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- Jul 28, 2011
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Firstly, would like to thank God for everything! My post is going to be a bit different, with my view towards SDN.
This was the second time I took the test. I started studying in June when my Kaplan class began. Majority of people on here bash on the Kaplan course, however, I found it to be very helpful. The workshops and online stuff is great, but the actual class is a waste of time. SDN is a great website, but for people who are taking the test soon, I would not recommend coming on here at least 2 weeks before your exam. My confidence would go up and down as I would read everyone's breakdowns. My experience and what I got out of the actual exam is much different. I only did Kaplan's practice exams: Diagnostics, Midterm, Final, Test 1, and Test 2. I studied for 4-5 hours daily, taking multiple breaks, hanging out when I wanted to, working out, playing basketball. This may not be the appropriate study schedule for everyone, but it worked for me.
Materials Used:
Schaums Biology Outlines
Kaplan Course
DAT Destroyer 2008 (Bio section 3x) (G.Chem section 5x) (O Chem section 3x)
DATQVault
Cell Bio class notes 2x
KBB 4x
Orgo class notes 2x
Chad's Videos
Here are my scores:
8-10 ---> 7-28-11
PAT-20----> PAT- 20
QR - 16 ----> QR - 18
RC - 21 ----> RC - 18
BIO - 17 ----> Bio- 22
GC - 15----> GC- 19
OC - 19 ----> OC- 21
TS - 17 ----> TS - 20
AA - 18 ----> AA - 20
PAT - Crack DAT PAT is a must! Kaplans PAT is waaay too easy. The actual PAT on the DAT is much harder though. Most of the shapes I had never seen before, especially for the keyholes and paper folding. I was getting 20s on CDP.
QR - If I can get an 18, anyone can. The only math class that I have taken is a 1000 level class. I was freaking out yesterday because I thought my AA would be dragged down because of this section, but I am very happy with this score. I did 4 exams from Math Destroyer and studied them last night. I also abused the calculator
.
BIO - Not as random as people make it out to be, I thought it was the easiest section. The answers to 80% of the questions were in the DAT Destroyer. I had a couple questions that I would not have gotten had I not used DATQVault. A couple questions were specific (probably the ones I got wrong). I did not get tested on anything that I had read from Schaums outlines, KBB covered most things.
Gen Chem - Mostly conceptual, some calculations. I wrote notes on Chad's videos the last time I took the DAT so I looked over those. Also did the destroyer 5 times because this section was the reason I was retaking.
O. Chem - No tricks here...Went over KBB, class notes, and destroyer. Know the lab tests! Thank god I looked at them this morning!
RC - This section has gotten super hard. But then again, I didn't study for it besides practice exams. Passage on a Gen Chem topic, Bacteria, and Hurricanes.
Last bit of advice: Cell Bio and Biochem are an absolute must before you plan on taking the DAT. I took these two classes last semester and you can see the difference. Also, once again, a couple weeks before your exam, stay away from this forum. Lastly, trust God and know that if you put in the effort, it will pay off.
This was the second time I took the test. I started studying in June when my Kaplan class began. Majority of people on here bash on the Kaplan course, however, I found it to be very helpful. The workshops and online stuff is great, but the actual class is a waste of time. SDN is a great website, but for people who are taking the test soon, I would not recommend coming on here at least 2 weeks before your exam. My confidence would go up and down as I would read everyone's breakdowns. My experience and what I got out of the actual exam is much different. I only did Kaplan's practice exams: Diagnostics, Midterm, Final, Test 1, and Test 2. I studied for 4-5 hours daily, taking multiple breaks, hanging out when I wanted to, working out, playing basketball. This may not be the appropriate study schedule for everyone, but it worked for me.
Materials Used:
Schaums Biology Outlines
Kaplan Course
DAT Destroyer 2008 (Bio section 3x) (G.Chem section 5x) (O Chem section 3x)
DATQVault
Cell Bio class notes 2x
KBB 4x
Orgo class notes 2x
Chad's Videos
Here are my scores:
8-10 ---> 7-28-11
PAT-20----> PAT- 20
QR - 16 ----> QR - 18
RC - 21 ----> RC - 18
BIO - 17 ----> Bio- 22
GC - 15----> GC- 19
OC - 19 ----> OC- 21
TS - 17 ----> TS - 20
AA - 18 ----> AA - 20
PAT - Crack DAT PAT is a must! Kaplans PAT is waaay too easy. The actual PAT on the DAT is much harder though. Most of the shapes I had never seen before, especially for the keyholes and paper folding. I was getting 20s on CDP.
QR - If I can get an 18, anyone can. The only math class that I have taken is a 1000 level class. I was freaking out yesterday because I thought my AA would be dragged down because of this section, but I am very happy with this score. I did 4 exams from Math Destroyer and studied them last night. I also abused the calculator
.BIO - Not as random as people make it out to be, I thought it was the easiest section. The answers to 80% of the questions were in the DAT Destroyer. I had a couple questions that I would not have gotten had I not used DATQVault. A couple questions were specific (probably the ones I got wrong). I did not get tested on anything that I had read from Schaums outlines, KBB covered most things.
Gen Chem - Mostly conceptual, some calculations. I wrote notes on Chad's videos the last time I took the DAT so I looked over those. Also did the destroyer 5 times because this section was the reason I was retaking.
O. Chem - No tricks here...Went over KBB, class notes, and destroyer. Know the lab tests! Thank god I looked at them this morning!
RC -
This section has gotten super hard. But then again, I didn't study for it besides practice exams. Passage on a Gen Chem topic, Bacteria, and Hurricanes.Last bit of advice: Cell Bio and Biochem are an absolute must before you plan on taking the DAT. I took these two classes last semester and you can see the difference. Also, once again, a couple weeks before your exam, stay away from this forum. Lastly, trust God and know that if you put in the effort, it will pay off.
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