- Joined
- Aug 26, 2010
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 0
DAT DONE!! 8/26
My apologies for making this so long. Just scroll to whatever info you need.
Phew! So glad to be done with this BEAST. I just want to thank the SDN community out here. I really liked looking at all these breakdowns to keep me motivated. So heres my way of giving back to the community!
QR 21 97.6
RC 19 67.6
Bio 18 72.1
GC 23 97.3
OC 28 99.5
PA 26 99.6
TS 21 96.2
AA 22 98.9
BREAKDOWN
I was totally expecting 17s to 19s on the DAT, so you have no idea how glad I am.
I started studying mid-June (about 2 months), but I didnt really start getting my groove on until maybe a month ago.
RESOURCES I USED:
Thinkwell Bio VideosI dont know if theyre still around, b/c they took em off of the 5min video site. But I started off my bio reviewing with these videos. I thought they were great! then I thought they were okay then I thought they were really long which they are. If I were to do it again, I would really just use these videos as a supplement to Cliffs AP Bio. Not as a regular bio review resource. It just takes too long. Same as Campbells.
Campbells Bio BookWhat a hefty book, I must say. I thought Id be a cool kid and read the entire book before the DAT. What ended up happening was that I kept falling asleep every 2 pages. Never got past page 100 True, I hear the DAT pulls questions from the book, so maybe looking at summaries/quizzes from the Campbells book might not be such a bad idea.
Crack Dat PATAwesome! Just like everyone here says. If you want to do well on this, I would recommend this just like everyone else. ANGLESthey werent that bad! I admit there were a couple that I was a little iffy about, but heres what I did every week: I would take a random angles test. At first, its a little discouraging I was getting around 8-9, but after 20 of those angles tests, I was getting 13s. I really think that the key is finding a good method for yourself (I really like the laptop method). Supplement your method with other methods in case you get stuck (ie. Finding parallel lines, Kaplans parking method, hill, etc.)
Crack Dat Math-I took 5 tests out of 10, because I was a little too overconfident. I was getting 26+ on these. Id recommend these for timing purposes, b/c at first they really blow you away at how fast your pace needs to be
Crack Dat Reading-I liked these b/c they were a good supplement to my Topscore tests.
Crack Dat Sciencescame with the Ace bundle package I didnt even unlock it b/c of its horrible reviews
Kaplan Blue Bookhad it unfortunately never got around to using it It wouldve probably helped me with the broad scope for bio
Cliffs AP Biogreat overview of biology.
Chads VideosSweet. I dont know I didnt find Chads videos to be all that theyre hyped up to be. But they are pretty significant. I only used Chad+Destroyer for Gen Chem+Organic Chem. Forgot to finish those quizzes. I didnt even take notes b/c I kept thinking I could always go back to the videos if need be. Taking notes might not be such a bad idea.. It just depends on your learning style and how you learn best.
TopscoreAwesome. Going through these three full-length practice tests were just amazing. They help you feel the real pressure, emotionally and physically (you get tired after 4 hours of questions) as the REAL DAT. Going into the test I was ridonkulously calm. I really thank Topscore for that. I was so relaxed, just thinking of it as taking a 4th Topscore test. Nothin big.
ADVICE FOR PPL WHO HAVENT TAKEN THE DAT YET:
BioSo yeah everyone complains about how random it is, and yeah it kinda is. But if you know the basic idea for the topics (plants, molecular bio, hormones, etc) you should be okay. The thing I did bad (and would have probably gotten me a better Bio score) was that I never looked through Kaplans Blue Book. I never got around to it, thinking AP Cliffs was better and more complete. But I think the more breadth you can cover, the better. So I ended up only reviewing with AP Cliffs, following up with Destroyer Bio. I started out treating it like a practice exam, and seeing how many I got right but that just got me depressed with 27/40s and such. The way to go through Destroyer is to go through each question, then the answer, understanding why youre wrong and why Destroyer is right If you think youre not too hot on a certain subject, wiki away! Click around for those hormones and how they all work together. Its actually kinda neat. What I kinda regret is the fact that I never got around to looking through the ANSWERS to Bio Destroyer Kinda just assumed I was right. The answers/explanations wouldve helped wonders for me.
GCI only used Chad and Destroyer, which is all you really need. I only went through the videos once, then headed straight to Destroyer questions. Repetition and practice is key here. You really want to understand each question and the steps to solve them, because once you do, youre golden! I wouldnt try memorizing all those equations, but rather understanding them. Youre not really going to remember random equations, so make them unrandom and meaningful! Use them.
OCI thought this was straight forward. Chad and Destroyer all the way. Big ups to Destroyer on this one. Really understanding each reaction helps in this. I like OC because if you can picture in your head where those electrons are attacking, you can pretty much solve any reaction. Destroyer does a great job overpreparing you, so just go through each question, UNDERSTANDING each solution and its steps.
RCFind a method that works for you. Ppl suggest reading science articles, which may or may not help. Who knows? The main problem with science articles is that they dont have questions which is what you really need. I realized this way too late, and started practicing my method (Search & Destroy) 2 weeks before the DAT. You can try Vicipers method, or Search & Destroy, or Kaplans mapping, or taking notes on each paragraph. My reasoning behind choosing Search & Destroy was this: theres way too many paragraphs to read (Im also not that great at retaining reading info) and way too little time for me. SO, I practiced S&D on Crack Dat Reading and Topscore. Then I tried looking through other DAT review books solely for practicing my method on RC. Practice is key here.
QRPractice, practice, practice. You pretty much know all the elementary math-y stuff already. Maybe touch up on: p-values, trig, interest (simple/complex), and probability. Its just that they pressure you with time. Use Crack Dat Math for timing.
PATGet Crack Dat PAT. Its way worth it. I got the 10 test version, only went through half of them, but I really used it for the angles. Since everyone was saying how beastly those angles were, I was kinda scared at first. So I practiced, practiced, practiced. I started out with 7-8s. I forced myself to deal with the shame and take some practice tests. Whenever I felt like doing nothing else, I would whip out that CDP and just take a random angle test. I slowly got better at this, checking SDN for better methods. The methods that I used in order of effectiveness: Laptop, Parking, Hill, Parallel lines. Really, just find a method that works for you, and master that. Then try another method and be comfortable using that method. Incorporate as many methods as you can, since each one gives you a different perspective. TIP FOR LAPTOP METHOD: while imagining 2 angles as laptops, if THAT doesnt work, try distinguishing the 2 angles by flipping one of the laptops for a different perspective (If you imagined the angles upper line as the screen and the lower line as the keyboard, try seeing the upper line as the KEYBOARD, and vice versa) then try flipping the other angle. You can use this for 4 different combinations of perspective. This really helped me on some close angles.
Note: To ppl just starting to study for DAT, start studying the sciences FIRST (Cliffs bio and Chads videos) because these take the most time. The other sections just require practice not really much studying involved. Start getting that Bio foundation nice and broad!
Topscore Tests (Awesome indicator)
AA/Bio/GC/OC/PA/QR/RC/TS
19/ 17/ 19/ 19/ 26/ 23/ 18/ 19
21/ 17/ 21/ 23/ 26/ 25/ 19/ 20
21/ 17/ 19/ 23/ 26/ 26/ 21/ 19
P.S. I dont see myself as a REALLY smart person maybe average-ish. My GPA is 3.57. To all you guys still studying for the DAT, my encouragement to you is this: Anyone who studies hard can do really good!
Any suggestions/criticisms are highly welcome 🙂
My apologies for making this so long. Just scroll to whatever info you need.
Phew! So glad to be done with this BEAST. I just want to thank the SDN community out here. I really liked looking at all these breakdowns to keep me motivated. So heres my way of giving back to the community!
QR 21 97.6
RC 19 67.6
Bio 18 72.1
GC 23 97.3
OC 28 99.5
PA 26 99.6
TS 21 96.2
AA 22 98.9
BREAKDOWN
I was totally expecting 17s to 19s on the DAT, so you have no idea how glad I am.
I started studying mid-June (about 2 months), but I didnt really start getting my groove on until maybe a month ago.
RESOURCES I USED:
Thinkwell Bio VideosI dont know if theyre still around, b/c they took em off of the 5min video site. But I started off my bio reviewing with these videos. I thought they were great! then I thought they were okay then I thought they were really long which they are. If I were to do it again, I would really just use these videos as a supplement to Cliffs AP Bio. Not as a regular bio review resource. It just takes too long. Same as Campbells.
Campbells Bio BookWhat a hefty book, I must say. I thought Id be a cool kid and read the entire book before the DAT. What ended up happening was that I kept falling asleep every 2 pages. Never got past page 100 True, I hear the DAT pulls questions from the book, so maybe looking at summaries/quizzes from the Campbells book might not be such a bad idea.
Crack Dat PATAwesome! Just like everyone here says. If you want to do well on this, I would recommend this just like everyone else. ANGLESthey werent that bad! I admit there were a couple that I was a little iffy about, but heres what I did every week: I would take a random angles test. At first, its a little discouraging I was getting around 8-9, but after 20 of those angles tests, I was getting 13s. I really think that the key is finding a good method for yourself (I really like the laptop method). Supplement your method with other methods in case you get stuck (ie. Finding parallel lines, Kaplans parking method, hill, etc.)
Crack Dat Math-I took 5 tests out of 10, because I was a little too overconfident. I was getting 26+ on these. Id recommend these for timing purposes, b/c at first they really blow you away at how fast your pace needs to be
Crack Dat Reading-I liked these b/c they were a good supplement to my Topscore tests.
Crack Dat Sciencescame with the Ace bundle package I didnt even unlock it b/c of its horrible reviews
Kaplan Blue Bookhad it unfortunately never got around to using it It wouldve probably helped me with the broad scope for bio
Cliffs AP Biogreat overview of biology.
Chads VideosSweet. I dont know I didnt find Chads videos to be all that theyre hyped up to be. But they are pretty significant. I only used Chad+Destroyer for Gen Chem+Organic Chem. Forgot to finish those quizzes. I didnt even take notes b/c I kept thinking I could always go back to the videos if need be. Taking notes might not be such a bad idea.. It just depends on your learning style and how you learn best.
TopscoreAwesome. Going through these three full-length practice tests were just amazing. They help you feel the real pressure, emotionally and physically (you get tired after 4 hours of questions) as the REAL DAT. Going into the test I was ridonkulously calm. I really thank Topscore for that. I was so relaxed, just thinking of it as taking a 4th Topscore test. Nothin big.
ADVICE FOR PPL WHO HAVENT TAKEN THE DAT YET:
BioSo yeah everyone complains about how random it is, and yeah it kinda is. But if you know the basic idea for the topics (plants, molecular bio, hormones, etc) you should be okay. The thing I did bad (and would have probably gotten me a better Bio score) was that I never looked through Kaplans Blue Book. I never got around to it, thinking AP Cliffs was better and more complete. But I think the more breadth you can cover, the better. So I ended up only reviewing with AP Cliffs, following up with Destroyer Bio. I started out treating it like a practice exam, and seeing how many I got right but that just got me depressed with 27/40s and such. The way to go through Destroyer is to go through each question, then the answer, understanding why youre wrong and why Destroyer is right If you think youre not too hot on a certain subject, wiki away! Click around for those hormones and how they all work together. Its actually kinda neat. What I kinda regret is the fact that I never got around to looking through the ANSWERS to Bio Destroyer Kinda just assumed I was right. The answers/explanations wouldve helped wonders for me.
GCI only used Chad and Destroyer, which is all you really need. I only went through the videos once, then headed straight to Destroyer questions. Repetition and practice is key here. You really want to understand each question and the steps to solve them, because once you do, youre golden! I wouldnt try memorizing all those equations, but rather understanding them. Youre not really going to remember random equations, so make them unrandom and meaningful! Use them.
OCI thought this was straight forward. Chad and Destroyer all the way. Big ups to Destroyer on this one. Really understanding each reaction helps in this. I like OC because if you can picture in your head where those electrons are attacking, you can pretty much solve any reaction. Destroyer does a great job overpreparing you, so just go through each question, UNDERSTANDING each solution and its steps.
RCFind a method that works for you. Ppl suggest reading science articles, which may or may not help. Who knows? The main problem with science articles is that they dont have questions which is what you really need. I realized this way too late, and started practicing my method (Search & Destroy) 2 weeks before the DAT. You can try Vicipers method, or Search & Destroy, or Kaplans mapping, or taking notes on each paragraph. My reasoning behind choosing Search & Destroy was this: theres way too many paragraphs to read (Im also not that great at retaining reading info) and way too little time for me. SO, I practiced S&D on Crack Dat Reading and Topscore. Then I tried looking through other DAT review books solely for practicing my method on RC. Practice is key here.
QRPractice, practice, practice. You pretty much know all the elementary math-y stuff already. Maybe touch up on: p-values, trig, interest (simple/complex), and probability. Its just that they pressure you with time. Use Crack Dat Math for timing.
PATGet Crack Dat PAT. Its way worth it. I got the 10 test version, only went through half of them, but I really used it for the angles. Since everyone was saying how beastly those angles were, I was kinda scared at first. So I practiced, practiced, practiced. I started out with 7-8s. I forced myself to deal with the shame and take some practice tests. Whenever I felt like doing nothing else, I would whip out that CDP and just take a random angle test. I slowly got better at this, checking SDN for better methods. The methods that I used in order of effectiveness: Laptop, Parking, Hill, Parallel lines. Really, just find a method that works for you, and master that. Then try another method and be comfortable using that method. Incorporate as many methods as you can, since each one gives you a different perspective. TIP FOR LAPTOP METHOD: while imagining 2 angles as laptops, if THAT doesnt work, try distinguishing the 2 angles by flipping one of the laptops for a different perspective (If you imagined the angles upper line as the screen and the lower line as the keyboard, try seeing the upper line as the KEYBOARD, and vice versa) then try flipping the other angle. You can use this for 4 different combinations of perspective. This really helped me on some close angles.
Note: To ppl just starting to study for DAT, start studying the sciences FIRST (Cliffs bio and Chads videos) because these take the most time. The other sections just require practice not really much studying involved. Start getting that Bio foundation nice and broad!
Topscore Tests (Awesome indicator)
AA/Bio/GC/OC/PA/QR/RC/TS
19/ 17/ 19/ 19/ 26/ 23/ 18/ 19
21/ 17/ 21/ 23/ 26/ 25/ 19/ 20
21/ 17/ 19/ 23/ 26/ 26/ 21/ 19
P.S. I dont see myself as a REALLY smart person maybe average-ish. My GPA is 3.57. To all you guys still studying for the DAT, my encouragement to you is this: Anyone who studies hard can do really good!
Any suggestions/criticisms are highly welcome 🙂
