Hey all! This forum was an invaluable resource to me in preparing for the DAT, so I wanted to give back a bit and share my breakdown on what I think you can do to increase your score!
PAT: 23 (98.1)
QR: 27 (99.1)
RC: 20 (72.4)
BIO: 21 (91.7)
GC: 30 (100.0)
OC: 22 (91.5)
TS: 23 (98.2)
AA: 24 (99.4)
Overall:
First off, I am NOT some super motivated genius 4.0 undergrad type guy, so there is hope for those of you who read SDN and feel like everyone is smarter/tries harder than you! I have a HUGE procrastination problem, so one of the most important things I did for my prep (~2 months) was make a VISUAL outline and stick it to my wall:
This really helped me stay on track, and I would highly recommend it for everyone. I traveled literally every weekend from the end of September to December 18th, which provided a nice study break for me on Saturdays and Sundays. I would try to hit the books hard Mon-Fri for about 3-5 hours (I can't concentrate on anything for more than 45 minutes, so I used lots of breaks!).
PAT:
I did the 10 test version of CDP, with scores starting at ~18 and ending at ~24. By the end of CDP, I would get perfect scores on everything but angles, where I would usually get a 9/15 (PUNCH ME IN THE FACE). I can't provide a very helpful breakdown for this section because I just do everything in my head (except for cube counting, tally it up baby!). The grid method/counting lines stuff usually made me worse for some reason, so I just wing it.
The most important thing IMO is repetition (so your brain isn't surprised by anything) and time management. That said, I am 99% sure an origami master made my Hole Punch section because I had some folds and hole punch locations that made my head explode. Half folds across half folds of diagonals, 3rd folds splitting grid columns, holes punched between grids (I swear!) etc.
As far as angles go, I can't really help anyone because I suck at it. My advice for that section is to work on anger management to the point where you can control your building rage that they have put up four identical angles!
Honestly though, take CDP tests until you are scoring where you want. They are very good indicators!
QR:
I took a ton of math in undergrad so that helped. Most important thing here is obviously time, so take practice tests until you have the timing down. I used Math Destroyer and took all 10 tests, then re-did my worst 3. Math destroyer seemed a lot harder than the math on the real DAT!
RC:
My my my, sweet reading comprehension section. I can tell you that I now know how a piano works! I skimmed each passage, then read the questions and searched for answers. I thought I had like a 30 on this section, apparently I need hooked on phonics. I didn't practice for this at all, if you are a slow reader you might want to practice "skimming" to get the general idea of each paragraph at a fast speed. Time wasn't an issue for me, but on every "author tone" question I thought each answer sucked and had to end up choosing one from the 2-3 viable options.
Bio:
I had the hardest time studying for this section... it was tough for me to sit down and read read read. Breadth before Depth is right though!
I read through cliffs AP Bio, made flashcards, and then read through it again the night before my test. I have the Campbell bio textbook but would honestly fall asleep within 5 minutes of opening it (reading in bed DOES NOT HELP). Cest La Vie. I would say knowing the Cliff's book pretty well will get you a right around a ~20
Literally the first question on the test showed me a *diagram I had never seen before* and asked me which part was a *word I had never seen before.* ROCKIN START BRO
General and Organic Chemistry:
Chad's videos, hands down. I was terrible at Chemistry when I took it in undergrad, and those classes were almost 5 years ago for me, so I was pretty much starting from scratch. I watched Chad's videos, took notes, and used DAT destroyer extensively. I did both sections in chunks of 30 problems, then would go over what I went wrong. Then I did all the problems I got wrong over again, and go over the ones I got wrong. I repeated this until I got them all right!
I watched certain Chad's videos 2x, like the big ones dealing with equilibrium, solubility, and stuff I had problems with.
Watch Chad's videos, go through destroyer, know your road maps and periodic trends = 22+ FOSHO
Various Nerd Prep:
- I drove to the test center the day before my DAT, that was helpful for sure to minimize morning stress.
- Definitely bring food/drink to put in your locker, I was starving by my break. I brought two granola bars and after eating them in .003 seconds I wished I had brought 40
- Adjust your sleep schedule if you stay up super late like me, it definitely helped. I normally go to bed at 4 or 5am and wake up around noon, so for the few weeks leading up to the test I got used to waking up at 8:00am and getting my brain going (I would do practice problems right when I woke up)
- Mental preparation I think is pretty important. If you are a worrier/stress out/anxiety attack type, prepare yourself mentally to move on when a section is done. If you feel like you just whiffed the first 100 science questions and got a straight up 0, realize there is absolutely nothing you can do about it and move on to the next section! You will never feel perfectly comfortable with a section, there will always be doubts, some things will seem very hard, etc etc etc. This is normal!
- I got pretty sick 3 days before my test, and also slept about 2 hours the night before because I am a nerd and couldn't turn my brain off. Unfortunately, not everything will go perfectly! Go with the flow and do the best you can, and thats all you can ask of yourself!
Life:
For the stressed out there, relax! You are a highly educated person using a computer, so you already have it better than 90% of the world. The fact that you are on this website means you are already more motivated than most of your peers, and you will probably be more prepared. There are way more important things out there than this stupid test, so don't neglect them TOO much for the sake of studying (for me, this meant playing lots of Starcraft II and watching NBA Basketball 🙂). Seriously though, it really is just a test. Prepare and perform, you will be fine.
I am going to volunteer until next summer when I have to apply (hahahaha I leave the country in 8 days and haven't prepared AT ALL because I've been studying for this darn test), so I'm sure I'll be back on SDN then with plenty of questions. Good luck to everyone, and PM me if I can help you in any way!
N
PAT: 23 (98.1)
QR: 27 (99.1)
RC: 20 (72.4)
BIO: 21 (91.7)
GC: 30 (100.0)
OC: 22 (91.5)
TS: 23 (98.2)
AA: 24 (99.4)
Overall:
First off, I am NOT some super motivated genius 4.0 undergrad type guy, so there is hope for those of you who read SDN and feel like everyone is smarter/tries harder than you! I have a HUGE procrastination problem, so one of the most important things I did for my prep (~2 months) was make a VISUAL outline and stick it to my wall:
This really helped me stay on track, and I would highly recommend it for everyone. I traveled literally every weekend from the end of September to December 18th, which provided a nice study break for me on Saturdays and Sundays. I would try to hit the books hard Mon-Fri for about 3-5 hours (I can't concentrate on anything for more than 45 minutes, so I used lots of breaks!).
PAT:
I did the 10 test version of CDP, with scores starting at ~18 and ending at ~24. By the end of CDP, I would get perfect scores on everything but angles, where I would usually get a 9/15 (PUNCH ME IN THE FACE). I can't provide a very helpful breakdown for this section because I just do everything in my head (except for cube counting, tally it up baby!). The grid method/counting lines stuff usually made me worse for some reason, so I just wing it.
The most important thing IMO is repetition (so your brain isn't surprised by anything) and time management. That said, I am 99% sure an origami master made my Hole Punch section because I had some folds and hole punch locations that made my head explode. Half folds across half folds of diagonals, 3rd folds splitting grid columns, holes punched between grids (I swear!) etc.
As far as angles go, I can't really help anyone because I suck at it. My advice for that section is to work on anger management to the point where you can control your building rage that they have put up four identical angles!
Honestly though, take CDP tests until you are scoring where you want. They are very good indicators!
QR:
I took a ton of math in undergrad so that helped. Most important thing here is obviously time, so take practice tests until you have the timing down. I used Math Destroyer and took all 10 tests, then re-did my worst 3. Math destroyer seemed a lot harder than the math on the real DAT!
RC:
My my my, sweet reading comprehension section. I can tell you that I now know how a piano works! I skimmed each passage, then read the questions and searched for answers. I thought I had like a 30 on this section, apparently I need hooked on phonics. I didn't practice for this at all, if you are a slow reader you might want to practice "skimming" to get the general idea of each paragraph at a fast speed. Time wasn't an issue for me, but on every "author tone" question I thought each answer sucked and had to end up choosing one from the 2-3 viable options.
Bio:
I had the hardest time studying for this section... it was tough for me to sit down and read read read. Breadth before Depth is right though!
I read through cliffs AP Bio, made flashcards, and then read through it again the night before my test. I have the Campbell bio textbook but would honestly fall asleep within 5 minutes of opening it (reading in bed DOES NOT HELP). Cest La Vie. I would say knowing the Cliff's book pretty well will get you a right around a ~20
Literally the first question on the test showed me a *diagram I had never seen before* and asked me which part was a *word I had never seen before.* ROCKIN START BRO
General and Organic Chemistry:
Chad's videos, hands down. I was terrible at Chemistry when I took it in undergrad, and those classes were almost 5 years ago for me, so I was pretty much starting from scratch. I watched Chad's videos, took notes, and used DAT destroyer extensively. I did both sections in chunks of 30 problems, then would go over what I went wrong. Then I did all the problems I got wrong over again, and go over the ones I got wrong. I repeated this until I got them all right!
I watched certain Chad's videos 2x, like the big ones dealing with equilibrium, solubility, and stuff I had problems with.
Watch Chad's videos, go through destroyer, know your road maps and periodic trends = 22+ FOSHO
Various Nerd Prep:
- I drove to the test center the day before my DAT, that was helpful for sure to minimize morning stress.
- Definitely bring food/drink to put in your locker, I was starving by my break. I brought two granola bars and after eating them in .003 seconds I wished I had brought 40
- Adjust your sleep schedule if you stay up super late like me, it definitely helped. I normally go to bed at 4 or 5am and wake up around noon, so for the few weeks leading up to the test I got used to waking up at 8:00am and getting my brain going (I would do practice problems right when I woke up)
- Mental preparation I think is pretty important. If you are a worrier/stress out/anxiety attack type, prepare yourself mentally to move on when a section is done. If you feel like you just whiffed the first 100 science questions and got a straight up 0, realize there is absolutely nothing you can do about it and move on to the next section! You will never feel perfectly comfortable with a section, there will always be doubts, some things will seem very hard, etc etc etc. This is normal!
- I got pretty sick 3 days before my test, and also slept about 2 hours the night before because I am a nerd and couldn't turn my brain off. Unfortunately, not everything will go perfectly! Go with the flow and do the best you can, and thats all you can ask of yourself!
Life:
For the stressed out there, relax! You are a highly educated person using a computer, so you already have it better than 90% of the world. The fact that you are on this website means you are already more motivated than most of your peers, and you will probably be more prepared. There are way more important things out there than this stupid test, so don't neglect them TOO much for the sake of studying (for me, this meant playing lots of Starcraft II and watching NBA Basketball 🙂). Seriously though, it really is just a test. Prepare and perform, you will be fine.
I am going to volunteer until next summer when I have to apply (hahahaha I leave the country in 8 days and haven't prepared AT ALL because I've been studying for this darn test), so I'm sure I'll be back on SDN then with plenty of questions. Good luck to everyone, and PM me if I can help you in any way!
N
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