault (9/10)
-CrackDAT PAT, Ace Edition (9/10)
-Topscore Practice Exams (9/10)
-Kaplan White Review Notes Book (8/10)
-2009 ADA Paid Exam (7/10)
PAT (23): Studying for this section consisted almost entirely of CDPAT. I purchased the 10-test Ace edition, which I found to be more than enough practice. My scores started around 17, and by the last six, I was scoring anywhere from 20-24. I found the angles and the pattern folding in the actual DAT to be just as hard, or harder, than those in CDPAT. Everything else seemed to be on par. I substituted in a CDPAT test for the PAT section in each of the three Topscore practice exams.
QR (24): I didn't study all that much for this section. While I was a beta tester for datQvault, I completed all of the tests, and found them to be a great representation of the material on the actual exam (Qvault may have been slightly harder). Additionally, I did about 50 problems from the 2012 DAT Destroyer and was sure to learn from all of my mistakes on that and the Topscore exams. The key here is to not waste time continuing to practice problems you already know how to solve (which seems obvious, but is an easy mistake to make). Learn from mistakes, clarify problems that are challenging, and when you come to a question that stumps you on the real thing, GUESS, MARK, and MOVE ON!!!
RC (22): I did two full length practices for this section. The RC section from Topscore seemed pretty on in terms of difficulty, however, I did have a few tone questions on the actual exam. My strategy consisted of reading the entire passage and writing down two or three key words from each paragraph. I used the last 7 minutes of my break to set up columns labeled with numbers 1-15 corresponding to the passage paragraph numbers, which seemed to be a decent strategy.
BIO (24): My major helped for this section, however, I still had to study balls to the wall here. I haven't taken Anatomy or Physiology, so much of my time was spent exposing myself to that new material. In the first two weeks, I did 3 datQvault exams to gauge where I needed to focus my effort. My predicted scores were all 17 or 18, and after 2 weeks of studying the Chem sections, I decided it was time to conquer the beast. I spent the next 4 weeks going section by section through Cliff's AP Bio and the 2009 Kaplan Review Notes. ***I found it vital to use both, as each was missing information the other contained. Additionally, having Wikipedia and youtube open for reference was extremely helpful for clarification. Finally, I kept a copy of Alan's Notes open on my computer, adding sections, information, and important figures as I went. This 50 page monster was the only thing I studied from in the last 2 weeks. By that time, the final 7 datQvault scores predicted anywhere from 22-24 DAT scores, although Topscore was not quite as optimistic (18-20). Topscore did not seem to be a great predictor of score, though it was effective at pointing out weaknesses. I wouldn't be too worried about the extremely specific classification questions on the Topscore exams, as the one classification question on had on the real thing was very straightforward.
GC (20): This score is something I could see coming as my DAT approached. I spent my first two weeks of study watching and taking meticulous notes on every one of Chad's videos, following each video with the corresponding quiz. I kept all of these notes in a binder, and shoved it aside to make way for the next 4 weeks of bio study. I can't say this was a total mistake, but I definitely did not leave myself enough time to go back over the notes and quizzes in the final 2 weeks. I feel like I didn't do justice to the quality of Chad's notes, but I suppose something has to give, and for me that happened to be the amount of GC study. I also did the first 250 problems in the 2012 Destroyer, which I found to be really helpful. The main lesson I learned here is to always keep topics fresh in your mind, even if all that means is setting aside 15 or 20 minutes per night to look over notes and keep "older" ideas fresh.
OC (25): Almost an identical story to GC, as Chad's videos, note-taking, and quizzes were all completed within the first 2 weeks of study. The final 3 weeks were spent doing the first 250 problems in Destroyer and redoing Chad's quizzes. My strategy here was basically to make a notecard for almost every important reaction from Chad's notes, the Topscore exams, and from datQvault. I did all of Chad's quizzes over again in the last week. As the exam neared, I culled my stack of notecards down to around 30 that were still not completely solid in my head. By exam day, I felt well prepared. Again, nearly all of the information you will need is concisely and clearly presented in Chad's videos for $30!!!... undoubtedly the highest return on investment, imho.
Upshot: I am convinced that anybody who is willing to throw down and study like a madman/woman is capable of scoring well on this exam. Utilize your friends and family to maintain your composure, surround yourself with the materials recommended on SDN, and the results will follow. If I missed anything, or if anybody has specific questions, just let me know. Best of luck to those still studying!!
24 QR
22 RC
24 BIO
20 GC
25 OC
23 TS
23 AA
First things: I posted my scores last week as I left for spring break, so that part might be redundant. Considering how much I referenced the SDN forum during the 2 months of study, I hope I can help at least somebody with a more complete break down. Thank you all again for the openness and help whenever I needed a hand.
Study time: 2 months (first 2 weeks while taking a class and working full time, and the last 6 weeks during a full semester. Just in case anybody has doubts about whether its possible to study during the semester, I have still been able to make midterm A's. It definitely required an unusual amount of time, focus, and determination, but this is one of those things worth sacrificing for. (On a side note, I also unknowingly lost 15 pounds from a healthy 185, which my family pointed out when I finally came back home for break.)
Prep Materials:
***CHADS VIDEOS*** (10/10)
-CHADS Quizzes (10/10)
-2012 DAT Destroyer (10/10)
-Alan's Bio Notes, heavily modified to 50 pages (10/10) (Can be found here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=968243)
-Cliff's AP Biology (9/10)
-datQvault (9/10)
-CrackDAT PAT, Ace Edition (9/10)
-Topscore Practice Exams (9/10)
-Kaplan White Review Notes Book (8/10)
-2009 ADA Paid Exam (7/10)
PAT (23): Studying for this section consisted almost entirely of CDPAT. I purchased the 10-test Ace edition, which I found to be more than enough practice. My scores started around 17, and by the last six, I was scoring anywhere from 20-24. I found the angles and the pattern folding in the actual DAT to be just as hard, or harder, than those in CDPAT. Everything else seemed to be on par. I substituted in a CDPAT test for the PAT section in each of the three Topscore practice exams.
QR (24): I didn't study all that much for this section. While I was a beta tester for datQvault, I completed all of the tests, and found them to be a great representation of the material on the actual exam (Qvault may have been slightly harder). Additionally, I did about 50 problems from the 2012 DAT Destroyer and was sure to learn from all of my mistakes on that and the Topscore exams. The key here is to not waste time continuing to practice problems you already know how to solve (which seems obvious, but is an easy mistake to make). Learn from mistakes, clarify problems that are challenging, and when you come to a question that stumps you on the real thing, GUESS, MARK, and MOVE ON!!!
RC (22): I did two full length practices for this section. The RC section from Topscore seemed pretty on in terms of difficulty, however, I did have a few tone questions on the actual exam. My strategy consisted of reading the entire passage and writing down two or three key words from each paragraph. I used the last 7 minutes of my break to set up columns labeled with numbers 1-15 corresponding to the passage paragraph numbers, which seemed to be a decent strategy.
BIO (24): My major helped for this section, however, I still had to study balls to the wall here. I haven't taken Anatomy or Physiology, so much of my time was spent exposing myself to that new material. In the first two weeks, I did 3 datQvault exams to gauge where I needed to focus my effort. My predicted scores were all 17 or 18, and after 2 weeks of studying the Chem sections, I decided it was time to conquer the beast. I spent the next 4 weeks going section by section through Cliff's AP Bio and the 2009 Kaplan Review Notes. ***I found it vital to use both, as each was missing information the other contained. Additionally, having Wikipedia and youtube open for reference was extremely helpful for clarification. Finally, I kept a copy of Alan's Notes open on my computer, adding sections, information, and important figures as I went. This 50 page monster was the only thing I studied from in the last 2 weeks. By that time, the final 7 datQvault scores predicted anywhere from 22-24 DAT scores, although Topscore was not quite as optimistic (18-20). Topscore did not seem to be a great predictor of score, though it was effective at pointing out weaknesses. I wouldn't be too worried about the extremely specific classification questions on the Topscore exams, as the one classification question on had on the real thing was very straightforward.
GC (20): This score is something I could see coming as my DAT approached. I spent my first two weeks of study watching and taking meticulous notes on every one of Chad's videos, following each video with the corresponding quiz. I kept all of these notes in a binder, and shoved it aside to make way for the next 4 weeks of bio study. I can't say this was a total mistake, but I definitely did not leave myself enough time to go back over the notes and quizzes in the final 2 weeks. I feel like I didn't do justice to the quality of Chad's notes, but I suppose something has to give, and for me that happened to be the amount of GC study. I also did the first 250 problems in the 2012 Destroyer, which I found to be really helpful. The main lesson I learned here is to always keep topics fresh in your mind, even if all that means is setting aside 15 or 20 minutes per night to look over notes and keep "older" ideas fresh.
OC (25): Almost an identical story to GC, as Chad's videos, note-taking, and quizzes were all completed within the first 2 weeks of study. The final 3 weeks were spent doing the first 250 problems in Destroyer and redoing Chad's quizzes. My strategy here was basically to make a notecard for almost every important reaction from Chad's notes, the Topscore exams, and from datQvault. I did all of Chad's quizzes over again in the last week. As the exam neared, I culled my stack of notecards down to around 30 that were still not completely solid in my head. By exam day, I felt well prepared. Again, nearly all of the information you will need is concisely and clearly presented in Chad's videos for $30!!!... undoubtedly the highest return on investment, imho.
Upshot: I am convinced that anybody who is willing to throw down and study like a madman/woman is capable of scoring well on this exam. Utilize your friends and family to maintain your composure, surround yourself with the materials recommended on SDN, and the results will follow. If I missed anything, or if anybody has specific questions, just let me know. Best of luck to those still studying!!
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