- Joined
- Apr 1, 2013
- Messages
- 1,135
- Reaction score
- 249
Yay, Just took my DAT this morning. I hope I am done with it. Need your advice.
Here is my breakdown. This might be a bit long.
First, my scores:
PAT 18 (72.2) relief
QR 16 (65.3)
RC 20 (78.5)
BIO 20 (91.8)
GC 22 (95.2)
OC 25 (98.4)
TS 21 (96.2)
AA 21 (97.2)
First want to thank everybody on this side of SDN. You guys are great. lilfavor, Eugeniager, GatorD, Glimmer, and countless other people I may be forgetting.You guys have all been helpful.
Study schedule:
I work during the week, so I studied for mostly 6 hours a day, M-F, for about 5 weeks. On the weekends, I took it up to about 10 hours a day. I started using the dentalworks study program, but then I deviated from it and started using Jimpanzee's study program. I tried to cover every section a day, but that didn't always happen. Whenever I felt low on energy, I just read some Cliffs, or listened to Chad's. Do what works for you in this respect.
Study Materials and how they reflected with my test:
Biology- Alan's Notes (8/10), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), Cliffs AP (9/10), Craig Savage Youtube Videos (7/10), BozemanBiology Youtube(8/10) DAT Destroyer (7/10), ExamKrackers 1001 questions(7/10, don't really need it, but girlfriend was studying for MCAT and it was free)
I focused the most on Biology, but as you can see, it was still my lowest science score. There is just way too much information for Biology. I went through Kaplan pretty fast and that was kind of useless. I read Cliff's AP maybe 4x front to cover. It wasn't until I started doing questions that I started to concentrate on the sections that I was lacking in. Using Youtube videos and Khan academy to to supplement information. I didn't have any questions on BIO that I was like "where did that come from"...No surprises. The questions aren't straightforward though, however, you can make educated guesses. Stuff that was covered: Lots of anatomy, metabolic processes, taxonomy, ecology. My test had 2 question on plants. The very high yield plant stuff. Nothing tricky.
Destroyer for biology was good in my opinion. I went through it twice. It wasn't as helpful to me as DAT Bootcamp questions though. DAT Bootcamp really helped me focus on what I needed help on. Topscore was also somewhat helpful.
I used Alan's notes to cram stuff in the night before the test.
As lilfavor said yesterday for Biology, Cliff's doesn't have everything you need. Cliffs doesn't go that much in depth with anatomy. I managed to get by because I have taken many upper level biology courses. Many people say to use Campbell's as well. I would do that if I were to restart studying.
General Chemistry- Chads Videos (10/10), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10),
I think everyone on SDN says this, but I will say it again. Chad's is freaking awesome. It is pretty much all you need for information. CHADS CHADS CHADS CHADS.Chad is all you need. Destroyer was way overkill on this. In fact, I don't think it benefited me that much. The real test is much more conceptual. Not that much calculations. I felt that I wasted much time on this. That's where BOOTCAMP comes in. I did most of my learning with the questions that I missed on Bootcamp. Ari does a great job here. He tests you on concepts that you need to know for the test. In fact, I went through a bootcamp practice test(2) this morning this morning that I had previously made a 16 on just to review the concepts again. I missed many questions on that practice test because I didn't understand the concepts. I did Destroyer 1.5 times just for the sake of doing it. My test was very conceptual. Maybe 60% concepts and 40% calculations.
Organic Chemistry- Chads Videos (10/10), DAT Bootcamp(10/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10)
OChem is one of those subjects that just clicks for me. I didn't study much for Ochem. Chad is pretty good for this as well. I did Destroyer once and again, it was too much overkill for the test. I didn't memorize the reactions in the middle of Destroyer because if you somewhat understand the main mechanisms, you can pretty much figure out many reactions even with some reagents you haven't seen. This section seemed like a joke to me.
PAT- CDP (7/10)
Again, like lilfavor said yesterday, CDP is just too easy. I should have done what everybody else said and gotten DAT Achiever for PAT or QVault for PAT. I thought I had failed this section while I was going through it. Everything on CDP seemed easier to me than my PAT test. Only thing that may have been similar was angle ranking. Hole punching wasn't bad as long as you use the Line of Symmetry on Youtube. I'm pretty sure that I got all the hole punching questions right. Like I said, CDP was way too easy. I had never been happy to see an 18 before. I really thought I had gotten a 10 on it.
RC- Topscore(7/10)
I didn't really study for this section much. If you can read, you should be fine on this section. I did two Topscore RC tests, and I left it at that. Topscore was way too much S&D. The reat test has some tone and inference questions. No strategy used. I had 3 science passages, so some of those questions, I could answer without much reading.
QR- Math Destroyer (10/10), DAT Destroyer QR section(8/10)
The part that I need your advice. I didn't study much for this part and I should have. Hating myself for it. I just did 1 practice test and I should have done more. I went through QR section in DAT Destroyer and that was too easy. I did a Bootcamp practice test and got a 19 and a topscore practice test and got a 20. I decided that I was done studying for QR. Big mistake for me. I hadn't looked at QR in over 2 weeks. I told myself this morning that I would just review equations during my break. Obviously, even if you take study materials to Prometrics, you may not look at it during your break. So I freaked out a little. I started the QR section of the test, and about halfway through the test, I realized that I could use a calculator. I wasted much time on the initial questions trying to solve fractions and decimals by hand. I never finished the test. I had to guess on the last 10 questions. All questions were doable with just more time. I only did 2 tests in Math Destroyer. Should have done more. Math Destroyer is pretty good for math.
-----------------
Special Notes:
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
This is freaking awesome. I seriously wouldn't have done as well in sciences if it weren't for Bootcamp. GC conceptual questions he had pretty much came up on my test. Know these very well, and you should be good. After going through Destroyer, I could do the math on GC pretty well, but I never really understood the basic concepts. Destroyer doesn't test you much on the concepts. Bootcamp does. Same with Bio and Orgo. The way Ari asks questions on Bootcamp is very similar wording wise. In fact, I think Bootcamp may have been slightly harder than my test. I wish I had done more than one QR tests though. I have myself to blame for that and I hope I don't regret it too much.However, I can't thank Ari and the people of Bootcamp enough.
Practice Test Scores
DAT Bootcamp
Bio-18/20/18/16/18
GC-19/16/18/22/18
OC-18/22/20/18/22
QR-19/X/X/X/X
Topscore
Bio-17/19/18
GC-20/19/20
OC-22/22/22
QR-20/X/X
Again, thanks to everyone here on the DAT section of SDN. You guys are very helpful.
PS: I was kinda surprised that I made a 21 on TS with scores of 25, 22, 20. I guess it's not an average?
I know some people are going to say I don't need to worry, but I really am nervous about this QR score. I shouldn't have to retake, right? I hope I don't. I may just adjust to where I apply. Need your advice. Thank you and good luck in your studies. I am available for questions.
Here is my breakdown. This might be a bit long.
First, my scores:
PAT 18 (72.2) relief
QR 16 (65.3)
RC 20 (78.5)
BIO 20 (91.8)
GC 22 (95.2)
OC 25 (98.4)
TS 21 (96.2)
AA 21 (97.2)
First want to thank everybody on this side of SDN. You guys are great. lilfavor, Eugeniager, GatorD, Glimmer, and countless other people I may be forgetting.You guys have all been helpful.
Study schedule:
I work during the week, so I studied for mostly 6 hours a day, M-F, for about 5 weeks. On the weekends, I took it up to about 10 hours a day. I started using the dentalworks study program, but then I deviated from it and started using Jimpanzee's study program. I tried to cover every section a day, but that didn't always happen. Whenever I felt low on energy, I just read some Cliffs, or listened to Chad's. Do what works for you in this respect.
Study Materials and how they reflected with my test:
Biology- Alan's Notes (8/10), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), Cliffs AP (9/10), Craig Savage Youtube Videos (7/10), BozemanBiology Youtube(8/10) DAT Destroyer (7/10), ExamKrackers 1001 questions(7/10, don't really need it, but girlfriend was studying for MCAT and it was free)
I focused the most on Biology, but as you can see, it was still my lowest science score. There is just way too much information for Biology. I went through Kaplan pretty fast and that was kind of useless. I read Cliff's AP maybe 4x front to cover. It wasn't until I started doing questions that I started to concentrate on the sections that I was lacking in. Using Youtube videos and Khan academy to to supplement information. I didn't have any questions on BIO that I was like "where did that come from"...No surprises. The questions aren't straightforward though, however, you can make educated guesses. Stuff that was covered: Lots of anatomy, metabolic processes, taxonomy, ecology. My test had 2 question on plants. The very high yield plant stuff. Nothing tricky.
Destroyer for biology was good in my opinion. I went through it twice. It wasn't as helpful to me as DAT Bootcamp questions though. DAT Bootcamp really helped me focus on what I needed help on. Topscore was also somewhat helpful.
I used Alan's notes to cram stuff in the night before the test.
As lilfavor said yesterday for Biology, Cliff's doesn't have everything you need. Cliffs doesn't go that much in depth with anatomy. I managed to get by because I have taken many upper level biology courses. Many people say to use Campbell's as well. I would do that if I were to restart studying.
General Chemistry- Chads Videos (10/10), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10),
I think everyone on SDN says this, but I will say it again. Chad's is freaking awesome. It is pretty much all you need for information. CHADS CHADS CHADS CHADS.Chad is all you need. Destroyer was way overkill on this. In fact, I don't think it benefited me that much. The real test is much more conceptual. Not that much calculations. I felt that I wasted much time on this. That's where BOOTCAMP comes in. I did most of my learning with the questions that I missed on Bootcamp. Ari does a great job here. He tests you on concepts that you need to know for the test. In fact, I went through a bootcamp practice test(2) this morning this morning that I had previously made a 16 on just to review the concepts again. I missed many questions on that practice test because I didn't understand the concepts. I did Destroyer 1.5 times just for the sake of doing it. My test was very conceptual. Maybe 60% concepts and 40% calculations.
Organic Chemistry- Chads Videos (10/10), DAT Bootcamp(10/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10)
OChem is one of those subjects that just clicks for me. I didn't study much for Ochem. Chad is pretty good for this as well. I did Destroyer once and again, it was too much overkill for the test. I didn't memorize the reactions in the middle of Destroyer because if you somewhat understand the main mechanisms, you can pretty much figure out many reactions even with some reagents you haven't seen. This section seemed like a joke to me.
PAT- CDP (7/10)
Again, like lilfavor said yesterday, CDP is just too easy. I should have done what everybody else said and gotten DAT Achiever for PAT or QVault for PAT. I thought I had failed this section while I was going through it. Everything on CDP seemed easier to me than my PAT test. Only thing that may have been similar was angle ranking. Hole punching wasn't bad as long as you use the Line of Symmetry on Youtube. I'm pretty sure that I got all the hole punching questions right. Like I said, CDP was way too easy. I had never been happy to see an 18 before. I really thought I had gotten a 10 on it.
RC- Topscore(7/10)
I didn't really study for this section much. If you can read, you should be fine on this section. I did two Topscore RC tests, and I left it at that. Topscore was way too much S&D. The reat test has some tone and inference questions. No strategy used. I had 3 science passages, so some of those questions, I could answer without much reading.
QR- Math Destroyer (10/10), DAT Destroyer QR section(8/10)
The part that I need your advice. I didn't study much for this part and I should have. Hating myself for it. I just did 1 practice test and I should have done more. I went through QR section in DAT Destroyer and that was too easy. I did a Bootcamp practice test and got a 19 and a topscore practice test and got a 20. I decided that I was done studying for QR. Big mistake for me. I hadn't looked at QR in over 2 weeks. I told myself this morning that I would just review equations during my break. Obviously, even if you take study materials to Prometrics, you may not look at it during your break. So I freaked out a little. I started the QR section of the test, and about halfway through the test, I realized that I could use a calculator. I wasted much time on the initial questions trying to solve fractions and decimals by hand. I never finished the test. I had to guess on the last 10 questions. All questions were doable with just more time. I only did 2 tests in Math Destroyer. Should have done more. Math Destroyer is pretty good for math.
-----------------
Special Notes:
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
This is freaking awesome. I seriously wouldn't have done as well in sciences if it weren't for Bootcamp. GC conceptual questions he had pretty much came up on my test. Know these very well, and you should be good. After going through Destroyer, I could do the math on GC pretty well, but I never really understood the basic concepts. Destroyer doesn't test you much on the concepts. Bootcamp does. Same with Bio and Orgo. The way Ari asks questions on Bootcamp is very similar wording wise. In fact, I think Bootcamp may have been slightly harder than my test. I wish I had done more than one QR tests though. I have myself to blame for that and I hope I don't regret it too much.However, I can't thank Ari and the people of Bootcamp enough.
Practice Test Scores
DAT Bootcamp
Bio-18/20/18/16/18
GC-19/16/18/22/18
OC-18/22/20/18/22
QR-19/X/X/X/X
Topscore
Bio-17/19/18
GC-20/19/20
OC-22/22/22
QR-20/X/X
Again, thanks to everyone here on the DAT section of SDN. You guys are very helpful.
PS: I was kinda surprised that I made a 21 on TS with scores of 25, 22, 20. I guess it's not an average?
I know some people are going to say I don't need to worry, but I really am nervous about this QR score. I shouldn't have to retake, right? I hope I don't. I may just adjust to where I apply. Need your advice. Thank you and good luck in your studies. I am available for questions.
