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- Jan 18, 2011
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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I took the DAT on 9/19/11 and I'm THRILLED to be done! After doing the science section I thought I had maybe a 17 or 18 on Bio, I felt decent about genchem and thought I nailed Ochem (there were 2 questions that I was unsure about). The PAT really ruined my confidence, I felt like I got a 19 or 20 on it and my timing was VERY tight, I answered the last question hurriedly, with like 15 seconds remaining. I didn't get the dreaded physics passage (I nearly got up and cheered when I didn't see it) but part of me was hoping to get it and then to focus like crazy on it and punish the reading section, though I had no basis for this as the only "studying" I did for this section was in taking the 2009 DAT practice (paper) test. The QR section was manageable, there were about 3 questions that really eluded me, 4 or 5 trig questions, and one stats p-test question: like everyone says the questions were exactly on par with Math Destroyer.
If you have ANY questions about the DAT, don't hesitate to PM me. Also, I took the test in Brookfield, WI (near Milwaukee) and the test center was phenomenal. If you are taking in SE WI and want to know more, drop a line.
After I finished the exam, I was hoping for a 20, and felt like I had probably gotten a 20. I didn't know the results were going to pop up on the screen after the Prometric survey about the test center… and when they did I was COMPLETELY astounded. In somewhat of a stupor and state of awe, all I could do was smile.
PAT: 23 (96.2%)
QR: 21 (97.6%)
RC: 22 (93.2%)
Bio: 21 (95.5%)
GC: 23 (97.3%)
OC: 28 (99.5%)
TS: 23 (99.3%)
AA: 23 (99.7%)
Right after the test I called my dentist friend and mentor and told him the news and said, "I must have done ok on the questions I guessed on." He said, "don't attribute it to luck, you worked HARD for this." And it's really true, I worked crazy hard to do well and hard work really pays off, especially for this exam.
Summary:
I studied for three months, between 4 and 12 hours per day, averaged 10 hours 3 days per week and 4 hours the other days of the week. I took about 8 days off during the 3 months. The first month I read Cliff's and Barron's AP bio and watched all of Chad's videos and took very good notes.. During the second to last week before the test I did all of the Destroyer genchem, ochem and bio problems for the 3rd time, watched all of Chad's videos and did the quizzes. My goal was to watch all of Chad's and do all of his quizzes the day before the exam, so those questions would be fresh. I also did one CDP test every other day.
Then I thought my DAT was on September 9th. When I showed up at Prometric on September 9th the Prometric lady looked at me and said that I wasn't on the list. It turned out that I had actually scheduled it for September 8th but I had written down the 9th (and put it in my calendar) incorrectly (these things happen when all you do is pay attention to the details of everything you're studying for the DAT, I remember looking at the confirmation email BUT I only looked at the time!). This was a $320 mistake, but I paid the fee, got a new eligibility letter and scheduled it for 10 days later, on the 19th. I was pretty angry at myself for doing this, especially because I felt like I was PERFECTLY prepared on that day. Getting ready for this test requires a taper, not unlike tapering for an athletic event, and I was supremely ready. In a funk, I did absolutely no studying for 4 days but once I got the eligibility letter, my passion was reignited. I paged through Cliffs and reviewed the datQvault questions on days 6 and 5 before the test. I re-did destroyer math tests on days 4 and 3 and 2, as well as re-doing a few CDP tests. Day 2 and 1 before the test I watched as many Chad's videos as I could pack in and did the genchem quiz (all 180 questions). The morning of the exam I couldn't sleep, so I woke up at 5 a.m. and did Chad's Ochem quiz (all 80 questions, or whatever) and drove to Prometric…. while listening to the Chad videos on NMR and IR
Note that I did not take any practice exams, save for the 2009 DAT which I didn't take under scrupulous testing conditions (I sort of took chat breaks between sections), though I did time the sections. I took the science portion of one Topscore test and decided that I hated it, so I didn't take any more of the exam. I took the first 3 CDP tests untimed, and then decided I needed to practice PAT with timing, so I took the rest with time constraints, which was absolutely necessary and helpful → definitely take the CDPs timed! On a side note, I have always been a very good and very fast test taker, so I only worried a little about being able to finish the sections on time. During the 2009 version I finished the sciences in an hour, and on the real thing I finished in 1 hour and 5 minutes. I think I did around 40 minutes on the 2009 QR, and then about the same on the real thing.
Some tips:
-This test is totally manageable, and there is a study formula that is working really well right now (Chads/Destroyer/CDP/datQvault/AP bio).
-Don't study for more than 10 weeks, unless you really need to. Study like crazy when you do. I felt like I was forgetting information and getting disinterested in the information that I was reviewing after having been at it for about 10 weeks.
-Someone mentioned a 70/30 or 80/20 rule for the ratio of studying the chemistries to biology, and I definitely agree: the chemistries are finite and you can cover the material quickly and easily without information overload like in bio.
-Know which study techniques work for you. I study best when I take a short (10 min) break about every hour to hour-and-a-half. I also study best when I am writing/drawing diagrams, so engage different modalities when you study.
-Practice PAT questions at least every other day, the PAT is all about practice. When I started the PAT stuff I did the KBB test and I got like maybe 4 right in TFE and like half right in hole punches. A few tutorials and a couple of practice tests later and I started to improve to the point of doing the hole punches in my head pretty fast, which I never thought I would be able to do when I started.
-The supplemental material/course outlines from Chad are totally priceless and are amazing for reviewing the chemistries. The quizzes are also priceless, both genchem and ochem on the DAT were on par with the Chad quizzes, like almost exactly (except Chad throws in the tricky questions, which were not on the DAT -- it was very straightforward).
-Memorize the unit circle and be able to draw one really fast. Knowing the unit circle helps trig make more sense and it can be useful on the exam (I had to draw one out to figure out two questions).
-If you have extra time on your test (e.g. after the sciences), use that time to prepare things on your sheets that you might need for upcoming sections, like drawing the unit circle or writing down 1/2/3/4/5 for cube counting. Writing down the 1/2/3/4/5 might not seem like a big deal, but it probably cost me 30 seconds, which is time I could've used to review marked PAT questions.
-Come up with mnemonic tricks to remember the important details. My favorite, for the structure of purines, was that a PURRRRine looks like a cat (vaguely: head & body). And I remembered that Cytosine begins with the 3rd letter of the alphabet, so it makes 3 bonds to Guanine (G & C make three!). Or the chief function of the stomach is to digest proteins (knowing that pepsin digests proteins) --> chief cells secrete pepsin.
Materials (listed in order of usefulness): Chad's videos (I'm pretty sure I watched every video of his at least 6 times), Chad's notes and quizzes, CDP 10 test version, datQvault, Dat Destroyer, Math Destroyer, 2009 DAT, AP Barron's Flash Cards, Organic Chemistry as a Second Language, AP Barron's Bio, AP Cliffs Bio, Alan's notes, Princeton Review Cracking the AP Chemistry Exam, Campbell's Bio (read the cladistics chapter, molecular bio & genetics chapters, looked at the plant phys stuff), Bruice's Ochem Textbook (referenced maybe 10 times), Khan Academy trigonometry videos, a couple of really helpful websites on cladistics and embryology, etc, Kaplan Blue Book (don't even buy this).
Note that I bought the Mometrix flashcards and they were TERRIBLE. I WHOLLY RECOMMEND NOT buying these. Also, I bought some DAT app that was some guy reading scrolling text (different science topics), which was also not helpful, but I don't believe it is for sale any longer, but if it is, I don't recommend that one at all either. Thirdly, I bought ExamKrakers AudiOsmosis on eBay. Evidently the copy I purchased was not legit (I don't know how they would know?) but I received a VERY AGGRESSIVE email from them talking about sending me to jail and suing me and demanding twice the price that they charge in exchange for not pressing charges. I thought this was extraordinarily untactful (buying from eBay, I EXPECT that the product isn't pirated) and inspired me to never want to do business with them EVER, and to inspire others to feel the same way. At the same time, AudiOsmosis was terrible, trite, cheesy and difficult to follow their train of thought, thus I recommend steering clear of AudiOsmosis. You can stream Chad's videos on an iPhone, so if you want to be listening to chem or math, you can always just go there and listen to Chad with the video off, plus it would be cheaper (side note: I recommend getting the multi month package from Chad. I ended up buying one month three times).
Ok, that's enough for now. I had a whole other review written that talked about my experiences and I might post it later, but I hope this helps you if you're looking for insight into the test!
Absolutely the best VSEPR site out there! (shapes are near slide 40-50):
http://www.chem.tamu.edu/rgroup/soriaga/FYC/HTML_Presentation_folder8/sld001.htm
For frog embryology, this site was helpful:
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/F/FrogEmbryology.html
For gastrulation and neurulation, this site was helpful:
http://biology.kenyon.edu/courses/biol114/Chap14/Chapter_14.html
For monocots/dicots, this was helpful:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss8/monocotdicot.html
2009 DAT:
Bio/GC/OC/QR/PAT/RC
19/18/16/20/19/19
datQvault "scores"
20/19/19/18/17/19/19/18/18/18
CDP scores:
14/17/19/20/21/20/21/22/
ON A SIDE NOTE, I 100% believe that Chad helped me get A PROMOTION (which came with a great raise). While I was studying for the DAT, I applied for a different position in my company and part of the interview process was a technical interview (to assess technical knowledge about chemistry) with one of our on-site PhD's (this one had his PhD in organometallics from Purdue). I walked into the interview confident, because Chad made chemistry accessible, understandable and something that I could talk about intelligently. In the end, the interviewer didn't ask me any questions that I didn't know about, and everything I knew came from chad!
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d102/cornraven/photo-31-1.jpg
If you have ANY questions about the DAT, don't hesitate to PM me. Also, I took the test in Brookfield, WI (near Milwaukee) and the test center was phenomenal. If you are taking in SE WI and want to know more, drop a line.
After I finished the exam, I was hoping for a 20, and felt like I had probably gotten a 20. I didn't know the results were going to pop up on the screen after the Prometric survey about the test center… and when they did I was COMPLETELY astounded. In somewhat of a stupor and state of awe, all I could do was smile.
PAT: 23 (96.2%)
QR: 21 (97.6%)
RC: 22 (93.2%)
Bio: 21 (95.5%)
GC: 23 (97.3%)
OC: 28 (99.5%)
TS: 23 (99.3%)
AA: 23 (99.7%)
Right after the test I called my dentist friend and mentor and told him the news and said, "I must have done ok on the questions I guessed on." He said, "don't attribute it to luck, you worked HARD for this." And it's really true, I worked crazy hard to do well and hard work really pays off, especially for this exam.
Summary:
I studied for three months, between 4 and 12 hours per day, averaged 10 hours 3 days per week and 4 hours the other days of the week. I took about 8 days off during the 3 months. The first month I read Cliff's and Barron's AP bio and watched all of Chad's videos and took very good notes.. During the second to last week before the test I did all of the Destroyer genchem, ochem and bio problems for the 3rd time, watched all of Chad's videos and did the quizzes. My goal was to watch all of Chad's and do all of his quizzes the day before the exam, so those questions would be fresh. I also did one CDP test every other day.
Then I thought my DAT was on September 9th. When I showed up at Prometric on September 9th the Prometric lady looked at me and said that I wasn't on the list. It turned out that I had actually scheduled it for September 8th but I had written down the 9th (and put it in my calendar) incorrectly (these things happen when all you do is pay attention to the details of everything you're studying for the DAT, I remember looking at the confirmation email BUT I only looked at the time!). This was a $320 mistake, but I paid the fee, got a new eligibility letter and scheduled it for 10 days later, on the 19th. I was pretty angry at myself for doing this, especially because I felt like I was PERFECTLY prepared on that day. Getting ready for this test requires a taper, not unlike tapering for an athletic event, and I was supremely ready. In a funk, I did absolutely no studying for 4 days but once I got the eligibility letter, my passion was reignited. I paged through Cliffs and reviewed the datQvault questions on days 6 and 5 before the test. I re-did destroyer math tests on days 4 and 3 and 2, as well as re-doing a few CDP tests. Day 2 and 1 before the test I watched as many Chad's videos as I could pack in and did the genchem quiz (all 180 questions). The morning of the exam I couldn't sleep, so I woke up at 5 a.m. and did Chad's Ochem quiz (all 80 questions, or whatever) and drove to Prometric…. while listening to the Chad videos on NMR and IR
Note that I did not take any practice exams, save for the 2009 DAT which I didn't take under scrupulous testing conditions (I sort of took chat breaks between sections), though I did time the sections. I took the science portion of one Topscore test and decided that I hated it, so I didn't take any more of the exam. I took the first 3 CDP tests untimed, and then decided I needed to practice PAT with timing, so I took the rest with time constraints, which was absolutely necessary and helpful → definitely take the CDPs timed! On a side note, I have always been a very good and very fast test taker, so I only worried a little about being able to finish the sections on time. During the 2009 version I finished the sciences in an hour, and on the real thing I finished in 1 hour and 5 minutes. I think I did around 40 minutes on the 2009 QR, and then about the same on the real thing.
Some tips:
-This test is totally manageable, and there is a study formula that is working really well right now (Chads/Destroyer/CDP/datQvault/AP bio).
-Don't study for more than 10 weeks, unless you really need to. Study like crazy when you do. I felt like I was forgetting information and getting disinterested in the information that I was reviewing after having been at it for about 10 weeks.
-Someone mentioned a 70/30 or 80/20 rule for the ratio of studying the chemistries to biology, and I definitely agree: the chemistries are finite and you can cover the material quickly and easily without information overload like in bio.
-Know which study techniques work for you. I study best when I take a short (10 min) break about every hour to hour-and-a-half. I also study best when I am writing/drawing diagrams, so engage different modalities when you study.
-Practice PAT questions at least every other day, the PAT is all about practice. When I started the PAT stuff I did the KBB test and I got like maybe 4 right in TFE and like half right in hole punches. A few tutorials and a couple of practice tests later and I started to improve to the point of doing the hole punches in my head pretty fast, which I never thought I would be able to do when I started.
-The supplemental material/course outlines from Chad are totally priceless and are amazing for reviewing the chemistries. The quizzes are also priceless, both genchem and ochem on the DAT were on par with the Chad quizzes, like almost exactly (except Chad throws in the tricky questions, which were not on the DAT -- it was very straightforward).
-Memorize the unit circle and be able to draw one really fast. Knowing the unit circle helps trig make more sense and it can be useful on the exam (I had to draw one out to figure out two questions).
-If you have extra time on your test (e.g. after the sciences), use that time to prepare things on your sheets that you might need for upcoming sections, like drawing the unit circle or writing down 1/2/3/4/5 for cube counting. Writing down the 1/2/3/4/5 might not seem like a big deal, but it probably cost me 30 seconds, which is time I could've used to review marked PAT questions.
-Come up with mnemonic tricks to remember the important details. My favorite, for the structure of purines, was that a PURRRRine looks like a cat (vaguely: head & body). And I remembered that Cytosine begins with the 3rd letter of the alphabet, so it makes 3 bonds to Guanine (G & C make three!). Or the chief function of the stomach is to digest proteins (knowing that pepsin digests proteins) --> chief cells secrete pepsin.
Materials (listed in order of usefulness): Chad's videos (I'm pretty sure I watched every video of his at least 6 times), Chad's notes and quizzes, CDP 10 test version, datQvault, Dat Destroyer, Math Destroyer, 2009 DAT, AP Barron's Flash Cards, Organic Chemistry as a Second Language, AP Barron's Bio, AP Cliffs Bio, Alan's notes, Princeton Review Cracking the AP Chemistry Exam, Campbell's Bio (read the cladistics chapter, molecular bio & genetics chapters, looked at the plant phys stuff), Bruice's Ochem Textbook (referenced maybe 10 times), Khan Academy trigonometry videos, a couple of really helpful websites on cladistics and embryology, etc, Kaplan Blue Book (don't even buy this).
Note that I bought the Mometrix flashcards and they were TERRIBLE. I WHOLLY RECOMMEND NOT buying these. Also, I bought some DAT app that was some guy reading scrolling text (different science topics), which was also not helpful, but I don't believe it is for sale any longer, but if it is, I don't recommend that one at all either. Thirdly, I bought ExamKrakers AudiOsmosis on eBay. Evidently the copy I purchased was not legit (I don't know how they would know?) but I received a VERY AGGRESSIVE email from them talking about sending me to jail and suing me and demanding twice the price that they charge in exchange for not pressing charges. I thought this was extraordinarily untactful (buying from eBay, I EXPECT that the product isn't pirated) and inspired me to never want to do business with them EVER, and to inspire others to feel the same way. At the same time, AudiOsmosis was terrible, trite, cheesy and difficult to follow their train of thought, thus I recommend steering clear of AudiOsmosis. You can stream Chad's videos on an iPhone, so if you want to be listening to chem or math, you can always just go there and listen to Chad with the video off, plus it would be cheaper (side note: I recommend getting the multi month package from Chad. I ended up buying one month three times).
Ok, that's enough for now. I had a whole other review written that talked about my experiences and I might post it later, but I hope this helps you if you're looking for insight into the test!
Absolutely the best VSEPR site out there! (shapes are near slide 40-50):
http://www.chem.tamu.edu/rgroup/soriaga/FYC/HTML_Presentation_folder8/sld001.htm
For frog embryology, this site was helpful:
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/F/FrogEmbryology.html
For gastrulation and neurulation, this site was helpful:
http://biology.kenyon.edu/courses/biol114/Chap14/Chapter_14.html
For monocots/dicots, this was helpful:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss8/monocotdicot.html
2009 DAT:
Bio/GC/OC/QR/PAT/RC
19/18/16/20/19/19
datQvault "scores"
20/19/19/18/17/19/19/18/18/18
CDP scores:
14/17/19/20/21/20/21/22/
ON A SIDE NOTE, I 100% believe that Chad helped me get A PROMOTION (which came with a great raise). While I was studying for the DAT, I applied for a different position in my company and part of the interview process was a technical interview (to assess technical knowledge about chemistry) with one of our on-site PhD's (this one had his PhD in organometallics from Purdue). I walked into the interview confident, because Chad made chemistry accessible, understandable and something that I could talk about intelligently. In the end, the interviewer didn't ask me any questions that I didn't know about, and everything I knew came from chad!
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d102/cornraven/photo-31-1.jpg
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