2 weeks/8 Hours A DAY = AA:20

[Zakl]

PAT 18 (Hole Punching did not look like Crack-Dat and the Top-Front-End was HARD)
QR 20 (Could have done better on this section but the damn 1 second delay calculator wasted 5 minutes of my time)
RC 21 (I got screwed over some passage asking for tone and crap, and some of the words I didn't even know the definition for it and it was in the answer choice LMAO, I think I rather get piano'd)
Bio 20 (DAT destroyer is JUNK, AP Baron's Bio book is like GOD compared to the destroyer)
G Chem 20 (Um, Destroyer was okay, but Kaplan's online stuff should be enough)
O Chem 21 (TEXTBOOK is a must, don't use DAT destroyer)
Tot: 20
AA: 20


The score isn't super great, but the amount of time I actually put in actually will tell you a lot. Spent two weeks and pretty satisfied with my score. Why did I only spend two weeks? My finals are next week, and I just finished my midterms two weeks ago. I don't want to think about the DAT after my final. So, my only choice was to study after my midterms and take the DAT a week before my finals.


First let me tell you the materials that I used and how helpful they were on 1-10 scale. 1 being the worst, and 10 being the best


Here are my study materials:
1K worth of Kaplan Class (Rating: 4)
Why the rating: I would honestly give the classes a 0 but because my parents paid for it I was motivated to try. So 4 points for motivation. I recommend it for people who are out of school for more than 2 or 3 years. Otherwise if you do well in your lower-divsion bio/chem classes, don't waste your time and money on the classes
Instead: Get the online stuff for Kaplan, it is a lot cheaper, comes with 5 practice tests and bunch of other stuff that's pretty good for the review


DAT destoryer (Rating: 6)
Biology section: 0
Why the rating: Too much junk that is not on the test
Chemistry section: 8
Good, but too much Junk
Organic Chemistry: 10
Good, but your Organic Chem textbook would probably be GOD compared to this


Overall: If you are going to buy this to study, don't. Highly do not recommend it to do your studying. I realize after 5 days of working on this that my Chemistry text book and Organic Chemistry text book is a lot better. Don't waste your money on this. People advertise this too much and I fell for it. THIS BOOK IS FOR OVERACHIEVERS, in which I am not, so if you know that you are not an overachiever don't BUY IT, if you think that you are an overachiever, but in reality you are not, buy it and waste your money on it.

Crack DAT PAT: (Rating: 10)
pure BS, I would score 22-23 on each of these tests
The hole punching section was kind of confusing on the real DAT because it did not look like the one on Crack DAT. Overall, it is a must have to do well on this section. Probably would have done worse without it that is how I have to think of it.


Baron's Biology AP (Rating: 10)
Buy this instead of the destoryer. I never used Cliff's but this book is good enough. Do all the problems after each chapter and you will being to realize, hey Dr. Romano took some of these questions out of this book, and hey why are the DAT destroyer Bio so damn hard, O it is because he was probably using the Baron's AP book to right the DAT destroyer.


Kaplan Big Blue Book: (Rating: 2)
Why would I waste my time studying this big piece of junk. So, instead of wasting my time on this book, I used my Chemistry and Organic Chemistry text book. Studies 1 day for each textbook and went over it twice. 4 days total for studying Organic Chemistry and Chemistry.
The only thing good about this book is the formulas you need for the Quantitative Reasoning section, which is why it gets a rating of 2


My schedule:
I have 15 hours of research a week, 15 hours of work a week, and 8 hours of class a week (only taking 2 right now)
I wasn't studying 100% of the time in my two weeks
I ate a bunch of fast food, on my last week
Pretty much studied around 8 hours a day for two weeks. If I studied more than 8 hours, I would become light headed.
Watched the Lakers play Suns every night if there was a game. Worth the sacrifice for Kobe's 4th quarter unbelievable shots.


How to do well:
1) DO WELL IN YOUR GENERAL BIO, CHEM, AND OCHEM CLASSES, it should at least get you a 20 without having to try too hard to study
2) BUY EVERYTHING THAT I GAVE A 10 ON and review one topic a day for two weeks, and you should be able to do well
3) DONT CRAM INFORMATIOn, you don't know it the last three days before you test, don't botter knowing it, chances are it might not even be on the test and you might forget infromation from before
4) EAT HEALTHY and dont just sit in the house the whole day and reading. I can't do it, and not a lot of people can. Putting good stuff in your body well allow your body to metabolize the food better and more ATP will be produced (HAHA)
5) DONT WASTE TIME TAKING NOTES FOR EACH LITTLE THING
ie. Sperm: male gamete
if you know it don't waste your time writing it down
6) TAKE an HOUR BREAK AFTER YOU STUDY, forget about everything and just put on some Family Guy or something and fall asleep while watching it
7) SOCIALIZE WITH PEOPLE, CLEAR YOUR MIND FROM JUST DAT DAT DAT DAT DAT
8) DRINK LOTS OF WATER
9) DONT EAT TOO MUCH BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR DAT, you might just need to use the restroom
10) RELAX

If you have any questions about the study materials I used go ahead and reply to this thread I'll be glad to help you guys out. Don't ask me specific bio/chem/ochem questions because chances are I forgot them all already.

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[Chrono]

Thanks for the breakdown. how did u study for the chems? Did u read a little then do practice problems from textbook etc? And the ochem textbook has so much info to go through, how did u get through it all?

 

[Zakl]

Depending on how much time you have. IF you have a month to study for the DAT then I would recommend this for O CHEM

1) Go over the Kaplan Material. It is just there to refresh your memory. Look over it, jot down the things you don't remember from your O chem Class
2) Now your O chem Text book. Start on CHapter 1, if you know it, go on to Chapter 2 and so forth
3) Pick out random problems in the back of the book and do them
I would recommend just generating 10 random numbers on this website http://www.random.org/integers/
ie. if you have 50 problems, generate 10 numbers from 1-50 and do the 10 problems. It should take you around 2 days to finish the book.
4) If you have the DAT destroyer, USE IT LAST

For Chemistry
Do the same steps 1-4 as in O Chem, and you should be fine.

Remember, it is about taking the time and effort to do it. It is a lot of crap and junk that you probably don't want to read, but its worth it to build a good foundation on the section

 

[whathashizzyDDS]

PAT 18 (Hole Punching did not look like Crack-Dat and the Top-Front-End was HARD)
QR 20 (Could have done better on this section but the damn 1 second delay calculator wasted 5 minutes of my time)
RC 21 (I got screwed over some passage asking for tone and crap, and some of the words I didn't even know the definition for it and it was in the answer choice LMAO, I think I rather get piano'd)
Bio 20 (DAT destroyer is JUNK, AP Baron's Bio book is like GOD compared to the destroyer)
G Chem 20 (Um, Destroyer was okay, but Kaplan's online stuff should be enough)
O Chem 21 (TEXTBOOK is a must, don't use DAT destroyer)
Tot: 20
AA: 20


The score isn't super great, but the amount of time I actually put in actually will tell you a lot. Spent two weeks and pretty satisfied with my score. Why did I only spend two weeks? My finals are next week, and I just finished my midterms two weeks ago. I don't want to think about the DAT after my final. So, my only choice was to study after my midterms and take the DAT a week before my finals.


First let me tell you the materials that I used and how helpful they were on 1-10 scale. 1 being the worst, and 10 being the best


Here are my study materials:
1K worth of Kaplan Class (Rating: 4)
Why the rating: I would honestly give the classes a 0 but because my parents paid for it I was motivated to try. So 4 points for motivation. I recommend it for people who are out of school for more than 2 or 3 years. Otherwise if you do well in your lower-divsion bio/chem classes, don't waste your time and money on the classes
Instead: Get the online stuff for Kaplan, it is a lot cheaper, comes with 5 practice tests and bunch of other stuff that's pretty good for the review


DAT destoryer (Rating: 6)
Biology section: 0
Why the rating: Too much junk that is not on the test
Chemistry section: 8
Good, but too much Junk
Organic Chemistry: 10
Good, but your Organic Chem textbook would probably be GOD compared to this


Overall: If you are going to buy this to study, don't. Highly do not recommend it to do your studying. I realize after 5 days of working on this that my Chemistry text book and Organic Chemistry text book is a lot better. Don't waste your money on this. People advertise this too much and I fell for it. THIS BOOK IS FOR OVERACHIEVERS, in which I am not, so if you know that you are not an overachiever don't BUY IT, if you think that you are an overachiever, but in reality you are not, buy it and waste your money on it.

Crack DAT PAT: (Rating: 10)
pure BS, I would score 22-23 on each of these tests
The hole punching section was kind of confusing on the real DAT because it did not look like the one on Crack DAT. Overall, it is a must have to do well on this section. Probably would have done worse without it that is how I have to think of it.


Baron's Biology AP (Rating: 10)
Buy this instead of the destoryer. I never used Cliff's but this book is good enough. Do all the problems after each chapter and you will being to realize, hey Dr. Romano took some of these questions out of this book, and hey why are the DAT destroyer Bio so damn hard, O it is because he was probably using the Baron's AP book to right the DAT destroyer.


Kaplan Big Blue Book: (Rating: 2)
Why would I waste my time studying this big piece of junk. So, instead of wasting my time on this book, I used my Chemistry and Organic Chemistry text book. Studies 1 day for each textbook and went over it twice. 4 days total for studying Organic Chemistry and Chemistry.
The only thing good about this book is the formulas you need for the Quantitative Reasoning section, which is why it gets a rating of 2


My schedule:
I have 15 hours of research a week, 15 hours of work a week, and 8 hours of class a week (only taking 2 right now)
I wasn't studying 100% of the time in my two weeks
I ate a bunch of fast food, on my last week
Pretty much studied around 8 hours a day for two weeks. If I studied more than 8 hours, I would become light headed.
Watched the Lakers play Suns every night if there was a game. Worth the sacrifice for Kobe's 4th quarter unbelievable shots.


How to do well:
1) DO WELL IN YOUR GENERAL BIO, CHEM, AND OCHEM CLASSES, it should at least get you a 20 without having to try too hard to study
2) BUY EVERYTHING THAT I GAVE A 10 ON and review one topic a day for two weeks, and you should be able to do well
3) DONT CRAM INFORMATIOn, you don't know it the last three days before you test, don't botter knowing it, chances are it might not even be on the test and you might forget infromation from before
4) EAT HEALTHY and dont just sit in the house the whole day and reading. I can't do it, and not a lot of people can. Putting good stuff in your body well allow your body to metabolize the food better and more ATP will be produced (HAHA)
5) DONT WASTE TIME TAKING NOTES FOR EACH LITTLE THING
ie. Sperm: male gamete
if you know it don't waste your time writing it down
6) TAKE an HOUR BREAK AFTER YOU STUDY, forget about everything and just put on some Family Guy or something and fall asleep while watching it
7) SOCIALIZE WITH PEOPLE, CLEAR YOUR MIND FROM JUST DAT DAT DAT DAT DAT
8) DRINK LOTS OF WATER
9) DONT EAT TOO MUCH BEFORE YOU TAKE YOUR DAT, you might just need to use the restroom
10) RELAX

If you have any questions about the study materials I used go ahead and reply to this thread I'll be glad to help you guys out. Don't ask me specific bio/chem/ochem questions because chances are I forgot them all already.

Did you do the Kaplan's Subject Test online for each section? How did those compare? Also, what about the midterm the other three tests they give you.

 

[thenational]

ha, favorite part of your post was the part about the nba playoffs. i review flash cards while i have the giants game on at night. gotta have something to lighten it up a bit. well done on the solid scores

 

[Troyvdg]

wow. great scores for the amount of time studied and for how much else you have going on
congrats!

 

[Zakl]

thank you guys who are on this forum, people are really helpful here

 

[Zakl]

Did you do the Kaplan's Subject Test online for each section? How did those compare? Also, what about the midterm the other three tests they give you.

The Purpose of the Kaplan tests are to help you recognize the structure of the test, so when the actual test comes you wont be suprised and you know exactly what is coming up next. I only tried on two of the 5 practice tests because I was short on time, but yea they were helpful, except of course the bio part, because I don't think it is possible to study for bio unless you memorize like genetics, molecular, biochemistry textbooks. LOL, just exaggerating, but yea I really don't know how to ace the bio portion.

 

[Slack3r]

Watched the Lakers play Suns every night if there was a game. Worth the sacrifice for Kobe's 4th quarter unbelievable shots.

I give this post for being a Lakers fan.

 

[whathashizzyDDS]

The Purpose of the Kaplan tests are to help you recognize the structure of the test, so when the actual test comes you wont be suprised and you know exactly what is coming up next. I only tried on two of the 5 practice tests because I was short on time, but yea they were helpful, except of course the bio part, because I don't think it is possible to study for bio unless you memorize like genetics, molecular, biochemistry textbooks. LOL, just exaggerating, but yea I really don't know how to ace the bio portion.

I'm having trouble getting the GC and QR subject test the first time around (Ive done 2 each).

 

[jza70]

PAT 18 (Hole Punching did not look like Crack-Dat and the Top-Front-End was HARD)
QR 20 (Could have done better on this section but the damn 1 second delay calculator wasted 5 minutes of my time)
RC 21 (I got screwed over some passage asking for tone and crap, and some of the words I didn't even know the definition for it and it was in the answer choice LMAO, I think I rather get piano'd)
Bio 20 (DAT destroyer is JUNK, AP Baron's Bio book is like GOD compared to the destroyer)

What is this delay calculator your talking about?

I liked crack pat. To me it was harder than the real pat, especially the hole punching and the folding. So when I took the real pat it was on par if not a little easier. I was getting 20s on crack and I got a 21 on the real test.

I'm horrible at math. I think I still had 10 problems left with one minute left. B B B B lol got a sad 17.

I liked the destoryer book for bio. There were so many unexpected questions on my real test I felt destoryer helped me, but it still could not cover all the potential material. I only had enough time to cover about 1/2 of the cliffs book before my test. 23 in bio.

Reading comprehension. I ended up with a 19. Which isn't very good. I think I got kill by the tone questions. Some of the emotions they used for multiple choice answers had me trying to recollect when was the last time I've heard someone use that word, if ever. I wish there was more practice material with tone questions.

 

[zeuscorey2]

I would also like to know about the calculator delay.

Also what is a piano passage for RC?

And how did the hole punching look different?

 

[Zakl]

I would also like to know about the calculator delay.

Also what is a piano passage for RC?

And how did the hole punching look different?

I dont really know how to describe it, but just don't expect it to be the same as CRACK DAT. what i meant by the delay calulator is that everyime i clicked the number 1 on the calculator, there is a one second delay until the number actaully appears on the screen. I don't know if everybody have this problem, but i did. I don't know why i did horrible on the PAT, but honestly coming out of the natural science section i thought I didn't really do to well, because the bio section was pretty hard. so i was assuming that i was going to do bad since the end of the first hour and a half.
regarding your question about the piano passage, i don't know what it is because i never got the passage, but i got a passage that had a bunch of questions similar to the piano passage (tone, inference, made you think kind of questions i guess)

 

[jza70]

I dont really know how to describe it, but just don't expect it to be the same as CRACK DAT. what i meant by the delay calulator is that everyime i clicked the number 1 on the calculator, there is a one second delay until the number actaully appears on the screen.

Wait. What calculator? All I had was 2 pens, 2 pieces of plastic to write on and a smearing eraser.

 

[zeuscorey2]

It is on the computer for the QR section only. Has anyone else had this delay that the OP mentioned?

 

[Zakl]

It is on the computer for the QR section only. Has anyone else had this delay that the OP mentioned?

yes calculator for QR section only, so chemistry math you have to do by hand

 

[jza70]

It is on the computer for the QR section only. Has anyone else had this delay that the OP mentioned?

Hah wow. I feel dumb. I was told by many people that cals weren't allowed on the test so I didn't even bother to check if the exhibit (I assume thats where it was) was anything besides the periodic table.

 

[Adammo]

awesome scores for the amount of time. I am glad i read these posts, I didnt know there was a calculator for the QR part either, i was brushing up on my long division skills hahah

 

[NewBee12]

dude ur funny :

"O Chem 21 (TEXTBOOK is a must, don't use DAT destroyer) "
yet you rated it as 10 !!!!!

any way well done

 

[AznZeno]

your scores suck compared to a lot of people that post in this forum

 

[Zakl]

your scores suck compared to a lot of people that post in this forum

thank you

 

[Confidence23]

lmfao at the "dat destroyer is JUNK." Love it!

 

[supergenius310]

I thought the DAT destroyer wasn't all that bad. The gen chems were doable, bio was great for a variety of problems, but orgo was just plain overkill.