Over these past few months this forum has been a great help to me especially when I began doubting myself after the 2009 practice test. I just wanted to give back in anyway I could and maybe this breakdown might be of help to anyone who reads this.
Scores:
Bio: 24
Chem: 23
Orgo: 27
RC: 21
QR: 24
PAT: 29
AA: 24
TS:25
Time studied: 3 months about 2-4 hours each day.
Preparation for each Subject:
Bootcamp: (Test 1/2/3/4/5)
ADA 2007:
For those of you about to take them good luck to you all. You will do fine. Just remember that your quality of studying is more important than the quantity. Any questions feel free to ask.
Scores:
Bio: 24
Chem: 23
Orgo: 27
RC: 21
QR: 24
PAT: 29
AA: 24
TS:25
Time studied: 3 months about 2-4 hours each day.
Preparation for each Subject:
- Bio: I began by reading Cliffs AP 3rd edition about 2 times through. Then, I went through Feralis's Notes 3 times through. The third time I jotted down every detail I did not know onto a flashcard made from a 3x5 notecard. I also did DAT destroyer and did about 40 problems a day to simulate the exam. I did not do this timed and I went through the questions and answers about 3 times through jotting down anything I didn't know again onto a notecard. Lastly, I did all 5 DAT bootcamp tests 3 times and made notecards from anything I did not understand. I would look through part of the notecards each day putting aside any that I got wrong into another pile. One important thing though is to look up anything that you are not familiar with either in a textbook or on wikipedia.
- Chem: I thought this was my strongest section along with Orgo, but it turned out to be my lowest science score. I didn't do as much to prepare for this as I did bio. I did DAT destroyer about 2 times through circling any I did not get right. The main thing is that for all the questions I did on destroyer was that I did not circle the answer when I took it so I could do it multiple times through without seeing the answer. I also did the bootcamp tests 3 times through taking note of any concept questions I got wrong. Other than that, that was it for chem.
- Orgo: Being that I just got out of Orgo I and II and getting an A in a pretty tough class, I prepared the least for this section. However, I had to learn all the lab concepts on my own since I did not take orgo lab yet. I did Destroyer 2 times though again marking any questions I got wrong. I did Bootcamp 3 times through and wrote down any concept questions that was unfamiliar.
- RC: I absolutely despise reading comprehension ever since the SATs, and I can tell you that when I did Bootcamp I despised it even more lol. Bootcamp was the only resource I used besides going through articles on Scientific American for the last month of studying. Bootcamp is definitely harder than the real test. On the real one, I was lucky to not get any of the statement/reason questions. A lot of it was search and destroy type questions. I actually thought I did better than a 21, being that I was actually able to finish with 5 min. left. Anyway, don't let Bootcamp get you down; it helps you get used to searching for answers under pressure. Unlike the other tests, I only did Bootcamp's test 1 time through. I understood RC was my weakest so I focused more on my strengths.
- QR: I have always thought my math was pretty strong, but after taking Bootcamp and the 2009 ADA practice tests, I kind of lost confidence. However, the real DAT is nowhere near the level of difficulty of either of these resources. Make sure to do them though, I actually saw one question word for word on my test taken from one of the ADA practice tests. There were no questions that required extensive reading. Most of it was straight up algebra. I would say it was very similar to the DAT destroyer QR section, which I went through also about 3 times and marking any I got wrong. I did not use Math Destroyer just to clarify.
- PAT: Just one question away from a perfect 30, but I am perfectly happy with this. Bootcamp's generators are a great help. I used them everyday for my last month of studying. I took all 10 Bootcamp tests along with all 10 CrackDat tests. I also did the 2007 and 2009 ADA test which were both pretty easy and very comparable to the real test. I started off with CrackDat and got a 17 on my first try. I knew I was not fast enough so I did the PAT in sections. I would just do one section at a time making sure I could finish each of them in a 10 min time slot. Once I could do that I took another CDP test and got a 21. I then switched over to Bootcamp and took my first test which I got a 19. The keyhole and TFE sections were definitely a lot harder than the real thing, but it does get to you pay attention to slight detail. For Bootcamp tests 6-10 the angles seemed like they got a lot harder. I was getting only like 7 right on each one while finishing with a 80/90 on most of the tests. My suggestion is to master hole punching and cube counting. For me, Bootcamp's keyholes, TFE, angles, and hole punching were all harder with pattern folding and cube counting being about the same. For CDP, the keyholes, TFE, and pattern folding were all about the same as the real thing, with angles, cube counting, and hole punching being a bit harder.
Bootcamp: (Test 1/2/3/4/5)
- Bio: (20,22,20,18,20)
- Chem: (22,23,21,22,23)
- Orgo: (23,24,24,24,26)
- RC: (20,21,21,24,20)
- QR: (19,20,21,21,20)
- PAT: (didn't keep track but avg. around 21/22)
ADA 2007:
- Bio: 20
- Chem: 23
- Orgo: 30
- RC: didn't do
- QR: 23
- Pat: 26
- Bio:23
- Chem:24
- Orgo: 24
- RC: 20
- QR:16
- Pat: 25
For those of you about to take them good luck to you all. You will do fine. Just remember that your quality of studying is more important than the quantity. Any questions feel free to ask.
