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YES! Done with my DAT! My scores are pretty random.. I still can't believe it.
Bio 22
GC 21
OC 18
RC 30
PAT 30
QR 21
Might I recommend:
Reading Comp: Search and destroy all the way! Most of the time I practiced Kaplan's method of going through the whole passage and noting paragraph numbers and keywords... but this always took more than half the time allotted and led to frantic scrambling in the end!
Instead, I go to the first question and look for a key word or phrase that if found in the text will lead you to your answer. Skim the text for your magic word- don't read! If the answer isn't given VERY EXPLICITLY, take a little time to read through the paragraph for understanding. Sometimes things can get tricky and you'll wind up with the wrong answer without all the info.
While you're skimming try to get a feel for the words that keep popping up in each paragraph, this will clue you into what the passage is about. Just think, "Oh the word "bronchitis" keeps popping up in this paragraph.. this one has a lot of numbers about age groups.. doot doot doot.. I see IgA and IgB a lot in this one". This helped me make a mental map of the passage without trying to memorize or write down keywords.
If one of your first questions for the passage is about the big picture, don't hesitate to SKIP! By the time you finish all the detail questions you'll have a way better understanding of what's going on and will probably answer it in a second compared to minutes you waste tackling it right away.
This left me with 15+ minutes to answer incompletes and check answers. I was tempted to go ahead to the QR to "save brainpower". Just stick it out! I went back to check all answers and caught around 4-5 mistakes, mainly for answers I didn't see explicitly and picked because I saw a vague hinting towards them in the passage. Again, this is where it's important to read the paragraph for understanding!
I didn't especially practice this section, only when I took my practice tests (3 Achievers, 2 Top Scores). I think I inconsistently got 19-24s. One of my favorite sites I go to everyday is Newscientist.com and I would like to think it helped me practice reading about science. Their news stories have a nice dab of scientific terminology (not dense like sci. articles from journals) and most of the them are way cool and interesting. I highly recommend achiever just because it's so crazy intense that if you go through it and learn from what you got wrong, everything else is a breeze. Top Score is very similar to actual DAT.
PAT: I took the Kaplan course around 2 yrs ago (but didn't get around to taking the DAT until now). I reviewed Kaplan lessons on the PAT but from what I remember their PAT was way too easy. Again, Top Score is the most similar to the DAT, learning and getting good at Achiever makes you a pro, and the 3 Crack DAT tests I took were pretty challenging, but not slam your head into the table status like Achiever.
If you want specific tips, I just saw Sama951's "wicked sick PAT tutorial" thread and it looked pretty good. 👍
QR: Geez, I thought this was my best section! Don't underestimate the DAT! The math section in DAT Destroyer was really good if you're already familiar with the math, not good if you're looking for tutorial. Googling stuff online works pretty decently for that. Kaplan strategy is really good for learning little tricks that free up a lot of time. The computer calculator is annoying and you find yourself computing stupid things you could easily have done in your head.
BOTTOM LINE: I think my number one tip would be to work up a good pace!! If any question is giving you the slightest inkling of trouble, DON'T HESITATE TO SKIP it and come back at the end. If you get trapped using 5 minutes to no avail, that's potentially 4+ other questions you could have gotten right in a snap!
Make sure you work up your stamina with full length tests. Achiever rocks because after you've gotten okay at it everything else is easy in comparison.. (well.. except DAT Destroyer). It has AWESOME customer service and is visually quite similar to the DAT. Top Score only works on pc (boo!), dwl was a hassle (dude check out their faqs, there's like a zillion errors that can pop up trying to start it.. okay but once i found my error getting it to work was a snap), and has no detailed PAT solutions (when I asked them about it someone responded like a day later saying the solution answer should be self explanatory (WTF mate?). But yeah, still worth it, cos it's quite similar to actual DAT. And I'm sure I was just super annoyed with them because I only had a week until the test.
Oh yea, and of course concentrate on the present! If a section didn't go so well let it go like water under the bridge. You never know how you'll wind up doing so tell your brain to shut up and keep on chugging!
Uhm hopefully someone found this long-winded post helpful. And I have a less than stellar gpa so hopefully this helps my app X)
Break a leg everybody!
Bio 22
GC 21
OC 18
RC 30
PAT 30
QR 21
Might I recommend:
Reading Comp: Search and destroy all the way! Most of the time I practiced Kaplan's method of going through the whole passage and noting paragraph numbers and keywords... but this always took more than half the time allotted and led to frantic scrambling in the end!
Instead, I go to the first question and look for a key word or phrase that if found in the text will lead you to your answer. Skim the text for your magic word- don't read! If the answer isn't given VERY EXPLICITLY, take a little time to read through the paragraph for understanding. Sometimes things can get tricky and you'll wind up with the wrong answer without all the info.
While you're skimming try to get a feel for the words that keep popping up in each paragraph, this will clue you into what the passage is about. Just think, "Oh the word "bronchitis" keeps popping up in this paragraph.. this one has a lot of numbers about age groups.. doot doot doot.. I see IgA and IgB a lot in this one". This helped me make a mental map of the passage without trying to memorize or write down keywords.
If one of your first questions for the passage is about the big picture, don't hesitate to SKIP! By the time you finish all the detail questions you'll have a way better understanding of what's going on and will probably answer it in a second compared to minutes you waste tackling it right away.
This left me with 15+ minutes to answer incompletes and check answers. I was tempted to go ahead to the QR to "save brainpower". Just stick it out! I went back to check all answers and caught around 4-5 mistakes, mainly for answers I didn't see explicitly and picked because I saw a vague hinting towards them in the passage. Again, this is where it's important to read the paragraph for understanding!
I didn't especially practice this section, only when I took my practice tests (3 Achievers, 2 Top Scores). I think I inconsistently got 19-24s. One of my favorite sites I go to everyday is Newscientist.com and I would like to think it helped me practice reading about science. Their news stories have a nice dab of scientific terminology (not dense like sci. articles from journals) and most of the them are way cool and interesting. I highly recommend achiever just because it's so crazy intense that if you go through it and learn from what you got wrong, everything else is a breeze. Top Score is very similar to actual DAT.
PAT: I took the Kaplan course around 2 yrs ago (but didn't get around to taking the DAT until now). I reviewed Kaplan lessons on the PAT but from what I remember their PAT was way too easy. Again, Top Score is the most similar to the DAT, learning and getting good at Achiever makes you a pro, and the 3 Crack DAT tests I took were pretty challenging, but not slam your head into the table status like Achiever.
If you want specific tips, I just saw Sama951's "wicked sick PAT tutorial" thread and it looked pretty good. 👍
QR: Geez, I thought this was my best section! Don't underestimate the DAT! The math section in DAT Destroyer was really good if you're already familiar with the math, not good if you're looking for tutorial. Googling stuff online works pretty decently for that. Kaplan strategy is really good for learning little tricks that free up a lot of time. The computer calculator is annoying and you find yourself computing stupid things you could easily have done in your head.
BOTTOM LINE: I think my number one tip would be to work up a good pace!! If any question is giving you the slightest inkling of trouble, DON'T HESITATE TO SKIP it and come back at the end. If you get trapped using 5 minutes to no avail, that's potentially 4+ other questions you could have gotten right in a snap!
Make sure you work up your stamina with full length tests. Achiever rocks because after you've gotten okay at it everything else is easy in comparison.. (well.. except DAT Destroyer). It has AWESOME customer service and is visually quite similar to the DAT. Top Score only works on pc (boo!), dwl was a hassle (dude check out their faqs, there's like a zillion errors that can pop up trying to start it.. okay but once i found my error getting it to work was a snap), and has no detailed PAT solutions (when I asked them about it someone responded like a day later saying the solution answer should be self explanatory (WTF mate?). But yeah, still worth it, cos it's quite similar to actual DAT. And I'm sure I was just super annoyed with them because I only had a week until the test.
Oh yea, and of course concentrate on the present! If a section didn't go so well let it go like water under the bridge. You never know how you'll wind up doing so tell your brain to shut up and keep on chugging!
Uhm hopefully someone found this long-winded post helpful. And I have a less than stellar gpa so hopefully this helps my app X)
Break a leg everybody!
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