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Well guys first of all I'm not french nor have I taken any french since highschool...thought I'd just throw that in there...
But now about the DAT. Earlier in the summer I took the DAT for my first time and didn't do nearly as well as I wanted. I think I just wasn't able to focus and put enough time into studying because of classes and finals and whatnot. But anyways...yesterday I took them for a second time and here are the old and new scores.
-------------------------------May------------------Septepmber
Perceptual Ability---------------18------------------20
Quantitative Reasoning----------16------------------19
Reading Comprehension----------18-----------------18
Biology--------------------------19-----------------23
Gen Chem-----------------------20-----------------20
Organic Chem-------------------19------------------22
Total Science-------------------19------------------21
Academic Average---------------18------------------20
But anyways those are my scores and I am just happy to be done! (even though summer is already over and I've already been in school for a week). I applied in mid June, so now I just have to let the schools know that they should be expecting the new scores
If you guys would like a breakdown I'd be more than happy to post one I just need to know if anyone would like one. Because I am used to seeing 23 AA's here on SDN, I am not sure if this is breakdown-worthy.
One other thing I just wanna say thanks for everyone who gave me good advice on here or answered any of my questions. And thank you to all of the people who keep us re-takers motivated to study and keep moving forward!
Here by popular demand...this is my breakdown
PAT
If you haven't already, make the purchase of your life and just get CDP. Although I was averaging a 22-23 on these tests, its as close to the real thing as you can get. Everything was pretty much on the same level except angles and keyholes were a tad more difficult on the actual
DAT.
QR
If you have any difficulty with this section I strongly recommend getting Math Destroyer. The actual DAT is EXTREMELY similar to problems found on this section. As for the calculator, it is a bit laggy but overall I think it helps a ton. The way I practiced was timed myself using an online stopwatch and did a test a day. I would mark the problems that I had missed and make sure I understood them. Each day before I started the new test I would go over EVERY problem that I marked....by test 11 you end up doing like 60 problems before your test. Also, I used the onscreen calculator on windows to simulate the DAT's calculator. That seemed to get me used to using the mouse for the calculator. One other thing that is small but would have made a big difference is I should have practiced using markers and dry erase boards. For some reason I was able to write much faster with a pencil and erase as opposed to the dry erase markers. But anyways...that's the way I studied for this section.
RC
I had two science based questions which were a little tough. Then when my third passage popped up I saw the title and it was "The Piano" .............. My heart started racing but I had to keep going. I actually found this passage quite interesting and didn't think the questions were that difficult. I probably missed more questions on the other passage believe it or not. It has a lot of information in it, but you can use simple S&D to tackle it without much difficulty.
Biology
I am pretty happy with my biology score. I do believe it had its fair share of random questions, but nothing that I couldn't eliminate choices. The way I studied this section was I read through KBB and made sure I understood all the bold terms. Also, I found these biology, chemistry and ochem study guides that a few people posted on an MCAT forum. I read these notes about 2 days before the test and found that many of the questions could be found directly in these notes. If I can figure it out I would be more than happy to upload these bad boys for you guys b/c I think they are a great resource.
Gen Chem
Didn't improve..ohh well. I took notes on Chad's and studied those until I knew them cold. I did about 10 questions from destroyer and realized I was wasting my time. Overall the questions were not hard and no difficult math was needed.
O-Chem
Chad's is a must for this section. I took notes and studied them like no other. Understand the basics. ALSO i cannot stress how much DAT Destroyer helped me with this sections. While the problems are much more difficult, they really do help. In fact, one question I had on this section was DIRECTLY from destroyer....weird...
But anyways to you guys retaking, you can do it and just keep pushing through. Just when you think you cannot study anymore, read about 100 more pages...it can only help. I hope this gives you some hope, but anyone is capable of doing well on this exam.
Good Luck Guys!!
But now about the DAT. Earlier in the summer I took the DAT for my first time and didn't do nearly as well as I wanted. I think I just wasn't able to focus and put enough time into studying because of classes and finals and whatnot. But anyways...yesterday I took them for a second time and here are the old and new scores.
-------------------------------May------------------Septepmber
Perceptual Ability---------------18------------------20
Quantitative Reasoning----------16------------------19
Reading Comprehension----------18-----------------18
Biology--------------------------19-----------------23
Gen Chem-----------------------20-----------------20
Organic Chem-------------------19------------------22
Total Science-------------------19------------------21
Academic Average---------------18------------------20
But anyways those are my scores and I am just happy to be done! (even though summer is already over and I've already been in school for a week). I applied in mid June, so now I just have to let the schools know that they should be expecting the new scores
If you guys would like a breakdown I'd be more than happy to post one I just need to know if anyone would like one. Because I am used to seeing 23 AA's here on SDN, I am not sure if this is breakdown-worthy.
One other thing I just wanna say thanks for everyone who gave me good advice on here or answered any of my questions. And thank you to all of the people who keep us re-takers motivated to study and keep moving forward!
Here by popular demand...this is my breakdown
PAT
If you haven't already, make the purchase of your life and just get CDP. Although I was averaging a 22-23 on these tests, its as close to the real thing as you can get. Everything was pretty much on the same level except angles and keyholes were a tad more difficult on the actual
DAT.
QR
If you have any difficulty with this section I strongly recommend getting Math Destroyer. The actual DAT is EXTREMELY similar to problems found on this section. As for the calculator, it is a bit laggy but overall I think it helps a ton. The way I practiced was timed myself using an online stopwatch and did a test a day. I would mark the problems that I had missed and make sure I understood them. Each day before I started the new test I would go over EVERY problem that I marked....by test 11 you end up doing like 60 problems before your test. Also, I used the onscreen calculator on windows to simulate the DAT's calculator. That seemed to get me used to using the mouse for the calculator. One other thing that is small but would have made a big difference is I should have practiced using markers and dry erase boards. For some reason I was able to write much faster with a pencil and erase as opposed to the dry erase markers. But anyways...that's the way I studied for this section.
RC
I had two science based questions which were a little tough. Then when my third passage popped up I saw the title and it was "The Piano" .............. My heart started racing but I had to keep going. I actually found this passage quite interesting and didn't think the questions were that difficult. I probably missed more questions on the other passage believe it or not. It has a lot of information in it, but you can use simple S&D to tackle it without much difficulty.
Biology
I am pretty happy with my biology score. I do believe it had its fair share of random questions, but nothing that I couldn't eliminate choices. The way I studied this section was I read through KBB and made sure I understood all the bold terms. Also, I found these biology, chemistry and ochem study guides that a few people posted on an MCAT forum. I read these notes about 2 days before the test and found that many of the questions could be found directly in these notes. If I can figure it out I would be more than happy to upload these bad boys for you guys b/c I think they are a great resource.
Gen Chem
Didn't improve..ohh well. I took notes on Chad's and studied those until I knew them cold. I did about 10 questions from destroyer and realized I was wasting my time. Overall the questions were not hard and no difficult math was needed.
O-Chem
Chad's is a must for this section. I took notes and studied them like no other. Understand the basics. ALSO i cannot stress how much DAT Destroyer helped me with this sections. While the problems are much more difficult, they really do help. In fact, one question I had on this section was DIRECTLY from destroyer....weird...
But anyways to you guys retaking, you can do it and just keep pushing through. Just when you think you cannot study anymore, read about 100 more pages...it can only help. I hope this gives you some hope, but anyone is capable of doing well on this exam.
Good Luck Guys!!
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