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I have finally finished my DAT! First and for most, I would like to thank everyone actively participating the forum. I always find it more helpful to post a question here than emailing my Kaplan teachers. In particular, I want to thank uclaDDS101 for his/her kind suggestions on pretty much everything that I asked. He set a legend probably none of us can beat, and yet his encouragement was throughout his breakdown post, which greatly influenced me on my own study.
All right, here is my score:
PAT: 28 (100%)
QR: 25 (97.4)
RC: 19 (53.3%)
Bio: 26 (99.6%)
GC: 21 (86.2%)
OC: 26 (97.7%)
TS: 23 (97.7%)
AA: 23 (97.9%)
I feel happy with my score. I tried to self study at the beginning and was really inefficient as I have so many obligations/excuses for not studying as planned. While being very desperate, I saw uclaDDS101's breakdown and asked him for advice. I took the Kaplan live online course from 12/2/09-2/3/10. I stuck to the course study schedule, which made the entire studying process least painful. Their online materials are very good, and I went through them all. While taking Kaplan's course, I studied about 4 hrs/day, 5-6 days/week. After Kaplan's course, I went over quickly Kaplan's review notes and then took practice tests every other day in the last two weeks or so. Besides kaplan's practice tests, I also bought Achiever and Topscore. Overall, I think Kaplan is best in terms of similarity to real DAT. Achiever is hard but it is also a better quality mock test software compared to Topscore. On the days that I didn't take practice tests, I took a CDP and a CDM. As RC is my weakest area, I got CDR a little late. I studied as much as I can during the last two weeks, maybe about 6 hrs/day, 6-7 days/wk (you definitely can tell that I am not efficient at studying, so I have to lengthen my study time). I compared my practice test results with ucla's, to see whether I was in a good shape. In case you are curious about my scores, they are:
(Test:-------PAT--QR--RC--Bio-GC--OC--TS--AA)
Kap Diag 18 -- 24 – 18 – 21 –23 – 21 —22—21
Kap Mid 24—23—18—24—24—25—24—23
Kap Final 25—30—19—22—28—28—26—25
Kap Test 2 25—25—21—24—21—21—22—22
Kap Test 3 23—29—25—29—19—23—24—25
Achiever 1 20—30—16—21—28—25—23—24
Achiever 2 20—24—18—19—19—19—19—20
TopScore1 24—25—22—22—21—20—22—22
TopScore 2 29—25—20—20—23—19—20—21
TopScore 3 28—30—22—19—25—28—22—25
Achiever 3 22—25—17—21—21—21—21—21
Kap Test 1 26—30—20—29—24—23—26—25
CDP: 22-21-21-23-25-25-28-25-26-26-(24)
CDM: 29-28-29-29-28-24-30-30-30-28
CDR: 20-19-18-20-19- 19-18-21-23-18
BIO: I went over Kaplan's review notes twice. Also took all Kaplan's online materials. I think it was very sufficient, except maybe immune system, vascular (including lymph) system and evolution. I supplemented those with Cliff's AP. I also used Alan's notes and made few changes according to my own weakness. Achiever likes to ask lots of questions in a twisted way (or maybe just for me since English is my 2nd language). In real DAT, all questions were very straightforward. There about 1-2 questions that I have no idea and 2 that I kind of know but have to guess a little. I only got one question related to classification, and it is very straightforward, unlike those seen in achiever or topscore.
GC: I just used Kaplan (review note and online tests) for this session. There is no hard calculation question in real DAT. There is one graph question that I wasn't sure whether I got it right (probably not). I was hoping to get better than what I got, oh well. In my hindsight, I probably should have gone through all the GC in destroyer, as some ppl really nailed their GC that way.
OC: Kaplan review note is good. DAT destroyer is good supplement. I think the key is to go over it before the test, so the memory is still fresh.
PAT: I started with Kaplan and went over all their online PAT materials while taking classes. Most questions were similar to real DAT, except maybe angles and hole punching. It gave me a very good sense of how to perceive conceptually. I then move onto CDP, and I think the first couples of test were really hard, especially in cube counting, hole punching, and some angle. I disregarded my poor performance on some cube countings as they were really ridiculous and I was right because cube counting in real DAT is very straight forward. I feel the later CDP tests were more realistic and may be more representative in terms of how well you will do in real DAT. CDP is also good for time management. Achiever is hard overall; however, I do like it because I think it is well designed and very accurate especially for the key holes. Topscore was easy but I don't like it at all, I don't think I gain anything from Topscore except getting some good scores. In real DAT, I think all the questions were easy except for one key hole, few angles and one key hole. Angles were hard partly because the lines forming angles were longer (similar style shown in the sample test on ada website).
RC: I probably should skip over this section as my comments are probably weighed much less than those who scored above 22. This has been consistently my worst section throughout. I put lots of effort to improve it. I practiced as much as I can. I even upgraded to the 10 test CDR version one week before test, so I can keep practicing it everyday till the test. I still think it was worthwhile to do that, cause I may end up with some more ugly score if I didn't practice this much. I felt Kaplan, topscore were easier and Achiever was harder than real DAT. CDR's difficulty is probably similar but the style is different. In real DAT, I got crocodile nerve, sense of motion process and fugal disease in human. I spent too much time on the first two passages so have to guess quite a few questions with 3 passages. The fugal disease is more fact search style, and I should really have given it more time to score little higher. If I were to do it differently, I think I probably will start practicing it even earlier and maybe repeat CDR and achiever test (I only did once for all RC practices).
QR: this has always been my strongest section. I feel very fortunate to have this as the last section, right after RC, as no matter how bad I do on RC, I will still do ok on QR. The only problem for me is confidence. In fact, I was pretty scared at the beginning since lots of ppl reported low scores on QR. Also, Kaplan's online QR materials have some pretty challenging questions within some advanced workshops. I got more sense of difficulty when I started doing CDM. I also did the QR questions within DAT destroyer (combo) when I took Kaplan course. In retrospect, I think it is also similar to real DAT. I think the key to do well on this section is also practice. The questions are really not hard. Most of the question styles were in those practice tests that I used. Even without Kaplan, DAT destroyer (Math section) and CDM will be sufficient. Be sure to memorize few formulas/equations (those in Kaplan's review notes and few trigonometries). They are not that hard to memorize and can become really convenient and time saving in the end.
Although uclaDDS101's original post is really encouraging, I disagree with him for one thing: he is a super smart guy, that what he was able to achieve is definitely not within our own range. So here I want to set a more realistic example to you. Just have a hard and yet manageable study schedule and stick to it. Keep working on it and you will do well in the test! Good luck!
All right, here is my score:
PAT: 28 (100%)
QR: 25 (97.4)
RC: 19 (53.3%)
Bio: 26 (99.6%)
GC: 21 (86.2%)
OC: 26 (97.7%)
TS: 23 (97.7%)
AA: 23 (97.9%)
I feel happy with my score. I tried to self study at the beginning and was really inefficient as I have so many obligations/excuses for not studying as planned. While being very desperate, I saw uclaDDS101's breakdown and asked him for advice. I took the Kaplan live online course from 12/2/09-2/3/10. I stuck to the course study schedule, which made the entire studying process least painful. Their online materials are very good, and I went through them all. While taking Kaplan's course, I studied about 4 hrs/day, 5-6 days/week. After Kaplan's course, I went over quickly Kaplan's review notes and then took practice tests every other day in the last two weeks or so. Besides kaplan's practice tests, I also bought Achiever and Topscore. Overall, I think Kaplan is best in terms of similarity to real DAT. Achiever is hard but it is also a better quality mock test software compared to Topscore. On the days that I didn't take practice tests, I took a CDP and a CDM. As RC is my weakest area, I got CDR a little late. I studied as much as I can during the last two weeks, maybe about 6 hrs/day, 6-7 days/wk (you definitely can tell that I am not efficient at studying, so I have to lengthen my study time). I compared my practice test results with ucla's, to see whether I was in a good shape. In case you are curious about my scores, they are:
(Test:-------PAT--QR--RC--Bio-GC--OC--TS--AA)
Kap Diag 18 -- 24 – 18 – 21 –23 – 21 —22—21
Kap Mid 24—23—18—24—24—25—24—23
Kap Final 25—30—19—22—28—28—26—25
Kap Test 2 25—25—21—24—21—21—22—22
Kap Test 3 23—29—25—29—19—23—24—25
Achiever 1 20—30—16—21—28—25—23—24
Achiever 2 20—24—18—19—19—19—19—20
TopScore1 24—25—22—22—21—20—22—22
TopScore 2 29—25—20—20—23—19—20—21
TopScore 3 28—30—22—19—25—28—22—25
Achiever 3 22—25—17—21—21—21—21—21
Kap Test 1 26—30—20—29—24—23—26—25
CDP: 22-21-21-23-25-25-28-25-26-26-(24)
CDM: 29-28-29-29-28-24-30-30-30-28
CDR: 20-19-18-20-19- 19-18-21-23-18
BIO: I went over Kaplan's review notes twice. Also took all Kaplan's online materials. I think it was very sufficient, except maybe immune system, vascular (including lymph) system and evolution. I supplemented those with Cliff's AP. I also used Alan's notes and made few changes according to my own weakness. Achiever likes to ask lots of questions in a twisted way (or maybe just for me since English is my 2nd language). In real DAT, all questions were very straightforward. There about 1-2 questions that I have no idea and 2 that I kind of know but have to guess a little. I only got one question related to classification, and it is very straightforward, unlike those seen in achiever or topscore.
GC: I just used Kaplan (review note and online tests) for this session. There is no hard calculation question in real DAT. There is one graph question that I wasn't sure whether I got it right (probably not). I was hoping to get better than what I got, oh well. In my hindsight, I probably should have gone through all the GC in destroyer, as some ppl really nailed their GC that way.
OC: Kaplan review note is good. DAT destroyer is good supplement. I think the key is to go over it before the test, so the memory is still fresh.
PAT: I started with Kaplan and went over all their online PAT materials while taking classes. Most questions were similar to real DAT, except maybe angles and hole punching. It gave me a very good sense of how to perceive conceptually. I then move onto CDP, and I think the first couples of test were really hard, especially in cube counting, hole punching, and some angle. I disregarded my poor performance on some cube countings as they were really ridiculous and I was right because cube counting in real DAT is very straight forward. I feel the later CDP tests were more realistic and may be more representative in terms of how well you will do in real DAT. CDP is also good for time management. Achiever is hard overall; however, I do like it because I think it is well designed and very accurate especially for the key holes. Topscore was easy but I don't like it at all, I don't think I gain anything from Topscore except getting some good scores. In real DAT, I think all the questions were easy except for one key hole, few angles and one key hole. Angles were hard partly because the lines forming angles were longer (similar style shown in the sample test on ada website).
RC: I probably should skip over this section as my comments are probably weighed much less than those who scored above 22. This has been consistently my worst section throughout. I put lots of effort to improve it. I practiced as much as I can. I even upgraded to the 10 test CDR version one week before test, so I can keep practicing it everyday till the test. I still think it was worthwhile to do that, cause I may end up with some more ugly score if I didn't practice this much. I felt Kaplan, topscore were easier and Achiever was harder than real DAT. CDR's difficulty is probably similar but the style is different. In real DAT, I got crocodile nerve, sense of motion process and fugal disease in human. I spent too much time on the first two passages so have to guess quite a few questions with 3 passages. The fugal disease is more fact search style, and I should really have given it more time to score little higher. If I were to do it differently, I think I probably will start practicing it even earlier and maybe repeat CDR and achiever test (I only did once for all RC practices).
QR: this has always been my strongest section. I feel very fortunate to have this as the last section, right after RC, as no matter how bad I do on RC, I will still do ok on QR. The only problem for me is confidence. In fact, I was pretty scared at the beginning since lots of ppl reported low scores on QR. Also, Kaplan's online QR materials have some pretty challenging questions within some advanced workshops. I got more sense of difficulty when I started doing CDM. I also did the QR questions within DAT destroyer (combo) when I took Kaplan course. In retrospect, I think it is also similar to real DAT. I think the key to do well on this section is also practice. The questions are really not hard. Most of the question styles were in those practice tests that I used. Even without Kaplan, DAT destroyer (Math section) and CDM will be sufficient. Be sure to memorize few formulas/equations (those in Kaplan's review notes and few trigonometries). They are not that hard to memorize and can become really convenient and time saving in the end.
Although uclaDDS101's original post is really encouraging, I disagree with him for one thing: he is a super smart guy, that what he was able to achieve is definitely not within our own range. So here I want to set a more realistic example to you. Just have a hard and yet manageable study schedule and stick to it. Keep working on it and you will do well in the test! Good luck!
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