- Joined
- May 11, 2012
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
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I am not a regular poster on here, but I began browsing the site a bit more a few months back after my 2nd attempt at the DAT. I had previously taken it in 2008(!) and then again in April of this year. Score:
2008: Bio 18, GC 18, OC 18, RC 18, QR 14, TS 18, AA 17 PAT 20
April 2012: Bio 17, GC 17, OC 20, RC, 18, QR 15, TS 18, AA 17, PAT 17
However, after taking the exam today:
Bio 18, GC, 22, OC 23, RC 24, QR 21, TS 20, AA 22, PAT 20
If it weren't for the SDN forums this never could have happened. When I had any questions on practice test problems and when I was looking for more adequate study materials, the forums is where I would turn. So THANK YOU all.
When I took the test in April I solely used a Kaplan online course and TopScore. After taking about two months off (I am a graduate student who was taking classes this spring / summer) I spent the last 5-6 weeks studying for the test this time around (usually about 12 hours a day).
Materials (most of which I got off this forum)
-Biology: Kaplan book, Cliff's AP Bio, Barron's AP Bio Flash cards
-Gen Chem: Kaplan, Chad's (this guy is the man)
-Organic Chem: Kaplan, Chad's
-QR: Chad's
-Testing material: Kaplan online, TopScore, QVault
-Reading: Kaplan, QVault, journal articles for my Master's program
(My main strategy for reading was to limit myself to 5 minutes to read the article. If answering the questions went over the allotted time limit, I would have less time to read the next article, etc. ---basically made sure I had 15 min to answer questions in each section...Luckily today I had three very interesting articles on Antibiotic Resistance, Bone fractures, and Herbal Medicine. There were probably 4 tone questions per article)
-PAT: Kaplan, TopScore (I did not put much time into PAT this time around, but it was a lot easier IMO than the previous time I took it).
I think the biggest difference in my score came from the use of QVault and Chad's videos. In certain sections, especially QR and GC, I would hammer out the QVault questions and Chad's quizzes until I hated life. On the exam today I never had to think about what I was doing, but was immediately able to just react to the problem (time had always been an issue).
Anyways, that is my mini-breakdown. Thanks again to all of you who post regularly. Hope this inspires the 17s and 18s of the world (like myself) to work a little bit harder. Good luck to all in the application cycle!
2008: Bio 18, GC 18, OC 18, RC 18, QR 14, TS 18, AA 17 PAT 20
April 2012: Bio 17, GC 17, OC 20, RC, 18, QR 15, TS 18, AA 17, PAT 17
However, after taking the exam today:
Bio 18, GC, 22, OC 23, RC 24, QR 21, TS 20, AA 22, PAT 20
If it weren't for the SDN forums this never could have happened. When I had any questions on practice test problems and when I was looking for more adequate study materials, the forums is where I would turn. So THANK YOU all.
When I took the test in April I solely used a Kaplan online course and TopScore. After taking about two months off (I am a graduate student who was taking classes this spring / summer) I spent the last 5-6 weeks studying for the test this time around (usually about 12 hours a day).
Materials (most of which I got off this forum)
-Biology: Kaplan book, Cliff's AP Bio, Barron's AP Bio Flash cards
-Gen Chem: Kaplan, Chad's (this guy is the man)
-Organic Chem: Kaplan, Chad's
-QR: Chad's
-Testing material: Kaplan online, TopScore, QVault
-Reading: Kaplan, QVault, journal articles for my Master's program
(My main strategy for reading was to limit myself to 5 minutes to read the article. If answering the questions went over the allotted time limit, I would have less time to read the next article, etc. ---basically made sure I had 15 min to answer questions in each section...Luckily today I had three very interesting articles on Antibiotic Resistance, Bone fractures, and Herbal Medicine. There were probably 4 tone questions per article)
-PAT: Kaplan, TopScore (I did not put much time into PAT this time around, but it was a lot easier IMO than the previous time I took it).
I think the biggest difference in my score came from the use of QVault and Chad's videos. In certain sections, especially QR and GC, I would hammer out the QVault questions and Chad's quizzes until I hated life. On the exam today I never had to think about what I was doing, but was immediately able to just react to the problem (time had always been an issue).
Anyways, that is my mini-breakdown. Thanks again to all of you who post regularly. Hope this inspires the 17s and 18s of the world (like myself) to work a little bit harder. Good luck to all in the application cycle!
