- Joined
- Mar 9, 2011
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I am content with my scores andfeel that they will be a competitive contribution to my application. I took theDAT June 9th. I have been doing a lot of golfing lately to relax mymind after filling it with multiple flashcards and formulas. Here are my scoresand some tips and advice that I found helpful
PA 26 (99.6%)
QR 19 (91.2%)
RC 19 (52.2%)
BI 23 (97.4%)
GC 21 (87.0%)
OC 22 (90.4%)
TS 22 (95.6%)
AA 21 (93.4%)
The onemajor disappointing spot on my score would be my reading comprehension as youcan see. I found it much easier to do well on the section when the topics ofyour passages are interesting and enjoyable to read. Unfortunately, one of mypassages was on tones and wave patterns, and I struggled to get through it. Itwas the first of the three passages I had and may have started me off in a poordirection for that section. Other than that, I feel I was rewarded for my studyeffort.
Study strategy and plan. I used thesample study plan that is a sticky on this thread up top. The one negativething I could say about it was that at first I treated the tasks each day morelike a checklist rather than an opportunity to really study. I realized myblunder about week 3, and had to play a bit of catch-up to get to where I wantedto be. I also changed up the problems so that I was doing 40 bio, and 30 gen chem/o-chemquestions a day rather than the smaller amount outlined. I didnt do a prepcourse simply because I dont see the value. To me, a prep course is a key togetting your butt in a seat to study. You are paying good money to be there, soyou wont blow off studying to do something else. But if you have the motivationand self discipline to study no matter what, I would say save the money.
Materials Used.
PAT: I used the materials outlined in theabove thread. I loved Crack the PAT. It was the best recourse for me on thePAT. I do well with puzzles I guess, so the PAT was always an enjoyableexperience for me I averaged a 25 with crack the PAT. The hardest thing for methough was the angle ranking. But something that I found useful on the real DATwas that there were boxes outlining each angle individually. This was VERYhelpful and unexpected. It served as a great reference in relating angles to eachother. The advice I have for angles is to find the largest and smallest first,then look at the answers. If you are sure about the ends of the sequence andthere is only one answer that has those angles as high and low, go no further;there is your answer. If not, use the test to take the test. If three out ofthe four choices have angle 2 before angle 4, chances are 2 is smaller than 4.But during crack the DAT, I did find some examples where the correct answer wasagainst the probability. So I only do that when I have no clue. Everything elseon Crack the DAT is spot on.
BIO/GC/OC: I dida general review with KBB and AP bio. That was helpful for a simple drycoverall to help jog my memory about things forgotten. But the best thing I usedto study was DAT destroyer. The biosection is nothing like the real DAT, not even remotely. But there is so muchinformation in each question; I used the questions themselves to study. The explanationsare awesome and I learned a lot. It made the bio section on the DAT bearablefor me because it the questions were asked much easier. For example, DAT Destroyerhas almost all bio questions in the format, which statement is false? Eachstatement was random and detailed, and they were hard questions. But the DATquestions were much more straight forward. Which hormone is derived fromsteroids? (for example). Gen-chem Ihave always struggled with. My lowest grades in my coursework are in gen-chemat school and my lowest score (other than my botched RC) was gen-chem. Chadsvideos are the best recourse out there for both GC and OC. The hardest thingfor me in GC was knowing when to do what and which equation to use. Find somekeywords to help trigger your memory and compartmentalize the equations with thosekey words. OC was much moreconceptual than what I studied for. I spent a lot of time on reactions. Therewere about 5 sequences of reactions where you had to derive the product, butthat was about it. The majority was questions about pathways and reaction properties;the conceptual stuff. DAT Destroyer was again helpful for the sciences for me.
QR: I used mathdestroyer as my only recourse for math. I read on another thread that is was agreat recourse for the QR section. I was averaging a 22 on the practice tests.I thought that the DAT had much simpler math stuff that math destroyer asks. I tailoredmy studying too much to the types of questions asked on Math Destroyer. Nowthat I look back at it, Chads math videos were also very helpful especiallywith combinations, permutations, and probability. Know your trig functions. Iwish I scored better in this section.
Thebottom line is this. I firmly believe that for the most part, your scores willreflect your study effort and dedication. There will always be little hiccups inyou scores for one reason or another, i.e. my RC score. The biggest thing is timing and knowing where you are inrelation to the section. I gave myself 20 min for bio, 45 min for GC, and 25min for OC and never ran out of time for the 90 min. If you monitor yourself,you will do fine. My last 2 bits of advice would be this. 1, make and useflashcards! I walked 2 miles to school every day and used that time to studyflashcards. It was so surprising to me how much extra study time there is in aday when we dont waste time. 2, I wouldnt sit in your car minutes beforetaking your test cramming last second. Go into your test calm and focused, notworrying about stuffing all the extra info in your head that you can. You willdo better than you think. Sorry for grammar/spelling. Good luck to all. GoDodgers!!!!!
