- Joined
- Sep 6, 2010
- Messages
- 992
- Reaction score
- 15
Hey guys,
I wanted to first say thank you to all those people who have already taken the DAT and stay on this forum to help newbies that have no clue where to start.
Secondly, I want to thank all of my peers/fellow DAT takers (and hopefully future colleagues) for being so altruistic when sharing strategies and helping clarify concepts for one and other.
It really has been refreshing to see students helping students and not trying to screw each other over by withholding information or spreading misinformation just to try to get the competitive edge on everyone else.
Here are my scores:
AA: 22 (98.9)
TS: 23 (99.7)
Bio: 22 (97.6)
GC: 23 (97.3)
OC: 28 (99.5)
PAT: 20 (81.0)
RC: 18 (52.2)
QR: 17 (76.6)
They're not amazing like some crazy ones on the 21AA+ thread so I'll keep it super short. Let me know if you want the 'deets like what I used and what my practice test scores were.
Bio: Really basic stuff. I can't believe I wasted so much time stressing over this section.
Gchem: Chad. Concepts. Setup, no Calculations.
Ochem: Chad. Concepts. Basics. No questions from DAT Destroyer road maps (I wasted like 400 flashcards and half a week of my life).
PAT: Around the same as my average on CDP so I guess it's a good representation of the real thing. I was a little distracted during the whole 60 minutes of PAT thinking "OMG I'm never going to have to study god damn taxonomy, plants, evolution, or ecology again in my life!"
Break: Attempted to pee. Ate some food.
RC: I though I had killed it. I guess I didn't.
QR: My score is a good reflection of my preparation but I thought I did better than a 17...maybe I need to start gauging my performance on tests better.
I finished every section with some time left. I had around 30-35 minutes after Natural Sciences so I hung out and rechecked Gchem, then bio, then ochem. I only changed a couple answers so I guess it wasn't that bad. I finished PAT with like 10 minutes left so I reviewed the marked ones. RC and QR were finished early...i don't even know, you don't want my advice on those sections.
I guess I'll add some stuff because of some PMs I got.
Crack The DAT (CDP/CDR/CDM): http://crackdat.com/
-I only got the PAT section and it was right on par.
Topscore: http://www.scholarware.com/
My scores on this were significantly lower than my actual test so I don't really think it was a good representation of what you're likely to find (especially
Bio and RC)
DAT Destroyer: http://www.orgoman.com/
If you're tight on money, check out http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=230 or ebay or amazon and you can save some serious coin.
I had heard about it before I even knew what the sections for the DAT were. I'd say it's....ehhh....It's useful but it's not as amazing as what I had heard. It's riddled with mistakes, mostly gramatical/poorly worded questions, but 1 or 2 answers are wrong. A lot of answers are obvious "E: none of the above" or "E: All of the above". Explanations for answers really suck too. I've looked at previous additions and they were a lot better than this one so maybe it's just the 2011 ones.
G-chem: Great. Get it for this.
Ochem: Good. The roadmaps were an unnecessary headache of relatively complex reactions but the questions themselves were good.
Bio: Bad. Go through them if you want but I really thought most of the questions were useless.
Math Destroyer: Same link as above
I think it would've been advantageous if I had taken this resource more seriously. I casually did a couple sections every week and didn't really internalize what I was doing wrong. I guess it showed in my score .
Chad's Videos: http://www.courseRemoveThisFromURLsaver.com/cmps_index.php
(for some reason the website *********** gets censored here)
If you feel anything less than 100% on gchem or ochem get this. $30 for a 4 semester review of chemistry in 2 weeks (and a lot of good practice questions). Chad seems like a pretty awesome guy too, like someone who I could grab a beer with or something.
Cliffs AP Bio: http://www.walmart.com/ip/5635577?so...ci_sku=5635577
My sole motivation to read through this thing was knowing the fact that high school kids are tested at the same level as us on bio (as well as G-chem, RC, and OR). Those smug 17 year old bastards need to be put in their place (it's also really informative and cheap too). I've also heard good things about Barrons.
Kaplan: http://www.kaptest.com/DAT-NBDE/Home/index.html
I'll say that you should be cautious about buying stuff from kaplan. They're great at customer support and marketing but the their product is sub-par. A lot more flash than actual substance. I personally thought the class was pathetic and did nothing to prepare anyone for the DAT. You learn 80% of the information on your own and they teach you only 10% (yes...10% is missing...that's kaplan for you).
The online syllabus was actually good. The class was terrible and I can't believe I could have payed for most of my application with all of that money .
DAT Sample Test (.pdf): http://www.ada.org/sections/educatio...ampleitems.pdf
Glanced at a few questions before test day.
datQVault: http://www.datqvault.com/index.php/l...ome/index/
Meh...I'm getting tired of writing this review so suffice it to say that this is just...eh. If you have $50 laying around, spend $40 on something you really want and wait until you have $15 more. It's okay, nothing that would make or break your understanding of information.
Khan Academy: http://www.khanacademy.org/
It's good but it's blown out of proportion for the context of what our goal is. Sal rambles on for like 10 minutes for a concept that would take 2 minutes to get if you cracked open Campbell. If you really don't get something, watch his videos because he is really good when you start from basics.
I had no idea how neurons worked (saltatory conduction, action potential, ligand gated v electrostatic channels or w/e) and Campbell does a poor job of explaining this section but after watching the 3 or 4 videos about them...it was really, really easy.
Random mentions:
http://www.hippocampus.org/?select-textbook=7
This last one is actually something I could have and should have looked at from the get-go; unfortunately I discovered it 2 weeks before my test. I've linked you to some videos explaining specific chapters and sections of Campbell. Sure the voices are dull but it's a lot easier to watch a 10 minute video than read a 50 page chapter of Campbell.
Here's some helpful stuff to put your mind at ease about the mysteries of test day:
My prometric experience was awesome, the people were really nice and it was really easy to sign and fingerprint myself in/out of the testing room. The sheets of laminated paper were fine. Erase with your fingers if you can...it's easier and takes less time.
Here is the 15 minute tutorial that you are going to be given: http://www.ada.org/sections/educatio...t_tutorial.pdf
It feels good to be done.
See you around the forums guys.
I wanted to first say thank you to all those people who have already taken the DAT and stay on this forum to help newbies that have no clue where to start.
Secondly, I want to thank all of my peers/fellow DAT takers (and hopefully future colleagues) for being so altruistic when sharing strategies and helping clarify concepts for one and other.
It really has been refreshing to see students helping students and not trying to screw each other over by withholding information or spreading misinformation just to try to get the competitive edge on everyone else.
Here are my scores:
AA: 22 (98.9)
TS: 23 (99.7)
Bio: 22 (97.6)
GC: 23 (97.3)
OC: 28 (99.5)
PAT: 20 (81.0)
RC: 18 (52.2)
QR: 17 (76.6)
They're not amazing like some crazy ones on the 21AA+ thread so I'll keep it super short. Let me know if you want the 'deets like what I used and what my practice test scores were.
Bio: Really basic stuff. I can't believe I wasted so much time stressing over this section.
Gchem: Chad. Concepts. Setup, no Calculations.
Ochem: Chad. Concepts. Basics. No questions from DAT Destroyer road maps (I wasted like 400 flashcards and half a week of my life).
PAT: Around the same as my average on CDP so I guess it's a good representation of the real thing. I was a little distracted during the whole 60 minutes of PAT thinking "OMG I'm never going to have to study god damn taxonomy, plants, evolution, or ecology again in my life!"
Break: Attempted to pee. Ate some food.
RC: I though I had killed it. I guess I didn't.
QR: My score is a good reflection of my preparation but I thought I did better than a 17...maybe I need to start gauging my performance on tests better.
I finished every section with some time left. I had around 30-35 minutes after Natural Sciences so I hung out and rechecked Gchem, then bio, then ochem. I only changed a couple answers so I guess it wasn't that bad. I finished PAT with like 10 minutes left so I reviewed the marked ones. RC and QR were finished early...i don't even know, you don't want my advice on those sections.
I guess I'll add some stuff because of some PMs I got.
Crack The DAT (CDP/CDR/CDM): http://crackdat.com/
-I only got the PAT section and it was right on par.
Topscore: http://www.scholarware.com/
My scores on this were significantly lower than my actual test so I don't really think it was a good representation of what you're likely to find (especially
Bio and RC)
DAT Destroyer: http://www.orgoman.com/
If you're tight on money, check out http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=230 or ebay or amazon and you can save some serious coin.
I had heard about it before I even knew what the sections for the DAT were. I'd say it's....ehhh....It's useful but it's not as amazing as what I had heard. It's riddled with mistakes, mostly gramatical/poorly worded questions, but 1 or 2 answers are wrong. A lot of answers are obvious "E: none of the above" or "E: All of the above". Explanations for answers really suck too. I've looked at previous additions and they were a lot better than this one so maybe it's just the 2011 ones.
G-chem: Great. Get it for this.
Ochem: Good. The roadmaps were an unnecessary headache of relatively complex reactions but the questions themselves were good.
Bio: Bad. Go through them if you want but I really thought most of the questions were useless.
Math Destroyer: Same link as above
I think it would've been advantageous if I had taken this resource more seriously. I casually did a couple sections every week and didn't really internalize what I was doing wrong. I guess it showed in my score .
Chad's Videos: http://www.courseRemoveThisFromURLsaver.com/cmps_index.php
(for some reason the website *********** gets censored here)
If you feel anything less than 100% on gchem or ochem get this. $30 for a 4 semester review of chemistry in 2 weeks (and a lot of good practice questions). Chad seems like a pretty awesome guy too, like someone who I could grab a beer with or something.
Cliffs AP Bio: http://www.walmart.com/ip/5635577?so...ci_sku=5635577
My sole motivation to read through this thing was knowing the fact that high school kids are tested at the same level as us on bio (as well as G-chem, RC, and OR). Those smug 17 year old bastards need to be put in their place (it's also really informative and cheap too). I've also heard good things about Barrons.
Kaplan: http://www.kaptest.com/DAT-NBDE/Home/index.html
I'll say that you should be cautious about buying stuff from kaplan. They're great at customer support and marketing but the their product is sub-par. A lot more flash than actual substance. I personally thought the class was pathetic and did nothing to prepare anyone for the DAT. You learn 80% of the information on your own and they teach you only 10% (yes...10% is missing...that's kaplan for you).
The online syllabus was actually good. The class was terrible and I can't believe I could have payed for most of my application with all of that money .
DAT Sample Test (.pdf): http://www.ada.org/sections/educatio...ampleitems.pdf
Glanced at a few questions before test day.
datQVault: http://www.datqvault.com/index.php/l...ome/index/
Meh...I'm getting tired of writing this review so suffice it to say that this is just...eh. If you have $50 laying around, spend $40 on something you really want and wait until you have $15 more. It's okay, nothing that would make or break your understanding of information.
Khan Academy: http://www.khanacademy.org/
It's good but it's blown out of proportion for the context of what our goal is. Sal rambles on for like 10 minutes for a concept that would take 2 minutes to get if you cracked open Campbell. If you really don't get something, watch his videos because he is really good when you start from basics.
I had no idea how neurons worked (saltatory conduction, action potential, ligand gated v electrostatic channels or w/e) and Campbell does a poor job of explaining this section but after watching the 3 or 4 videos about them...it was really, really easy.
Random mentions:
http://www.hippocampus.org/?select-textbook=7
This last one is actually something I could have and should have looked at from the get-go; unfortunately I discovered it 2 weeks before my test. I've linked you to some videos explaining specific chapters and sections of Campbell. Sure the voices are dull but it's a lot easier to watch a 10 minute video than read a 50 page chapter of Campbell.
Here's some helpful stuff to put your mind at ease about the mysteries of test day:
My prometric experience was awesome, the people were really nice and it was really easy to sign and fingerprint myself in/out of the testing room. The sheets of laminated paper were fine. Erase with your fingers if you can...it's easier and takes less time.
Here is the 15 minute tutorial that you are going to be given: http://www.ada.org/sections/educatio...t_tutorial.pdf
It feels good to be done.
See you around the forums guys.
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