I just finished my test and I thought I would regurgitate all I could remember for you guys since I've never really posted before. This was my third time taking the test so I'm pretty aware of the test difficulty and this was by far the easiest of the three that I've taken. I'm at my brother's apartment so I'll try to get you my topscore and achiever scores when I get back home.
First test: 18AA/19TS/20PAT
Second Test: 18AA/20TS/22PAT
Today: (past scores if I remember)(study materials)
PAT 23 (1st test: 20, 2nd test: 22)(topscore, achiever)
QR 20 (1st: 18, 2nd: 12 😱) (CDM, Destroyer, topscore, achiever)
RC 22 (1st(frap): 16, 2nd(piano): 17) (topscore, achiever, exam krackers)
BIO 22 (hyperlearning, destroyer, kaplan, cliffs ap bio, topscore, achiever)
GC 21 (hyperlearning, destroyer, kaplan, topscore, achiever)
OC 22 (hyperlearning, destroyer, kaplan, topscore, achiever)
TS 21
AA 21
*destroyer printed 1/8/08
Breakdown
PAT
This is the easiest section for me so I don't really know what to tell you guys. I did a few topscore practice tests and I was averaging about a 22 and I found the difficulty about the same. The angles were a little tricky but once I click next I automatically focus on the smallest angle which help me a lot. The hole punching had some weird folds I haven't seen before but working backwards seems to work. Other than that it was about the same difficulty as kaplan practice tests, topscore and achiever.
QR
This section was really not as bad as people make it out to be. The first time I took the DAT I used kaplans subject tests and did okay and the second time I barely studied (mistake) and freaked out. The biggest help for me was Crack DAT Math. The real test has a few harder problems but the majority of the test was similar to CDM besides the ridiculously easy algebra questions. I liked the destroyer questions as well, but they were too easy. I finished with about 5 minutes to go and skipped/guessed about 3 problems I had no idea about.
There weren't any real hard problems besides some ridiculous probability (I am pretty solid at probability problems and these two were outrageous.). The majority of the word problems were in the middle half of the test so skipping and/or fast work sure helped to get to the easy problems at the end.
The dry erase sheets they give you are crappy so be prepared. I bought an 8x11 erase board at wallyworld to practice with and it helped (plus you can find the same markers they give you, expo black with a ridged cap). The proctors at my center were really anal about not erasing the laminated paper so I had to utilize my ninja erasing techniques.
I might've done better here but I had to see a man about a horse so I just ended the test.
RC
The first time I took the test I had just finished the kaplan class and used their mapping technique which royally screwed me over. The first time I was frapped and the second time I got the piano. This time the passages were extremely easy. I finished with about 3 mins to spare. They were maybe a paragraph longer than topscores. The questions were for the majority of the test pretty straight forward, only a few inference. I used the search and destroy method and it worked out pretty well. Overall pretty straight forward and a lot easier than the previous two times I took the test.
BIO
It was random as f***. Let me just say that this section has changed a lot since my previous test. It was a lot more application questions than the usual you know or you don't. Everything on the test was straight from cliffs AP bio. Destroyer didn't really have anything similar (still good review). Only 1 taxonomy, but it was obvious. Hyperlearning seemed a little overkill but it was still useful in understanding concepts as a whole. The questions weren't very similar to topscore or achiever since they were application. (achiever is way too hard)
GC
This section was really straightforward and I thought I did a lot better than I actually scored. Basic concepts, no real computations other than setting up the equation. Destroyer was spot on here.
OC
This was much easier than my other two times. No IR graphs, just given some absorptions and asked to pick the molecule but they were obvious. I honestly think if you know kaplan's whitebook then you will be fine. Destroyer was great practice but was overkill.
I studied for about 3 months for about for about 3-5 hours a day the first two months then about 7-15 hours the last month. I did take break days in the middle of weeks to go golfing/fishing. I didn't study on weekends because I was just tired of studying. My overall GPA is 3.79 and my science is a 3.75. Any school recommendations? I'm an Oklahoma resident.
I'll try to answer your questions as best as possible.
