- Joined
- Oct 13, 2006
- Messages
- 189
- Reaction score
- 35
So I took the DAT yesterday and I am extremely happy it is over. It was probably the most nervous I have ever been in my life when they make you fill out that survey at the end of the test before you get your scores. Anyway, the best resource for this test was this forum, it really is great. I studied for about two months, the first month about 4 hours a day 5 days a week, and the second month about 5 hours a day 5 days a week. I did not take a kaplan class or anything because I didnt really feel like it was worth the money and I study better on my own anyway.
Biology- Throughout this whole section I thought I was bombing it, the questions were very detailed, and for a lot of the quesitons, unlike topscore or achiever, they were not stragihtforward, you had to really think about the question and the best answer. I read through the kaplan book once for this section then moved on to destroyer and cliffs ap bio. I thought the ap bio book was the best for this section, it has a lot of detail, but not too much detail, and it is a lot easier to read and understand than schaums. I also had topscore and achiever. I used these as more of a study tool rather than practice tests. Topscore I was scoring 19-20 and achiever 16-17.
General chem- Some of the questions in this section confused me, but overall it wasn't too bad. Had maybe 5-8 calculations. I used the kaplan blue book, destroyer, acheiver and topscore for this section and all were extremely useful. Topscore I was scoring 19's and achiever 17-18.
Organic chem- Probably the easiest section of the sciences, destroyer and achiever were really good for this section, they really make you think. I also read through kaplan once for this section. Topscore I was scoring 18-20 and achiever I was scoring 16-18.
PAT- Probably my strongest section of the test. The actual test was 10 times easier than achievers pat which is way too hard. I think it was also easier than crack the dat pat, although i thought this was a great resource. The angles were not too bad, i think the most important thing to do for these questions is to eliminate answers by looking at the biggest and smallest angle. Barrons was probably the best book for this section, I didnt use it for anything else, but it gives you very good strategies, especially for the cubes, TFE, and angles. Topscore i was scoring 20-21, achiever I only took one pat test and scored 16 ( I didn't answer about 20 questions becuase I didn't have enough time), crack dat tests I was scoring 21-22.
RC- The strategy I used for this section was to read the whole passage once at the beginning. I read it fast but not too fast, I spent about 5 minutes reading it, and after that I moved on to the questions and spent about 15 minutes on them. I had no problem finishing this section in time, the most important thing for this section is time management. Took one aciever test and scored a 20.
QR- Like everyone else is saying, you do not have nearly enough time to finish this section, it was extremely frustrating. I thought I was going to score a 15 on this section. I probably guessed on ten of them and another 10 I narrowed the answers down and had to guess on them as well. I had quite a bit of trig and probability. I used mostly destroyer for this section. I only took two acheiver tests and score an 18 and a 20.
Throughout the test I thought i was doing bad, my advice to anyone taking it in the near future is to not freak out while your taking it, try and stay as calm as possible, and don't think about past sections, just stay focused on the questions at hand. Overall I am very pleased with my scores and am happy I do not have to take it again, and good luck to everyone taking it soon.
Bio- 22
General chem- 21
Organic chem- 21
PAT- 23
RC- 20
QR- 18
TS- 21
AA- 20
Biology- Throughout this whole section I thought I was bombing it, the questions were very detailed, and for a lot of the quesitons, unlike topscore or achiever, they were not stragihtforward, you had to really think about the question and the best answer. I read through the kaplan book once for this section then moved on to destroyer and cliffs ap bio. I thought the ap bio book was the best for this section, it has a lot of detail, but not too much detail, and it is a lot easier to read and understand than schaums. I also had topscore and achiever. I used these as more of a study tool rather than practice tests. Topscore I was scoring 19-20 and achiever 16-17.
General chem- Some of the questions in this section confused me, but overall it wasn't too bad. Had maybe 5-8 calculations. I used the kaplan blue book, destroyer, acheiver and topscore for this section and all were extremely useful. Topscore I was scoring 19's and achiever 17-18.
Organic chem- Probably the easiest section of the sciences, destroyer and achiever were really good for this section, they really make you think. I also read through kaplan once for this section. Topscore I was scoring 18-20 and achiever I was scoring 16-18.
PAT- Probably my strongest section of the test. The actual test was 10 times easier than achievers pat which is way too hard. I think it was also easier than crack the dat pat, although i thought this was a great resource. The angles were not too bad, i think the most important thing to do for these questions is to eliminate answers by looking at the biggest and smallest angle. Barrons was probably the best book for this section, I didnt use it for anything else, but it gives you very good strategies, especially for the cubes, TFE, and angles. Topscore i was scoring 20-21, achiever I only took one pat test and scored 16 ( I didn't answer about 20 questions becuase I didn't have enough time), crack dat tests I was scoring 21-22.
RC- The strategy I used for this section was to read the whole passage once at the beginning. I read it fast but not too fast, I spent about 5 minutes reading it, and after that I moved on to the questions and spent about 15 minutes on them. I had no problem finishing this section in time, the most important thing for this section is time management. Took one aciever test and scored a 20.
QR- Like everyone else is saying, you do not have nearly enough time to finish this section, it was extremely frustrating. I thought I was going to score a 15 on this section. I probably guessed on ten of them and another 10 I narrowed the answers down and had to guess on them as well. I had quite a bit of trig and probability. I used mostly destroyer for this section. I only took two acheiver tests and score an 18 and a 20.
Throughout the test I thought i was doing bad, my advice to anyone taking it in the near future is to not freak out while your taking it, try and stay as calm as possible, and don't think about past sections, just stay focused on the questions at hand. Overall I am very pleased with my scores and am happy I do not have to take it again, and good luck to everyone taking it soon.
Bio- 22
General chem- 21
Organic chem- 21
PAT- 23
RC- 20
QR- 18
TS- 21
AA- 20
