So I have been viewing this forum for the past few months and have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from these DAT feedback posts and feel that now that I am finally DONE that I should write my inaugural post.
My scores are as follows:
PAT: 22 (96.2%)
QR: 19 (84.9%)
RC: 30 (100.0%)
BIO: 22 (95.7%)
GC: 24 (95.2%)
OC: 26 (98.1%)
TS: 24 (99.3%)
AA: 24 (99.4%)
I have been studying hardcore around 8 hours/day 6 days/week for exactly six weeks. I will give further breakdowns of each section below, but for those who were wondering I used the Kaplan Online Class, which I thought was perfect. For those predents who are just starting college and this whole process, take your core science classes seriously and this test will be SUBSTANTIALLY more manageable to study for.
Before the test I was so nervous, which is obviously to be expected with such a high stakes exam, and I think staying calm and confident going into the test is essential. When I got to Prometric the staff could not have been any nicer, which dispelled the stigma I had about these testing centers. I waited for about a half hour cause there were about 20 NDBE/USMLE students who got there before me, so get there early if you don't feel like waiting a long time. Anyway, once I finally got into the lab I took a deep breath and started the exam:
Biology: I had read so much about how RANDOM this section was, but when you think about it the entire test is random. I really thought that Bio was going to be horrible but it was very straight forward. I used the Kaplan BB, online lectures (pretty worthless btw), Kaplan flashcards (great for ironing out key concpets), and online materials (subject tests and workshops, which were key in my science prep). There is no shortcut or magic study aid that can get you a good score in this section, you just need to learn the material using whatever resources u can, but I really found the total Kaplan package focused on the most important concepts.
GC: Chemistry has always been my best subject and something that I have loved since HS, kinda lame I know. I used all of the Kaplan materials I spoke about in Bio for this too; however, I really felt prepared for this section before I started studying because of my minor in chem. As far as the questions go, very simple and similar to practice questions on Kaplan subject tests. I think the key to chemistry problems is being disciplined in setting up the problem (writing down reactions, Kc equations, etc...). Understanding key concepts go a lot further than memorizing hundreds of equations, for I felt GC and OC were far more concept oriented than detail oriented.
OC: This section was so much easier than I expected and by far the easiest science section. I got no spectroscopy questions and only one really obscure reaction that I had never seen before. Know Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2 and you should be able to get half of the questions right just on those driving principles alone. Kaplan was great for this as well for I felt it really emphasized important concepts almost all of which were tested. I took a look a friends Destroyer and was so intimidated by it that I was like screw that, and while I think it obviously will only make your scores better, I don't think it is essential in getting good science scores. I think that monster should only be taken down once you really know your concepts, because memorizing facts is not nearly as important as getting the big picture.
PAT: I bought the 10 test CDP because while Kaplan was decent at introducing PAT, its questions were way to easy and not indicative of the real thing. I was consistently getting around a 23 for every test, and the real thing was definitely a little harder. I actually thought the figures in CDP were cleaner and better presented, but CDP is definetly the way to go for this section and pretty accurate at predicting your score.
RC: Holy crap!, I could not believe my score when I saw it. I practiced with the Kaplan mapping technique which I completely abandoned half way through my first passage. I just skimmed each passage quickly (like <5 minutes) to get a gist for the topic, tone, and structure and then just tackled the questions. All the answers are in the passages, you just need to find them which is hard with such limited time. I dont really know how to study for this except practice, but I think its probably the hardest section to improve your score in compared to the others. FYI the first passage was about Gene expression, the second was about Calcium control mechanisms in the body, and the third was about speech and the brain.
QR: WTF, I knew this section would be hard but damn, I am probably happiest that I got a 19 in this section because it could have screwed me over big time. If you don't how to do a question within 10 secs. guess mark and move on. You really can't waste any time and unless you are Rainman I can't see how you could finish every question on time. While I felt Kaplan was good for the sciences, it was not good enough for this section. I have heard a lot about Math Destroyer and I am sure that is good, but you need to study for this section because just being good at math will only get you so far.
So, that is my breakdown, sorry its a little long. I am very grateful that I could afford the Kaplan course, cause it really made a huge difference, but you can still kill this test with many different resources. Thank you to everyone who has posted on this forum, it is an unbelievable resource, but don't let the scores and everyones opinions psych you out. Just work hard and be honest and true to yourself and it will work out. Anyway, I just graduated undergrad with 3.70 oGPA and a 3.55 sGPA. I am finishing my AADSAS app today and e-submiting, hopefully I didn't shoot myself in the foot to bad by waiting so long. I am a Florida resident and would love to go to UF, but I think I am gonna role the dice with some Ivy's with my scores, your thoughts? I can't tell you how good it feels to be done and now be on vacation till I start work in 3 weeks!!!!!!!
My scores are as follows:
PAT: 22 (96.2%)
QR: 19 (84.9%)
RC: 30 (100.0%)
BIO: 22 (95.7%)
GC: 24 (95.2%)
OC: 26 (98.1%)
TS: 24 (99.3%)
AA: 24 (99.4%)
I have been studying hardcore around 8 hours/day 6 days/week for exactly six weeks. I will give further breakdowns of each section below, but for those who were wondering I used the Kaplan Online Class, which I thought was perfect. For those predents who are just starting college and this whole process, take your core science classes seriously and this test will be SUBSTANTIALLY more manageable to study for.
Before the test I was so nervous, which is obviously to be expected with such a high stakes exam, and I think staying calm and confident going into the test is essential. When I got to Prometric the staff could not have been any nicer, which dispelled the stigma I had about these testing centers. I waited for about a half hour cause there were about 20 NDBE/USMLE students who got there before me, so get there early if you don't feel like waiting a long time. Anyway, once I finally got into the lab I took a deep breath and started the exam:
Biology: I had read so much about how RANDOM this section was, but when you think about it the entire test is random. I really thought that Bio was going to be horrible but it was very straight forward. I used the Kaplan BB, online lectures (pretty worthless btw), Kaplan flashcards (great for ironing out key concpets), and online materials (subject tests and workshops, which were key in my science prep). There is no shortcut or magic study aid that can get you a good score in this section, you just need to learn the material using whatever resources u can, but I really found the total Kaplan package focused on the most important concepts.
GC: Chemistry has always been my best subject and something that I have loved since HS, kinda lame I know. I used all of the Kaplan materials I spoke about in Bio for this too; however, I really felt prepared for this section before I started studying because of my minor in chem. As far as the questions go, very simple and similar to practice questions on Kaplan subject tests. I think the key to chemistry problems is being disciplined in setting up the problem (writing down reactions, Kc equations, etc...). Understanding key concepts go a lot further than memorizing hundreds of equations, for I felt GC and OC were far more concept oriented than detail oriented.
OC: This section was so much easier than I expected and by far the easiest science section. I got no spectroscopy questions and only one really obscure reaction that I had never seen before. Know Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2 and you should be able to get half of the questions right just on those driving principles alone. Kaplan was great for this as well for I felt it really emphasized important concepts almost all of which were tested. I took a look a friends Destroyer and was so intimidated by it that I was like screw that, and while I think it obviously will only make your scores better, I don't think it is essential in getting good science scores. I think that monster should only be taken down once you really know your concepts, because memorizing facts is not nearly as important as getting the big picture.
PAT: I bought the 10 test CDP because while Kaplan was decent at introducing PAT, its questions were way to easy and not indicative of the real thing. I was consistently getting around a 23 for every test, and the real thing was definitely a little harder. I actually thought the figures in CDP were cleaner and better presented, but CDP is definetly the way to go for this section and pretty accurate at predicting your score.
RC: Holy crap!, I could not believe my score when I saw it. I practiced with the Kaplan mapping technique which I completely abandoned half way through my first passage. I just skimmed each passage quickly (like <5 minutes) to get a gist for the topic, tone, and structure and then just tackled the questions. All the answers are in the passages, you just need to find them which is hard with such limited time. I dont really know how to study for this except practice, but I think its probably the hardest section to improve your score in compared to the others. FYI the first passage was about Gene expression, the second was about Calcium control mechanisms in the body, and the third was about speech and the brain.
QR: WTF, I knew this section would be hard but damn, I am probably happiest that I got a 19 in this section because it could have screwed me over big time. If you don't how to do a question within 10 secs. guess mark and move on. You really can't waste any time and unless you are Rainman I can't see how you could finish every question on time. While I felt Kaplan was good for the sciences, it was not good enough for this section. I have heard a lot about Math Destroyer and I am sure that is good, but you need to study for this section because just being good at math will only get you so far.
So, that is my breakdown, sorry its a little long. I am very grateful that I could afford the Kaplan course, cause it really made a huge difference, but you can still kill this test with many different resources. Thank you to everyone who has posted on this forum, it is an unbelievable resource, but don't let the scores and everyones opinions psych you out. Just work hard and be honest and true to yourself and it will work out. Anyway, I just graduated undergrad with 3.70 oGPA and a 3.55 sGPA. I am finishing my AADSAS app today and e-submiting, hopefully I didn't shoot myself in the foot to bad by waiting so long. I am a Florida resident and would love to go to UF, but I think I am gonna role the dice with some Ivy's with my scores, your thoughts? I can't tell you how good it feels to be done and now be on vacation till I start work in 3 weeks!!!!!!!
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Totally.
