Hopefully I can write a coherent breakdown with this massive headache. This is my first time writing it.
PAT........... 22 (93.4%)
QR ............ 19 (91.2%)
RC ............ 22 (84.4%)
BIO........... 18 (63.9%)
GChem........ 23 (95.4%)
OChem....... 21 (85.7%)
TS............. 20 (85.2%)
AA............. 21 (93.4%)
Okay so I'll go in chronological order i guess.
Biology
Going in, I was getting 15-16 on DAT Achiever on the last few practice tests. I was not overly optimistic about this section, and almost postponed the test because of it. Regardless, after the first few questions.... I realized it was really really easy. It was very general and not tricky (or it is apparently? lol). So that gave me a sick confidence boost.
As much as I hated being happy with an 18, I might have to just accept it. I just lucked out with a really easy bio section, as you can see the percentile was really low. Not sure if people really want to know what I did to study for this, but this was the general breakdown.
Go through a section in Barrons, then read it again in Cliffs, then read it in BB. Reading about things from different sources generally helps me a lot so it made sense for me. However if thats not something you like doing, realize that Barrons and Cliffs are essentially the same. Again, I was under prepared, I didn't really go over plants or classification in that much detail. Luckily, no plants or hard classification questions popped up.
General Chemistry
This was my strongest section. I didn't really study much for this. I pretty much just went over the Kaplan BB and Chad's for anything I wanted to review. I guess I should mention that I'm also enrolled in the Princeton MCAT hyperlearning class, so this helped with it a bit. But really I didn't actually study for the MCAT, I just went to the classes. (not looking forward to that)
Organic Chemistry
I read through Kaplan BB once. Then went through every one of Chad's videos and reviewed the BB once more. I wasn't exactly the best in my Ochem class, and I certainly didn't remember much (2 years ago). If you took Orgo in University, honestly Chad's does a very good job of refreshing everything you need to know. +1 to Chad.
Overall, I finished the science section with 30 minutes left (never had more than 10 minutes left in practice tests). Then I went over questions I skipped and marked and then still had 15 minutes to review. Overall, was very happy with how this part went.
PAT
CDP. Pretty much started at 17 on my first one, and ended 23-24 on the last few. My main concern was angles, because on my practice tests I range anywhere from 4/15 to 14/15. Someone posted about using the sheets to compare angles. I tried it at home with regular paper and failed miserable, but it actually is doable with the stuff they give you. I asked him if I can touch the screen, he said he had no problem with it as long as the test didn't specify (which I don't think it does). Regardless, I didn't practice this so I guess that whole point is mute lol.
Whenever I wrote the CDP tests, I did well. When I wrote full practice length, I totally sucked. Writing the PAT directly after the sciences is exhausting. Having said that, the test I wrote wasn't super duper difficult, it just felt like it was. I thought I got like 18 max but apparently it worked out. Nothing special here. During the test tutorial, on one of the sheets, it might be a good idea to write your grid for the cubes if you use the talley method.
Reading Comprehension
Ok so... my highest mark of any practice test in this section was 15. I didn't even know what strategy I was going to use. My last RC score I got 48% right, so I was really going in with no expectations. During my break, I tried to collect myself. I practiced SnD at home, but going into the test, I decided for a SnD/read the passage first hybrid. Truthfully, the passages were really interesting and all scientific. The first passage I just read through first, and I answered the questions after. I finished right on the dot (40 minutes left). The second one I went through the first 3-4 questions then got stuck. So I figured I'll just read the passage and try again. I don't know it just randomly seemed to click.
I honestly probably shouldn't talk about this section anymore considering I don't know how I did so well. I didn't guess or anything, but I just found the answers. Time was tight, finished running through everything with like 5 seconds left.
Quantitative reasoning
This was my section. I'm a math minor, and pretty much math is like second nature to me. I killed every section I did (after a lot of practice, get MATH destroyer). I knew the questions will be easy (and they generally were) and time will be the only issue. But like the PAT, doing it after an intense section like RC was really taxing. My state of mind was "too long, too long, too hard, too much thinking, oh easy i'll do this". I was really slow, and I started starring at questions for no reason at all (never a good sign). After time was up, I was so disappointed because I knew I didn't do well (I thought I got a 15 or something).
For this section, MATH destroyer is pretty much a must. Go over all Kaplan BB formulas and what not. Know your conversions. For my test, they gave me some of them (like the temperature conversions, which was weird I thought that would be one they'd expect you to know). Also lbs, in, yd, gallon, etc. They aren't hard questions if you memorize a few numbers going in. Know your trig, there are always a few questions on there.
If I had to go back and re study for this section, I would only do practice tests after some exhaustive studying. Practicing for this with a fresh mind is not the same. In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter. Unfortunately, 99% of the people get tired after 3-4 hours of strenuous thinking and you wouldn't be doing it justice. I'm not sure if this works or not, but thats what I would try. Doing a QR at 1pm after watching a world cup game with a nice meal is no where NEAR doing it in the test environment.
Overall
I'm pretty happy with the test. Did better in things I thought I'd do terrible at, and did worse in things that I thought I'd do awesome in. The test was def. MUCH easier than my expectations going in. I didn't think I was ready but I had a "who cares I'll rewrite it later" mentality, just to take some of the pressure off. In terms of study materials, this is what I had:
CDP
DAT Achiever (5tests)
MATH Destroyer
Cliffs AP
Barrons AP
Kaplan BB
Chad's
Hyperlearning MCAT books (+course, but its not done)
My GPA is 3.14 due to my terrible student habits in my first 2 years. This last year I had a 3.6 with a 3.8 GPA last semester with 6 courses. I think one more year of solid GPA should help my case of "a new and improved student". Having said that, I probably won't rewrite this, and I probably won't apply
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I need to get me some sleep. I have an MCAT to wrestle with.
PAT........... 22 (93.4%)
QR ............ 19 (91.2%)
RC ............ 22 (84.4%)
BIO........... 18 (63.9%)
GChem........ 23 (95.4%)
OChem....... 21 (85.7%)
TS............. 20 (85.2%)
AA............. 21 (93.4%)
Okay so I'll go in chronological order i guess.
Biology
Going in, I was getting 15-16 on DAT Achiever on the last few practice tests. I was not overly optimistic about this section, and almost postponed the test because of it. Regardless, after the first few questions.... I realized it was really really easy. It was very general and not tricky (or it is apparently? lol). So that gave me a sick confidence boost.
As much as I hated being happy with an 18, I might have to just accept it. I just lucked out with a really easy bio section, as you can see the percentile was really low. Not sure if people really want to know what I did to study for this, but this was the general breakdown.
Go through a section in Barrons, then read it again in Cliffs, then read it in BB. Reading about things from different sources generally helps me a lot so it made sense for me. However if thats not something you like doing, realize that Barrons and Cliffs are essentially the same. Again, I was under prepared, I didn't really go over plants or classification in that much detail. Luckily, no plants or hard classification questions popped up.
General Chemistry
This was my strongest section. I didn't really study much for this. I pretty much just went over the Kaplan BB and Chad's for anything I wanted to review. I guess I should mention that I'm also enrolled in the Princeton MCAT hyperlearning class, so this helped with it a bit. But really I didn't actually study for the MCAT, I just went to the classes. (not looking forward to that)
Organic Chemistry
I read through Kaplan BB once. Then went through every one of Chad's videos and reviewed the BB once more. I wasn't exactly the best in my Ochem class, and I certainly didn't remember much (2 years ago). If you took Orgo in University, honestly Chad's does a very good job of refreshing everything you need to know. +1 to Chad.
Overall, I finished the science section with 30 minutes left (never had more than 10 minutes left in practice tests). Then I went over questions I skipped and marked and then still had 15 minutes to review. Overall, was very happy with how this part went.
PAT
CDP. Pretty much started at 17 on my first one, and ended 23-24 on the last few. My main concern was angles, because on my practice tests I range anywhere from 4/15 to 14/15. Someone posted about using the sheets to compare angles. I tried it at home with regular paper and failed miserable, but it actually is doable with the stuff they give you. I asked him if I can touch the screen, he said he had no problem with it as long as the test didn't specify (which I don't think it does). Regardless, I didn't practice this so I guess that whole point is mute lol.
Whenever I wrote the CDP tests, I did well. When I wrote full practice length, I totally sucked. Writing the PAT directly after the sciences is exhausting. Having said that, the test I wrote wasn't super duper difficult, it just felt like it was. I thought I got like 18 max but apparently it worked out. Nothing special here. During the test tutorial, on one of the sheets, it might be a good idea to write your grid for the cubes if you use the talley method.
Reading Comprehension
Ok so... my highest mark of any practice test in this section was 15. I didn't even know what strategy I was going to use. My last RC score I got 48% right, so I was really going in with no expectations. During my break, I tried to collect myself. I practiced SnD at home, but going into the test, I decided for a SnD/read the passage first hybrid. Truthfully, the passages were really interesting and all scientific. The first passage I just read through first, and I answered the questions after. I finished right on the dot (40 minutes left). The second one I went through the first 3-4 questions then got stuck. So I figured I'll just read the passage and try again. I don't know it just randomly seemed to click.
I honestly probably shouldn't talk about this section anymore considering I don't know how I did so well. I didn't guess or anything, but I just found the answers. Time was tight, finished running through everything with like 5 seconds left.
Quantitative reasoning
This was my section. I'm a math minor, and pretty much math is like second nature to me. I killed every section I did (after a lot of practice, get MATH destroyer). I knew the questions will be easy (and they generally were) and time will be the only issue. But like the PAT, doing it after an intense section like RC was really taxing. My state of mind was "too long, too long, too hard, too much thinking, oh easy i'll do this". I was really slow, and I started starring at questions for no reason at all (never a good sign). After time was up, I was so disappointed because I knew I didn't do well (I thought I got a 15 or something).
For this section, MATH destroyer is pretty much a must. Go over all Kaplan BB formulas and what not. Know your conversions. For my test, they gave me some of them (like the temperature conversions, which was weird I thought that would be one they'd expect you to know). Also lbs, in, yd, gallon, etc. They aren't hard questions if you memorize a few numbers going in. Know your trig, there are always a few questions on there.
If I had to go back and re study for this section, I would only do practice tests after some exhaustive studying. Practicing for this with a fresh mind is not the same. In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter. Unfortunately, 99% of the people get tired after 3-4 hours of strenuous thinking and you wouldn't be doing it justice. I'm not sure if this works or not, but thats what I would try. Doing a QR at 1pm after watching a world cup game with a nice meal is no where NEAR doing it in the test environment.
Overall
I'm pretty happy with the test. Did better in things I thought I'd do terrible at, and did worse in things that I thought I'd do awesome in. The test was def. MUCH easier than my expectations going in. I didn't think I was ready but I had a "who cares I'll rewrite it later" mentality, just to take some of the pressure off. In terms of study materials, this is what I had:
CDP
DAT Achiever (5tests)
MATH Destroyer
Cliffs AP
Barrons AP
Kaplan BB
Chad's
Hyperlearning MCAT books (+course, but its not done)
My GPA is 3.14 due to my terrible student habits in my first 2 years. This last year I had a 3.6 with a 3.8 GPA last semester with 6 courses. I think one more year of solid GPA should help my case of "a new and improved student". Having said that, I probably won't rewrite this, and I probably won't apply
If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I need to get me some sleep. I have an MCAT to wrestle with.
