2009 DAT scores: DAT in 5 days

[mudblood100]

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Hey guys I recently took the 2009 DAT and the scores were a lot different than what I had been getting on Bootcamp.
Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR
28/24/18/22/16/18

How can I utilize these 5 days to get at least a 22 AA? I still haven't taken the 2007 DAT because I heard it was easy and was saving it for the last for that confidence boost. I really don't want to take a practice exam the day before my exam because then I would start having anxiety.
I thought OC was really hard but I usually score 19-22 on Bootcamp...
RC I struggle with a lot but lately have been getting 20s on Bootcamp
QR is always all over the place and the highest score I have gotten was 20 on Bootcamp..
Bio and GC gave me a confident boost because I only get 20s on bootcamp for bio and GC can vary...
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.Thanks in advance.

 

[averageasian]

i think you're going to do just fine. You cant base your real score off of practice exams but your scores are high enough to where i think you are ready! look over your mistakes (were the dumb mistakes or did you not know the concept etc.)

 

[Wererew]

How have you been preparing for the bio section?

 

[mudblood100]

How have you been preparing for the bio section?

I read the AP bio book and did the destroyer once. Then I jumped straight to BC for practice. Also make tons of flashcards! I am not the one to read the book and remember all the info so I made bunch of flashcards and would go over like 25 of them each day.

 

[ColdToast]

OC (23 DAT): Be sure to study roadmaps every day. These will be easy points on the exam. If you have the DAT Destroyer you can find the roadmaps in the answers section. Also make sure you know SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 stuff. most of the questions were straight forward on my test so knowing these will help you make a more educated guess on the reactions you don't remember.

RC: I scored so low on the RC section of bootcamp that most of the time i didn't even get a score but i got a 19 on the real thing. What i did wrong was wait 2 days before my exam to decide on a strategy without getting any practice with it. I would pick a strategy and stick to it. The passages for me were interesting simple and short (very similar to the 2007/9 dat and bootcamp test 4). The strategy I ended up using on test day was to read all the questions in 2 min trying to focus on key words and topics, read passage in 9 min highlighting the key words i remembered from the questions. Unfortunately only highlights from the first page of the passage will carry over to the questions so once you get to the end you will have to go back to question 1. This wastes time but overall it helped me. In the end make sure you get lots of practice with the strategy you decide to use.

QR: I scored the same as you on bootcamp but made a 28 on the actual test. 4 or 5 days before the exam I took 3-4 practice exams a day focusing mostly on pacing. Get comfortable skipping questions so you can go back to them later. The best practice for pacing for me was the QR questions in the back of DAT destroyer. they are about the same level of difficulty. On the actual exam I had about 10 questions marked but i also had about 10 minutes left to answer as many hard ones as i could. Pacing is very very important so be sure to practice this many times! I agree the 2007 dat is too easy but use it for pacing practice.

Hope this helps. You are going to do great on your exam. Good luck! Your scores look great you just need to fine tune your strategy.

 

[mudblood100]

OC (23 DAT): Be sure to study roadmaps every day. These will be easy points on the exam. If you have the DAT Destroyer you can find the roadmaps in the answers section. Also make sure you know SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 stuff. most of the questions were straight forward on my test so knowing these will help you make a more educated guess on the reactions you don't remember.

RC: I scored so low on the RC section of bootcamp that most of the time i didn't even get a score but i got a 19 on the real thing. What i did wrong was wait 2 days before my exam to decide on a strategy without getting any practice with it. I would pick a strategy and stick to it. The passages for me were interesting simple and short (very similar to the 2007/9 dat and bootcamp test 4). The strategy I ended up using on test day was to read all the questions in 2 min trying to focus on key words and topics, read passage in 9 min highlighting the key words i remembered from the questions. Unfortunately only highlights from the first page of the passage will carry over to the questions so once you get to the end you will have to go back to question 1. This wastes time but overall it helped me. In the end make sure you get lots of practice with the strategy you decide to use.

QR: I scored the same as you on bootcamp but made a 28 on the actual test. 4 or 5 days before the exam I took 3-4 practice exams a day focusing mostly on pacing. Get comfortable skipping questions so you can go back to them later. The best practice for pacing for me was the QR questions in the back of DAT destroyer. they are about the same level of difficulty. On the actual exam I had about 10 questions marked but i also had about 10 minutes left to answer as many hard ones as i could. Pacing is very very important so be sure to practice this many times! I agree the 2007 dat is too easy but use it for pacing practice.

Hope this helps. You are going to do great on your exam. Good luck! Your scores look great you just need to fine tune your strategy.

Thank you so much for all the advice!!! 🙂 This made me feel a little better about the exam!

 

[Orka]

Don't rely on the bootcamp test scores, they don't indicate how you will perform on the real DAT since they are not associated with the ADA. As for your scores on the 2009 DAT, they are probably a better indication of how you'll perform although the real one will be more difficult. So I would suggest keep practicing and focus on your weakness. Figure out what you did wrong on the 2009 DAT and go from there, best of luck!