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Hi everyone,
I took the DAT in February 2010 and decided not to apply as I enrolled in a post-bac program for 2 years. I didn't realize that a bunch of schools allow scores for only 2 years so I just took them again yesterday and wanted to get some advice.
02/10 DAT
PAT: 26
Quantitative Reasoning: 25
Reading Comprehension: 23
Biology: 24
GChem: 22
OChem: 21
Total Science: 22
AA: 23
06/12 DAT
PAT: 23
Quantitative Reasoning: 26
Reading Comprehension: 24
Biology: 18
GChem: 24
OChem: 30
Total Science: 21
AA: 24
Don't know what the hell happened on biology this time around...
I just had a few questions. My undergrad GPA is 2.77 and postbac GPA is 3.5. I was clearly very pleased with my scores first time around, and this time around, I'd be ecstatic if it weren't for the Biology score. Will schools place any value on previous scores even though they "expired"? (Mainly the regression in PAT and Biology)
Also, clearly my GPA is going to be a huge deterrent to schools. Do I have a chance?
I know there are tons of posts of discussion on what materials to study from. This time around, I placed an emphasis on my studying towards GChem and OChem and clearly it paid off.
For OChem, I only used DAT Destroyer and http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/carey5e/Carey.html as a reference. I think that website is fantastic and has more than enough information needed to do well.
For GChem, I used DAT Destroyer and Chad's Videos and I definitely think those should be more than enough. On the test itself, any question that required calculations were no problem at all. The questions I missed were kind of "definition" type problems that had to do with binding energy or other concepts.
For Biology....I'm probably not qualified to give any advice, but for both times, I studied from Cliffs AP Bio, Examkrackers MCAT Biology, and obv the destroyer.
I also purchased CrackDAT for perceptual ability, reading comprehension, and science questions. I think CrackDAT is fantastic for perceptual ability and reading comprehension, and they have added new exams for science which are much better and more appropriate for the test.
I made a last minute purchase a few days before my test of DAT Achiever. I'm going to echo everyone's sentiments that it is very demoralizing and not even comparable to the real thing. That being said, I don't think anyone should ever use them as a "practice test". I feel it would be a lot more beneficial as a source of practice questions like Destroyer especially for the science section.
The DAT Achiever science questions are pretty useful. The PAT questions are much much harder than the CrackDAT but still helpful. I don't think the reading comprehension questions were helpful at all because the questions they ask are too difficult / not representative of the real DAT. The DAT asks a lot of questions which are easily found by "search and destroy". (I always read the entire passage first quickly before going to questions) and in CrackDAT and the real DAT, they ask many questions which are easily answered through that method. For Achiever, I had problems with time reading the passage first and then answering questions because each question was too time consuming. Just my thoughts.
Again, thanks to anyone to actually read this whole thing. And I appreciate any response/help. Thanks!
Cliffs:
- sub 3.0 undergrad gpa
- 3.5 post-bac gpa
- took DAT and happy with scores except for 18 in Biology
- do i have a chance?
I took the DAT in February 2010 and decided not to apply as I enrolled in a post-bac program for 2 years. I didn't realize that a bunch of schools allow scores for only 2 years so I just took them again yesterday and wanted to get some advice.
02/10 DAT
PAT: 26
Quantitative Reasoning: 25
Reading Comprehension: 23
Biology: 24
GChem: 22
OChem: 21
Total Science: 22
AA: 23
06/12 DAT
PAT: 23
Quantitative Reasoning: 26
Reading Comprehension: 24
Biology: 18
GChem: 24
OChem: 30
Total Science: 21
AA: 24
Don't know what the hell happened on biology this time around...
I just had a few questions. My undergrad GPA is 2.77 and postbac GPA is 3.5. I was clearly very pleased with my scores first time around, and this time around, I'd be ecstatic if it weren't for the Biology score. Will schools place any value on previous scores even though they "expired"? (Mainly the regression in PAT and Biology)
Also, clearly my GPA is going to be a huge deterrent to schools. Do I have a chance?
I know there are tons of posts of discussion on what materials to study from. This time around, I placed an emphasis on my studying towards GChem and OChem and clearly it paid off.
For OChem, I only used DAT Destroyer and http://www.mhhe.com/physsci/chemistry/carey5e/Carey.html as a reference. I think that website is fantastic and has more than enough information needed to do well.
For GChem, I used DAT Destroyer and Chad's Videos and I definitely think those should be more than enough. On the test itself, any question that required calculations were no problem at all. The questions I missed were kind of "definition" type problems that had to do with binding energy or other concepts.
For Biology....I'm probably not qualified to give any advice, but for both times, I studied from Cliffs AP Bio, Examkrackers MCAT Biology, and obv the destroyer.
I also purchased CrackDAT for perceptual ability, reading comprehension, and science questions. I think CrackDAT is fantastic for perceptual ability and reading comprehension, and they have added new exams for science which are much better and more appropriate for the test.
I made a last minute purchase a few days before my test of DAT Achiever. I'm going to echo everyone's sentiments that it is very demoralizing and not even comparable to the real thing. That being said, I don't think anyone should ever use them as a "practice test". I feel it would be a lot more beneficial as a source of practice questions like Destroyer especially for the science section.
The DAT Achiever science questions are pretty useful. The PAT questions are much much harder than the CrackDAT but still helpful. I don't think the reading comprehension questions were helpful at all because the questions they ask are too difficult / not representative of the real DAT. The DAT asks a lot of questions which are easily found by "search and destroy". (I always read the entire passage first quickly before going to questions) and in CrackDAT and the real DAT, they ask many questions which are easily answered through that method. For Achiever, I had problems with time reading the passage first and then answering questions because each question was too time consuming. Just my thoughts.
Again, thanks to anyone to actually read this whole thing. And I appreciate any response/help. Thanks!
Cliffs:
- sub 3.0 undergrad gpa
- 3.5 post-bac gpa
- took DAT and happy with scores except for 18 in Biology
- do i have a chance?
