- Joined
- Jun 24, 2006
- Messages
- 166
- Reaction score
- 0
Hey everyone! I finally took my DAT, and I'm absolutely thrilled right now at my scores. None of this could've happened if it wasn't through the grace of God. In the spirit of recent posts, I will just say that my AA and TS were either equal to or above a 24. 😎 If you think I'm lying or whatever, that's your business.
Now... for my review of the exam:
Bio
Surprisingly easier than anything that I've taken in practice tests, whether it be Kaplan, TopScore, or Achiever. I did two things on top of those things that I think will guarantee everyone here a great score on the Bio section...
1. Go to Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of Cliff's AP Bio. Thing is like 300 pages of material that's totally applicable to the DAT. It's awesome... some things go in to more detail than necessary (e.g. Plant structure). In my opinion, the following sections are too detailed: Heredity and Plants. The ones that go into perfect amount of detail are Animal Structure and Function (far better than you'll find in Kaplan), a Five-Kingdom Survey, Photosynthesis and Respiration. I think if you focus on those, you'll be complementing your Kaplan studying fairly well. I didn't use Campbell's; I picked up one of my intro bio books (similar to Campbell's), but felt it went into way too much detail.
2. Buy DAT Destroyer. Hands down, the best source for your bio questions. (Yes, I'll praise Dr. Romano all I want, because the guy is awesome and helped me get the scores I wanted for the DAT). Not only are his questions awesome and comprehensive, they're just the right level of detail, and he's so helpful on the phone. I bought Destroyer last Wednesday, which left me with about 5.5 days to go through it. I probably did the bio section about 4 or 5 times over, and I discussed some issues with him on the phone. He's available most of the time, and if he's not, wait a few minutes and he'll be there for you. Nancy will be a huge help to you too. They knew I was taking the exam in less than a week, and they did everything in their power to get me completely up to speed. Am I advertising for it? Yes! Because it worked. And it'll work for you too.
G. Chem
This was the easiest version I've ever taken for a g. chem. section. I have to say, Achiever destroys you in this section. So does... (you guessed it) DAT Destroyer. If you learn how to do Achiever and Destroyer's g.chem, you'll rock this section, without a doubt. This was my weakest section when I started. I had horrible foundation in g.chem going into this (in high school chem, our "big project" was baking fudge... not really chemistry, is it?) I have to say, though, Kaplan does a great job preparing you for this. I sat down for days doing their white book G.Chem section, making sure I got everything. I also bought two books for this: one for the SAT II Chem and one for AP Chem. Stay away from GRE chem. I did it for a day, and it has way more stuff than you need to know. The other two books are just good practice. Definitely more difficult than anything you'll see on the DAT, but it's great practice.
O. Chem
Probably the easiest of the sciences. I did two things for this: Kaplan and Destroyer. Kaplan's great for the fundamental foundation. If you completely understand what Kaplan presents you, go to Destroyer next. This thing will make you think. Dr. Romano is called orgoman for a reason. In my opinion, no trick questions here. Know the fundamentals, study Destroyer for the extra push, and you'll do great.
TS: Finished with 40 minutes left on the clock. Went to the restroom, then came back and reviewed it about 6 times.
PAT
People weren't kidding when they said angle rankings were hard. I'm almost sure I missed half of those. They're harder than Achiever. You heard me right. On the other hand... keyholes were the easiest I've ever seen, easier than K, TS, and A. TFE were easy too. I've always been good at hole punching, but they're folds aren't exactly as they have them in TS and K. I got maybe 2 half holes. Pattern folding was cake.
RC
Tricky business. I had Magnesium, something to do with hormones, and the herbal passages. Search through the forums for more detail on these. I did NOT use Kaplan's outline technique, and I did very well. Just search for the answers. And dont' panic. I started to halfway through the first passage, but I knew I'd get through everything. Finished with a good 20 minutes left.
QR
Easiest QR I've seen (I know it sounds like everything I had was easy... but I was just well prepared, I guess). Destroyer helps here; but you have to keep in mind, for math, there's so many topics to cover and it's not really something you focus on when studying. I didn't get any supplementary books for this. I didn't do Kaplan's questions in their white book either. Just the exams online, along with TS and A. If you can do those, you'll know your stuff. Finished with 20 minutes on the clock.
Overall
The DAT isn't as bad as you may think. I put in a huge amount of time studying for this, gave up hanging out with my friends for the entire summer. But don't get me wrong, I didn't dedicate 8 hours a day or anything to it. A good 4-5 hours per day, and then up it to about 6 or 7 in the last week. I didn't touch any material Sunday or Monday, and only did math and PAT on Saturday. It's difficult to force yourself not to study.
I was incredibly nervous this morning. Could barely eat a banana (true story). It really is emotionally taxing. But once you get in that seat and you start, you fly. 4.5 hrs go by quickly!
To save you all the time of posting to ask for my TS and A scores:
Topscore:
Bio/GChem/Ochem/PAT/QR
24/23/30/22/26
26/28/30/21/29 (RC here was 25)
22/28/28/23/29
Achiever:
Bio/GChem/Ochem/PAT
21/19/19/18
19/18/19/19
17/18/19 (no PAT)
PM me if you have any more questions. I will NOT provide any actual DAT questions or answers. I wish you all the best of luck!
P.S. Check out Amsie's Destroyer review. It's good Bio review for those who are serious. And Amsie... you were the best person to talk to throughout all of this. Congratulations on your scores again!
Now... for my review of the exam:
Bio
Surprisingly easier than anything that I've taken in practice tests, whether it be Kaplan, TopScore, or Achiever. I did two things on top of those things that I think will guarantee everyone here a great score on the Bio section...
1. Go to Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of Cliff's AP Bio. Thing is like 300 pages of material that's totally applicable to the DAT. It's awesome... some things go in to more detail than necessary (e.g. Plant structure). In my opinion, the following sections are too detailed: Heredity and Plants. The ones that go into perfect amount of detail are Animal Structure and Function (far better than you'll find in Kaplan), a Five-Kingdom Survey, Photosynthesis and Respiration. I think if you focus on those, you'll be complementing your Kaplan studying fairly well. I didn't use Campbell's; I picked up one of my intro bio books (similar to Campbell's), but felt it went into way too much detail.
2. Buy DAT Destroyer. Hands down, the best source for your bio questions. (Yes, I'll praise Dr. Romano all I want, because the guy is awesome and helped me get the scores I wanted for the DAT). Not only are his questions awesome and comprehensive, they're just the right level of detail, and he's so helpful on the phone. I bought Destroyer last Wednesday, which left me with about 5.5 days to go through it. I probably did the bio section about 4 or 5 times over, and I discussed some issues with him on the phone. He's available most of the time, and if he's not, wait a few minutes and he'll be there for you. Nancy will be a huge help to you too. They knew I was taking the exam in less than a week, and they did everything in their power to get me completely up to speed. Am I advertising for it? Yes! Because it worked. And it'll work for you too.
G. Chem
This was the easiest version I've ever taken for a g. chem. section. I have to say, Achiever destroys you in this section. So does... (you guessed it) DAT Destroyer. If you learn how to do Achiever and Destroyer's g.chem, you'll rock this section, without a doubt. This was my weakest section when I started. I had horrible foundation in g.chem going into this (in high school chem, our "big project" was baking fudge... not really chemistry, is it?) I have to say, though, Kaplan does a great job preparing you for this. I sat down for days doing their white book G.Chem section, making sure I got everything. I also bought two books for this: one for the SAT II Chem and one for AP Chem. Stay away from GRE chem. I did it for a day, and it has way more stuff than you need to know. The other two books are just good practice. Definitely more difficult than anything you'll see on the DAT, but it's great practice.
O. Chem
Probably the easiest of the sciences. I did two things for this: Kaplan and Destroyer. Kaplan's great for the fundamental foundation. If you completely understand what Kaplan presents you, go to Destroyer next. This thing will make you think. Dr. Romano is called orgoman for a reason. In my opinion, no trick questions here. Know the fundamentals, study Destroyer for the extra push, and you'll do great.
TS: Finished with 40 minutes left on the clock. Went to the restroom, then came back and reviewed it about 6 times.
PAT
People weren't kidding when they said angle rankings were hard. I'm almost sure I missed half of those. They're harder than Achiever. You heard me right. On the other hand... keyholes were the easiest I've ever seen, easier than K, TS, and A. TFE were easy too. I've always been good at hole punching, but they're folds aren't exactly as they have them in TS and K. I got maybe 2 half holes. Pattern folding was cake.
RC
Tricky business. I had Magnesium, something to do with hormones, and the herbal passages. Search through the forums for more detail on these. I did NOT use Kaplan's outline technique, and I did very well. Just search for the answers. And dont' panic. I started to halfway through the first passage, but I knew I'd get through everything. Finished with a good 20 minutes left.
QR
Easiest QR I've seen (I know it sounds like everything I had was easy... but I was just well prepared, I guess). Destroyer helps here; but you have to keep in mind, for math, there's so many topics to cover and it's not really something you focus on when studying. I didn't get any supplementary books for this. I didn't do Kaplan's questions in their white book either. Just the exams online, along with TS and A. If you can do those, you'll know your stuff. Finished with 20 minutes on the clock.
Overall
The DAT isn't as bad as you may think. I put in a huge amount of time studying for this, gave up hanging out with my friends for the entire summer. But don't get me wrong, I didn't dedicate 8 hours a day or anything to it. A good 4-5 hours per day, and then up it to about 6 or 7 in the last week. I didn't touch any material Sunday or Monday, and only did math and PAT on Saturday. It's difficult to force yourself not to study.
I was incredibly nervous this morning. Could barely eat a banana (true story). It really is emotionally taxing. But once you get in that seat and you start, you fly. 4.5 hrs go by quickly!
To save you all the time of posting to ask for my TS and A scores:
Topscore:
Bio/GChem/Ochem/PAT/QR
24/23/30/22/26
26/28/30/21/29 (RC here was 25)
22/28/28/23/29
Achiever:
Bio/GChem/Ochem/PAT
21/19/19/18
19/18/19/19
17/18/19 (no PAT)
PM me if you have any more questions. I will NOT provide any actual DAT questions or answers. I wish you all the best of luck!
P.S. Check out Amsie's Destroyer review. It's good Bio review for those who are serious. And Amsie... you were the best person to talk to throughout all of this. Congratulations on your scores again!
