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- Apr 7, 2011
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I just took my DAT this morning and the sense of relief I have just due to the fact that I am done studying and stressing about it is enormous! Thanks to all the people that have posted their results and breakdowns on these forums and for the positive and encouraging words about staying calm and believing in yourself. It can be done!
Warning, long post coming up! lol
Bio-22 (95.7%)
Gen Chem-21 (87.4%)
Ochem-23 (94.3%)
PAT- 20 (85.4%)
RC-28 (99.8%)
QR-20 (89.3%)
TS-22 (96%)
AA-23 (98.3%)
I am a Biochemistry major and my cumulative GPA is a 3.9 and my science GPA is a 3.8 so hopefully my scores will be enough to net me a few interviews!
Study Materials
Kaplan blue book, Cliff's AP Bio, Exam Kracker's MCAT books for Bio, Gen Chem, and Orgo, DATqvault.com, TOP Score practice tests.
The week leading up to my test I encountered the usual amount of panic about not feeling adequately prepared and the need to try and cram in random things at the last minute but that's just my personality type and the kind of student I am too. Overall I would say that establishing a strong foundation in the sciences whether it's through your undergrad classes, Chad's videos, or some compilation of general textbooks and resources is crucial and you can build from there by practicing and touching up your weak areas. You know yourself better than anyone else and even than any practice tests do so be sure and cover areas that you know are rough spots and get to where you feel confident in yourself about things.
I thoroughly went through the Exam Kracker's science books for the individual subjects tested by the DAT as a general refresher and overview of some science that I haven't had in a couple of years and they were very thorough and useful for the most part even though they are written for MCAT takers. I actually didn't go through all of Cliff's but rather used it to study up on certain areas that I was lacking in or felt unsure of like plants and other things. I've heard a lot of great things about it though so I'm sure there is more that I could have gained from a deeper studying of it. The Kaplan blue book also served to give a very general overview of main points in each subject and I just read through it casually while taking notes and focusing once again on things I didn't understand the first time through. I took the initial written test in the back of the book as my diagnostic exam and to get a feel for things and think I scored something like 16's across the boards in the sciences. Lol I also used the practice test on the cd in the book a couple of weeks later with some studying under my belt and did slightly better but not much. The TOP Score tests were great and I highly recommend them for anyone that does not already have them and is planning on taking their test soon. I took each test twice and went through them multiple times more section by section taking care to focus not only on the ones I got wrong, but why the other answers to things I got right didn't work and looking up things that still confused me. My only real "studying" for QR and RC came from the practice test that I took and my breakdown of types of problems I had trouble with and then figuring out how to set them up and solve them through other resources. My PAT was my weakest section and I know that if I had more practice and familiarity with things I could have brought it up as well, so I would strongly recommend dropping the money for Crack DAT PAT and getting a thorough grasp of how to do these. DATqvault was a very helpful site that I actually discovered through someone else on these boards a week or two before the actual test and it was very easy to use! I did the first 4 diagnostic exams on there and took notes over each one on the questions I missed.
Breakdown
Biology (22): This section is definitely the most daunting due to the sheer amount of information they have to draw questions from, but don't let that freak you out. Having a strong background in biology in general will serve you well here and you can't hold those freak questions that seem to come out of nowhere against yourself. The EK book I used was very helpful, but the thing I really think helped me most in this section was just genuinely taking an interest in the subject and self-researching topics that ADA posts as fair-game to be tested over. All of the resources I listed were very helpful, so whatever you have available and works for you should be fine.
Gen Chem (21): Top Score was much more difficult than the actual thing in regards to the complexity of the calculations you were required to do. Most of the problems that required a set up had their answers listed in a fraction form that just required you knowing how to set things up. The EK book for chemistry was once again very helpful for this section, and I actually pulled out old Gen Chem lecture notes towards the end of my studying to brush up a little. Of course I'm sure being a Gen Chem TA this whole year helped keep things fresh in my mind as well.
Organic (23): I think it was the EK audio osmosis that said this, but "organic is nothing to stress yourself out about. Only the very basics of Organic are tested." So long as you know basic reaction mechanisms, functional groups, and a random handful of named equations then you should be able to figure out the vast majority of these problems. I remember reading that IR and NMR spectroscopy are big deals, but I think that just depends on the test you get. Flash cards are your friend for this kind of stuff even if you don't normally use them!
I usually finished TOP score tests with about 25 minutes left or so but on the real thing I had about 15 minutes left and went back through all the ones I had marked before moving on.
PAT (20): Like I said before, I didn't really get much practice with this and could kick myself for not getting Crack DAT PAT, but what's done is done. I was actually getting 20-23's on TOP score in this section so I don't really know what my deal was. One thing I can say is I hate you angles!!! lol I referred to the awesome "My super sick PAT tutorial" thread on these forums for some starting points in relation to each section but I think this is one of those areas that the best way to improve is just practice, practice, practice! I finished the PAT section with 3 or 4 minutes to spare and was so frustrated with the angle ranking that I just wanted to take my break and forget about it already.
RC (28): Oh my gosh, I was so freaking pumped when I saw the 28 in this section! lol The first 15 years of my life that I spent indoors hunched over a book 8 hours a day has finally payed off I guess. I didn't have too many tone questions, but as long as you could understand the main point of the article then you should do fine on this. I also owe a huge thank you to my biochem professor on this one for a couple of reasons. First because of the ridiculously long research articles we are required to read and do a presentation over each week, and secondly for the subject material. I had two passages that were directly over topics I had on my most recent Biochem exam! lol I was pleasantly surprised at how the length of the articles and how quickly I went through them. It's always helpful when you can take interest in what you are reading because it helps you read faster and also to retain information better. I finished this one with about 10 minutes left and only had 1 marked so that's probably one that I missed I guess. lol
QR (20): This section is definitely the home stretch of the test where you just have to dig in and push through it! The difficulty of the problems wasn't bad, but I did have an awful lot of word problems that required a set up and more often than not me staring at the screen manipulating numbers for awhile. I was the most pressed for time on this section and actually finished the last one with about 45 seconds to spare so I just didn't even try to review things. Know your trig functions (even though I think I only had one question about them) and just practice using the windows calculator and getting your time down.
My testing facility was very nice and the markers, eraser, and writing sheet worked great! I took in the little foam ear plugs even though I had never used them before while practicing and was glad I did when it started getting more crowded later in the day. I almost had a heart attack while waiting for the score to be calculated and then it popped up with a little 15 question post test survey that I don't even remember reading the questions to because I answered it so quickly. lol I was ecstatic when I saw my scores, and just kind of sat there for a few seconds and let relief wash over me. It feels GREAT to be done, and I wish luck to all those still to take their tests! Believe in yourself, be confident in what you know and have prepared for, and don't let worry get the best of you!
Good luck and God bless!
Wyatt
Warning, long post coming up! lol
Bio-22 (95.7%)
Gen Chem-21 (87.4%)
Ochem-23 (94.3%)
PAT- 20 (85.4%)
RC-28 (99.8%)
QR-20 (89.3%)
TS-22 (96%)
AA-23 (98.3%)
I am a Biochemistry major and my cumulative GPA is a 3.9 and my science GPA is a 3.8 so hopefully my scores will be enough to net me a few interviews!
Study Materials
Kaplan blue book, Cliff's AP Bio, Exam Kracker's MCAT books for Bio, Gen Chem, and Orgo, DATqvault.com, TOP Score practice tests.
The week leading up to my test I encountered the usual amount of panic about not feeling adequately prepared and the need to try and cram in random things at the last minute but that's just my personality type and the kind of student I am too. Overall I would say that establishing a strong foundation in the sciences whether it's through your undergrad classes, Chad's videos, or some compilation of general textbooks and resources is crucial and you can build from there by practicing and touching up your weak areas. You know yourself better than anyone else and even than any practice tests do so be sure and cover areas that you know are rough spots and get to where you feel confident in yourself about things.
I thoroughly went through the Exam Kracker's science books for the individual subjects tested by the DAT as a general refresher and overview of some science that I haven't had in a couple of years and they were very thorough and useful for the most part even though they are written for MCAT takers. I actually didn't go through all of Cliff's but rather used it to study up on certain areas that I was lacking in or felt unsure of like plants and other things. I've heard a lot of great things about it though so I'm sure there is more that I could have gained from a deeper studying of it. The Kaplan blue book also served to give a very general overview of main points in each subject and I just read through it casually while taking notes and focusing once again on things I didn't understand the first time through. I took the initial written test in the back of the book as my diagnostic exam and to get a feel for things and think I scored something like 16's across the boards in the sciences. Lol I also used the practice test on the cd in the book a couple of weeks later with some studying under my belt and did slightly better but not much. The TOP Score tests were great and I highly recommend them for anyone that does not already have them and is planning on taking their test soon. I took each test twice and went through them multiple times more section by section taking care to focus not only on the ones I got wrong, but why the other answers to things I got right didn't work and looking up things that still confused me. My only real "studying" for QR and RC came from the practice test that I took and my breakdown of types of problems I had trouble with and then figuring out how to set them up and solve them through other resources. My PAT was my weakest section and I know that if I had more practice and familiarity with things I could have brought it up as well, so I would strongly recommend dropping the money for Crack DAT PAT and getting a thorough grasp of how to do these. DATqvault was a very helpful site that I actually discovered through someone else on these boards a week or two before the actual test and it was very easy to use! I did the first 4 diagnostic exams on there and took notes over each one on the questions I missed.
Breakdown
Biology (22): This section is definitely the most daunting due to the sheer amount of information they have to draw questions from, but don't let that freak you out. Having a strong background in biology in general will serve you well here and you can't hold those freak questions that seem to come out of nowhere against yourself. The EK book I used was very helpful, but the thing I really think helped me most in this section was just genuinely taking an interest in the subject and self-researching topics that ADA posts as fair-game to be tested over. All of the resources I listed were very helpful, so whatever you have available and works for you should be fine.
Gen Chem (21): Top Score was much more difficult than the actual thing in regards to the complexity of the calculations you were required to do. Most of the problems that required a set up had their answers listed in a fraction form that just required you knowing how to set things up. The EK book for chemistry was once again very helpful for this section, and I actually pulled out old Gen Chem lecture notes towards the end of my studying to brush up a little. Of course I'm sure being a Gen Chem TA this whole year helped keep things fresh in my mind as well.
Organic (23): I think it was the EK audio osmosis that said this, but "organic is nothing to stress yourself out about. Only the very basics of Organic are tested." So long as you know basic reaction mechanisms, functional groups, and a random handful of named equations then you should be able to figure out the vast majority of these problems. I remember reading that IR and NMR spectroscopy are big deals, but I think that just depends on the test you get. Flash cards are your friend for this kind of stuff even if you don't normally use them!
I usually finished TOP score tests with about 25 minutes left or so but on the real thing I had about 15 minutes left and went back through all the ones I had marked before moving on.
PAT (20): Like I said before, I didn't really get much practice with this and could kick myself for not getting Crack DAT PAT, but what's done is done. I was actually getting 20-23's on TOP score in this section so I don't really know what my deal was. One thing I can say is I hate you angles!!! lol I referred to the awesome "My super sick PAT tutorial" thread on these forums for some starting points in relation to each section but I think this is one of those areas that the best way to improve is just practice, practice, practice! I finished the PAT section with 3 or 4 minutes to spare and was so frustrated with the angle ranking that I just wanted to take my break and forget about it already.
RC (28): Oh my gosh, I was so freaking pumped when I saw the 28 in this section! lol The first 15 years of my life that I spent indoors hunched over a book 8 hours a day has finally payed off I guess. I didn't have too many tone questions, but as long as you could understand the main point of the article then you should do fine on this. I also owe a huge thank you to my biochem professor on this one for a couple of reasons. First because of the ridiculously long research articles we are required to read and do a presentation over each week, and secondly for the subject material. I had two passages that were directly over topics I had on my most recent Biochem exam! lol I was pleasantly surprised at how the length of the articles and how quickly I went through them. It's always helpful when you can take interest in what you are reading because it helps you read faster and also to retain information better. I finished this one with about 10 minutes left and only had 1 marked so that's probably one that I missed I guess. lol
QR (20): This section is definitely the home stretch of the test where you just have to dig in and push through it! The difficulty of the problems wasn't bad, but I did have an awful lot of word problems that required a set up and more often than not me staring at the screen manipulating numbers for awhile. I was the most pressed for time on this section and actually finished the last one with about 45 seconds to spare so I just didn't even try to review things. Know your trig functions (even though I think I only had one question about them) and just practice using the windows calculator and getting your time down.
My testing facility was very nice and the markers, eraser, and writing sheet worked great! I took in the little foam ear plugs even though I had never used them before while practicing and was glad I did when it started getting more crowded later in the day. I almost had a heart attack while waiting for the score to be calculated and then it popped up with a little 15 question post test survey that I don't even remember reading the questions to because I answered it so quickly. lol I was ecstatic when I saw my scores, and just kind of sat there for a few seconds and let relief wash over me. It feels GREAT to be done, and I wish luck to all those still to take their tests! Believe in yourself, be confident in what you know and have prepared for, and don't let worry get the best of you!
Good luck and God bless!
Wyatt
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