- Joined
- May 19, 2014
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 6
28AA/28TS/27PAT
I discovered SDN a week back and joined in order to gain some insight before I took my exam today. I was not expecting my scores to be as good as they were. A lot on the exam was different than I saw in practice tests but that is probably just due to the differences in each DAT. Normally I wouldn't care to share my scores but I have an unconventional background and figured it might help someone in my situation.
Studying: I completed my basic sciences prior to the exam so I knew a lot of what was going to be on the exam. Luckily for me the DAT has nothing past organic chemistry otherwise I would have suffered. Here's how I prepped for each section plus how long I spent as well as the materials I used and bought.
Crack the DAT/PAT: Pretty good for the amount of tests. I took all of the tests that I could. Helped with timing.
Kaplan Course: This was so/so. I think it was decent to get some review stuff for all the content but not worth the money I shelled out for it. Best part was the flash cards I got with it.
Cliff's AP Bio and Feralis Notes: Read it. Read it. Read it again. Worth it.
DAT Destroyer: OVERKILL. Everything in here is much harder than the DAT. But if you can do these questions with a decent success rate you'll be fine for those parts on the DAT.
Chad's Videos and Quizzes: I didn't use this much but for the parts I messed on with DAT destroyer this definitely helped. This is the most golden thing out there for the Chemistries. Use and abuse it.
PAT: I spent only a couple days on this section outside of taking tests. Learning or figuring out methods is the only real content you have to know for this. This is I think what makes or breaks you. You either can visualize it or you can't. At least that's how I see it.
QR: Spent a couple days reviewing the basic properties as well as the trig functions and unit circle. Nothing here you can cram into your brain. Know your basic formulas.
RC: Didn't learn any methods or study for this outside of doing tests. I'm an avid reader and never have had an issue for these kind of problems.
BIO: Studied this first. Cliff's AP Biology and Feralis' Notes. I read through those a couple times to make sure I knew it and didn't look at it again till a couple days prior to my test. Feralis Notes are the best concise version of the notes out there in my opinion. If you are having trouble you might want to take your own notes on the Cliff's AP Biology and use those to help with remembering.
GC/OC: I did destroyer for these and used Chad's Videos to cover any gaps in knowledge. Keep in mind Destroyer is probably 2-3x harder than the DAT. The roadmaps in destroyer are wayyy too complex for the test.
Total studying time for me was about five to six days a week for 6 weeks, 8:30am - 6:00pm on those days. Although I definitely slacked off in the middle of that time and some days I didn't study the entire time. The majority of content you have to learn and retain is the Science part. So for anyone coming from a strong science background I'd say 6-8 weeks of review is plenty. If you aren't as strong in them and need to essentially relearn entire chunks of it you should probably go for 12-16 weeks. Don't skimp on knowing any areas of the sciences.
Crack DAT/PAT Scores:
PAT: 24/24/25/26/25/25
MATH: 23/26/25/23/27/28/27
RC: 28/26
BIO: 21/22/25/24
GC: 22/21/27/27
OC: 19/22/24/26
Kaplan Course Scores:
I will post these if someone wants to see them. For me these tests were a joke in comparison so I don't even count them.
Test Day and Experience: I scheduled my test for 12:30pm as I didn't want to be getting hungry for lunch towards the end like I would be for an 8am exam. Schedule your test for whenever you feel most comfortable. I got a call around 10:30am the day of the test from the center telling me if I wanted to come early and start that they were relatively empty and I could do that. The location was about 30 minutes away so I had a light lunch at 11ish and left around 11:30. I got there at 12:15 once I had parked and what not and then they had me put my snacks in a locker (Had a lock that I could use and keep the key till I was done) and keep out two forms of ID (Driver's License and Debit Card). They gave me some rules to read and had to wait a couple minutes till they called my name. Went in and they had me empty my pockets did a metal detector on me to make sure I had nothing hidden and did fingerprinting and a photo shoot and then gave me a computer and started. For scratch work they gave me two felt tipped black markers and two double sided lamenated pink pre-gridded sheets. Allowed me to easily set up for the hole punching during my tutorial time For my break I had some water and peanut butter crackers, used the restroom, and went back in. Had to take my IDs and key in and out of the test room with me and sign in and out along with my fingerprint too. Once I finished they took my sheets and fingerprints and gave me my score sheet and I was free. Now the breakdown per section.
Section(Time Used/Time Limit):
Tutorial(10/15): Set up my grids and got in the focusing mood. Also noticed when I switch sections it took a couple seconds to switch. I got a white screen for 5 seconds when I hit end on the tutorial and thought it froze. Happened every section change after.
Sciences(85/90):
PAT(60/60):
Break(10/15): Ate, drank, restroom. Recomposed myself as I knew the worst was over.
RC(30/60): Could have taken a nap with all the extra time I had. The passages I had were science based so nothing too out there. Read the passage and answered the questions. Only one question seemed tricky but it wasn’t impossible.
QR(30/45): Another fast section. Only got 2 real trig questions. The rest were mostly geometry or word problems. A few y=mx+b type problems. Nothing out of the ordinary. Calculator worked pretty fast. No delay at all. Although in hindsight anything I used the calculator for was purely to double check my mental math and estimations.
Survey(10/15): Did the survey and stared after I finished. Was scared to push the end button for a couple minutes. When I did I was surprised.
PAT:27
QR:30
RC:28
BIO:27
GC:29
OC:29
TS:28
AA:28
Glad I did so well. Also glad it's over. Should be less stressed about having a not so nice GPA when I apply. I kinda wish they listed my percentiles so I could see where I fall but I'm happy nonetheless.
Remember to take breaks and have fun. I went out and socialized almost every other day. You aren't a robot. Also make sure you use any resources you have and try not to cram. The two days before the test today I didn't do anything. Went to the gym. Ate some junk food. That's it.
Good luck!
Added a picture of my scores. Sorry for the shakiness. My hands are tired after today.
I discovered SDN a week back and joined in order to gain some insight before I took my exam today. I was not expecting my scores to be as good as they were. A lot on the exam was different than I saw in practice tests but that is probably just due to the differences in each DAT. Normally I wouldn't care to share my scores but I have an unconventional background and figured it might help someone in my situation.
Studying: I completed my basic sciences prior to the exam so I knew a lot of what was going to be on the exam. Luckily for me the DAT has nothing past organic chemistry otherwise I would have suffered. Here's how I prepped for each section plus how long I spent as well as the materials I used and bought.
Crack the DAT/PAT: Pretty good for the amount of tests. I took all of the tests that I could. Helped with timing.
Kaplan Course: This was so/so. I think it was decent to get some review stuff for all the content but not worth the money I shelled out for it. Best part was the flash cards I got with it.
Cliff's AP Bio and Feralis Notes: Read it. Read it. Read it again. Worth it.
DAT Destroyer: OVERKILL. Everything in here is much harder than the DAT. But if you can do these questions with a decent success rate you'll be fine for those parts on the DAT.
Chad's Videos and Quizzes: I didn't use this much but for the parts I messed on with DAT destroyer this definitely helped. This is the most golden thing out there for the Chemistries. Use and abuse it.
PAT: I spent only a couple days on this section outside of taking tests. Learning or figuring out methods is the only real content you have to know for this. This is I think what makes or breaks you. You either can visualize it or you can't. At least that's how I see it.
Keyhole: Learn to look at the relative size and angles of the object. Sometimes it's obvious it can only fit through one of the keyholes and sometimes you have to really consider one of two options.
TFE: I don't have a good method for this that would work for everyone. I noticed a couple methods on here but I never could get them down. I just kind of visualized it. It was pretty easy to elimate some of the choices and get it down to 1 or 2 options.
Angle: You can either see the differences in 1-2 degrees or you can't. No trick here.
Hole Punch: I learned the hole punch method from a nice clip (Shoutout to xjtrandx) I saw on here. Definitely helped me speed up my times and not make mistakes.
Cube Counting: I would just count faces and write the number down for each cube and then answer the questions using my tally of how many faces were painted. Worked for me. Remember any cubes that are above the first level of blocks have to have a support cube below them even if you can't see it.
Pattern Folding: I hated practicing this. These are the worst things to practice because the patterns are hard to see in your head sometimes. Some of the problems are obvious because theres a big part of the pattern that is shown and you have to just match the right angles and shape. But the ones that are stripes or alternating black and white are pretty annoying. All I can say is practice these a lot if you have trouble.
TFE: I don't have a good method for this that would work for everyone. I noticed a couple methods on here but I never could get them down. I just kind of visualized it. It was pretty easy to elimate some of the choices and get it down to 1 or 2 options.
Angle: You can either see the differences in 1-2 degrees or you can't. No trick here.
Hole Punch: I learned the hole punch method from a nice clip (Shoutout to xjtrandx) I saw on here. Definitely helped me speed up my times and not make mistakes.
Cube Counting: I would just count faces and write the number down for each cube and then answer the questions using my tally of how many faces were painted. Worked for me. Remember any cubes that are above the first level of blocks have to have a support cube below them even if you can't see it.
Pattern Folding: I hated practicing this. These are the worst things to practice because the patterns are hard to see in your head sometimes. Some of the problems are obvious because theres a big part of the pattern that is shown and you have to just match the right angles and shape. But the ones that are stripes or alternating black and white are pretty annoying. All I can say is practice these a lot if you have trouble.
QR: Spent a couple days reviewing the basic properties as well as the trig functions and unit circle. Nothing here you can cram into your brain. Know your basic formulas.
RC: Didn't learn any methods or study for this outside of doing tests. I'm an avid reader and never have had an issue for these kind of problems.
BIO: Studied this first. Cliff's AP Biology and Feralis' Notes. I read through those a couple times to make sure I knew it and didn't look at it again till a couple days prior to my test. Feralis Notes are the best concise version of the notes out there in my opinion. If you are having trouble you might want to take your own notes on the Cliff's AP Biology and use those to help with remembering.
GC/OC: I did destroyer for these and used Chad's Videos to cover any gaps in knowledge. Keep in mind Destroyer is probably 2-3x harder than the DAT. The roadmaps in destroyer are wayyy too complex for the test.
Total studying time for me was about five to six days a week for 6 weeks, 8:30am - 6:00pm on those days. Although I definitely slacked off in the middle of that time and some days I didn't study the entire time. The majority of content you have to learn and retain is the Science part. So for anyone coming from a strong science background I'd say 6-8 weeks of review is plenty. If you aren't as strong in them and need to essentially relearn entire chunks of it you should probably go for 12-16 weeks. Don't skimp on knowing any areas of the sciences.
Crack DAT/PAT Scores:
PAT: 24/24/25/26/25/25
MATH: 23/26/25/23/27/28/27
RC: 28/26
BIO: 21/22/25/24
GC: 22/21/27/27
OC: 19/22/24/26
Kaplan Course Scores:
I will post these if someone wants to see them. For me these tests were a joke in comparison so I don't even count them.
Test Day and Experience: I scheduled my test for 12:30pm as I didn't want to be getting hungry for lunch towards the end like I would be for an 8am exam. Schedule your test for whenever you feel most comfortable. I got a call around 10:30am the day of the test from the center telling me if I wanted to come early and start that they were relatively empty and I could do that. The location was about 30 minutes away so I had a light lunch at 11ish and left around 11:30. I got there at 12:15 once I had parked and what not and then they had me put my snacks in a locker (Had a lock that I could use and keep the key till I was done) and keep out two forms of ID (Driver's License and Debit Card). They gave me some rules to read and had to wait a couple minutes till they called my name. Went in and they had me empty my pockets did a metal detector on me to make sure I had nothing hidden and did fingerprinting and a photo shoot and then gave me a computer and started. For scratch work they gave me two felt tipped black markers and two double sided lamenated pink pre-gridded sheets. Allowed me to easily set up for the hole punching during my tutorial time For my break I had some water and peanut butter crackers, used the restroom, and went back in. Had to take my IDs and key in and out of the test room with me and sign in and out along with my fingerprint too. Once I finished they took my sheets and fingerprints and gave me my score sheet and I was free. Now the breakdown per section.
Section(Time Used/Time Limit):
Tutorial(10/15): Set up my grids and got in the focusing mood. Also noticed when I switch sections it took a couple seconds to switch. I got a white screen for 5 seconds when I hit end on the tutorial and thought it froze. Happened every section change after.
Sciences(85/90):
Biology was not what I was expecting. They had a few biome and taxonomy questions on there I wasn't expecting. No embryonic development or mitosis. Only one or two questions on DNA/RNA. A lot on organelles. A few on photosynthesis/respiration.
General Chemistry was pretty standard. Usual conversions. A couple balancing equations. Periodicity and trends. Enthalpy and Entropy questions. Nothing unusual.
Organic Chemistry was not anything like destroyer. The questions were pretty basic comparatively. Only a few 2-3 step synthesis problems. A lot on theory and concepts as well as standard reactions. Two or three lab questions.
General Chemistry was pretty standard. Usual conversions. A couple balancing equations. Periodicity and trends. Enthalpy and Entropy questions. Nothing unusual.
Organic Chemistry was not anything like destroyer. The questions were pretty basic comparatively. Only a few 2-3 step synthesis problems. A lot on theory and concepts as well as standard reactions. Two or three lab questions.
PAT(60/60):
Keyhole – I did these in order. Nothing fancy or weird. Easy elimination on some answer choices.
TFE – Skipped initially. When I came back it was nothing hard. A couple I had to think about but most of the answers could be ruled out from shape alone.
Angle – Skipped initially. I got back to this section with 15 mins left. Took 13 of that finishing this. Kaplan was much easier compared to these. Same level as Crack PAT. The answer choices can help you not waste time too.
Hole Punches – EASIEST part of the PAT. Follow the method here on SDN and you’ll be golden
Cube Counting – Nothing weird or hard.
Pattern Folding – The usual crap. No dice interestingly enough. Relatively annoying folds. One of the questions had two answers (both right) that were the exact same. Spent the last two minutes I had on that question looking over both answers to make sure there was no difference. Put C I think.
TFE – Skipped initially. When I came back it was nothing hard. A couple I had to think about but most of the answers could be ruled out from shape alone.
Angle – Skipped initially. I got back to this section with 15 mins left. Took 13 of that finishing this. Kaplan was much easier compared to these. Same level as Crack PAT. The answer choices can help you not waste time too.
Hole Punches – EASIEST part of the PAT. Follow the method here on SDN and you’ll be golden
Cube Counting – Nothing weird or hard.
Pattern Folding – The usual crap. No dice interestingly enough. Relatively annoying folds. One of the questions had two answers (both right) that were the exact same. Spent the last two minutes I had on that question looking over both answers to make sure there was no difference. Put C I think.
Break(10/15): Ate, drank, restroom. Recomposed myself as I knew the worst was over.
RC(30/60): Could have taken a nap with all the extra time I had. The passages I had were science based so nothing too out there. Read the passage and answered the questions. Only one question seemed tricky but it wasn’t impossible.
QR(30/45): Another fast section. Only got 2 real trig questions. The rest were mostly geometry or word problems. A few y=mx+b type problems. Nothing out of the ordinary. Calculator worked pretty fast. No delay at all. Although in hindsight anything I used the calculator for was purely to double check my mental math and estimations.
Survey(10/15): Did the survey and stared after I finished. Was scared to push the end button for a couple minutes. When I did I was surprised.
PAT:27
QR:30
RC:28
BIO:27
GC:29
OC:29
TS:28
AA:28
Glad I did so well. Also glad it's over. Should be less stressed about having a not so nice GPA when I apply. I kinda wish they listed my percentiles so I could see where I fall but I'm happy nonetheless.
Remember to take breaks and have fun. I went out and socialized almost every other day. You aren't a robot. Also make sure you use any resources you have and try not to cram. The two days before the test today I didn't do anything. Went to the gym. Ate some junk food. That's it.
Good luck!
Added a picture of my scores. Sorry for the shakiness. My hands are tired after today.
Last edited:
congratulations on those exceptional scores!
