2nd & 3rd DAT no pencil?

[wanchu83]

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Ok, I have Questions for the 2nd and 3rd time taker.
It's very important.
I took my 2nd DAT on beg.of June. and got
AA:18
SA:18
bio:18
chem:18
ochem:20
RC:16
math:16
PAT:23

The Question is:
1. for 2nd time, they didn't let me use the plain white(no grid) w/pencil, like I did about less than year ago. Is this normal?
Before the test start I asked and all they said was "the policy is changed and we are using COATED yellow grid sheet(luminated) with marker(not sharp). I was like what the. becuase I can't really see well on yellow grid (for reading, I put keyword down but it's hard to find in grid yellow) and the marker gets erased when accidently my sweating hand touch it. The writing is so big, I can't even put my keyword for one passage in single page.
Messed up I thought. Then, my friend took it same day on different room at same time period(first time DAT), and he said he used UNCOATED yellow grid sheet with pencil.
I was so pissed. Because it's such a disavantage. You try to write with thick marker and try not to touch it with your finger.
So, I did horrible on RC and Math(same reason, can't really do calculation with thick marker and gets erased time to time and have to do it again><.

So for the 2nd and 3rd takers, What was different from the first?
I'm taking one more on Sept(hope it's my last one). I want to know what i should expect in terms of disavantage. 1st time my math score was 21. this sucks.

any input will be appreciated.

 

[poc91nc]

The only thing you can do is practice. I was well aware of this and was ready for it mentally, but didn't practice it physically.

Honestly, I didn't have a problem w/ laminated paper & markers for the science section. Most of the questions were so basic that you didn't even have to write a whole lot. Of course...for a complicated Hess's Law question, I coulda been screwed...luckily there was none of that.

However, for the math portion...I thought it was a pain in butt.

I took my test on may 29th by the way. All in all, I don't think that the laminated paper/markers are too bad. Just don't let yourself get too worked up about it.

One thing you may want to do next time...is test your markers during the tutorial session. If you don't like the way your markers write (ie they're dry or whatever) ask for new ones. I did this and was given better markers. Oh and make sure to put the cap on when you're not using them.

Hope this helps...good luck!

 

[shoeler]

If you take lots of practice tests with the marker/laminated paper you will get used to it and your brain will think its just fine... Your scores are not too bad, if you have your app in you should get some interviews I would say 18 AA isn't the greatest, but there are definetly people that get in with that. Also if I remeber right your PAT was 23, that isn't bad at all they will like that.

Good luck

 

[xoangelxo]

is looked down upon if you take the dats 3 times? Even if you do much better compared to your first 2? Thanks

 

[Dotoday]

Ok, I have Questions for the 2nd and 3rd time taker.
It's very important.
I took my 2nd DAT on beg.of June. and got
AA:18
SA:18
bio:18
chem:18
ochem:20
RC:16
math:16
PAT:23

The Question is:
1. for 2nd time, they didn't let me use the plain white(no grid) w/pencil, like I did about less than year ago. Is this normal?
Before the test start I asked and all they said was "the policy is changed and we are using COATED yellow grid sheet(luminated) with marker(not sharp). I was like what the. becuase I can't really see well on yellow grid (for reading, I put keyword down but it's hard to find in grid yellow) and the marker gets erased when accidently my sweating hand touch it. The writing is so big, I can't even put my keyword for one passage in single page.
Messed up I thought. Then, my friend took it same day on different room at same time period(first time DAT), and he said he used UNCOATED yellow grid sheet with pencil.
I was so pissed. Because it's such a disavantage. You try to write with thick marker and try not to touch it with your finger.
So, I did horrible on RC and Math(same reason, can't really do calculation with thick marker and gets erased time to time and have to do it again><.

So for the 2nd and 3rd takers, What was different from the first?
I'm taking one more on Sept(hope it's my last one). I want to know what i should expect in terms of disavantage. 1st time my math score was 21. this sucks.

any input will be appreciated.

Hey there was a post yesterday about practice DAT. I do not remember the exact name of the post, but it contained the word "Testdrive". Someone on this board said that you can go to your local parametric testing center and schedule a practice DAT. If you can do that, then you will have answers to all yor questions about the format and tools to use. The post is either at the end of this page or on the next page. I hope this helps, Good luck.

 

[Dotoday]

Sorry, here is the post I was talking about.

DAT "Test Drive"
For those of us taking the Dat this summer I just would like to highly recommend the "Test DRive'" from the prometric center near you! I just had mine today and I am sooo glad I did it! first of all, I got lost on my way there! 2nd I discovered that the center near me uses "Hard boards" now, I was totally preparing to use scratch paper, since a friend recently took DAT last month and used paper! I dont know how i feel about it. I wrote on the board and the markers had a fat tip so everything I wrote was big! They said its best to only use one side of the three they give and when I fill up the three sides get up and come get another board! ........Are you kidding me!!?? I hope it all works out though! And Most important I was SOOO Nervous I couldnt even get my fingerprint read!! I wasnt even taking the test!! The practice test they gave me totally did not have enough info to answer the ?'s . I guess they were trying to freak me out cause it worked! I was not expecting to be so nervous! I marked true for the question they gave me.. It was T/F water boils @ 100F. I put true! I totally got a headache just thinking about the whole thing! Anyway, I am glad I got all that out of my system and I def. recommend it to anyone who is curious about the testing environment like I was! I now realize that you can know everything you need to make a 25 but u can sike yourself out of that good score very easily. Anyway, Good Luck to all studying!!

 

[litldime]

yea, i practice with a 8 by 11in board and dry erase marker...i absolutely love it!
-ld

 

[pudz]

Hey,

So it seems that some places use scratch paper/pencil, and some use the dry-erase board. You should call the center you are taking the exam at and ask. I'm about to call right now, and if it's a marker/board i'm going somewhere else... my problem is, lets say you wanted to go back to a problem... you ERASED all your work and will have to redo the question!!! that is a SEVERE WACK ATTACK!!! 😎

 

[dentistin2011]

yes my friend took the test a few days ago and he used white board with marker.

 

[wanchu83]

white board with marker sounds much better than the yellow grid paper.
I would prefer white board since I can't use pencil.

But why my friend used pencil and I used marker? We had same time appointment, and we went in at the same time. It was his first time, is this might be why?

for 3rd time, I will make sure to call the center and ask what i will be using.
><

Thank you all for your vital info.

 

[shoeler]

is looked down upon if you take the dats 3 times? Even if you do much better compared to your first 2? Thanks

I have heard unofficial stats that most people don't really improve the 2nd time or even on the 3rd, from a school counsler... I don't know how it really is though. Study hard enough and do well enough the first time and then don't worry about it.

 

[littlemissy]

i called that ADA and spoke to a supervisor this is a new protocol in place to use the dry erase markers. They are not willing to bend this rule whatsoever. They said I could write a letter to the ADA and then they could possibly consider something but nothing is highly likely. The lady was very rude and not very helpful. She could not understand that someone with large forearms and writes lefthanded could have difficulty. I called several test centers all do the same thing use the markers.

It seems like a dead end. what is everyone else doing?

 

[mambo22]

Who did she say to write the letter to? I would like to write a letter to the ADA also. I think if enough people write letters with logical reasoning, they will consider changing back to pencils. Erasing wastes so much time and makes a mess. I guess they don't want test takers walking out with their scrap sheets w/ questions on them, but if the pages were numbered, or in a test booklet form, cheating wouldn't be a problem.