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- Jul 23, 2008
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I've been a lurker for the past few weeks and thought i'd make a little contribution since this site's threads have been so helpful during my pre-dat panic attacks. 
All in all, i think my individual scores were pretty scattered, so i can only hope my better scores make up for my less-than-stellar ones in the eyes of the schools.
GC: 18
OC: 19
Bio: 23
QR: 18
RC: 26
PAT: 23
TS: 20
AA: 21
BREAKDOWN - This is terrible/embarassing to admit, but I didnt really start studying for the DAT until 3 weeks before my test date. I took a Kaplan course early last summer while working but didnt study the material seriously at all. Afterwards, it was difficult to find time in between school and work to study and I ended up taking it a YEAR later. I promised to devote time to studying as soon as school ended but with working full-time, I ended up being too lazy/tired at the end of the day to study much at all. It was only when my test date was approaching that I took some time off and pushed myself to focus. PLEASE, no one do what I did. I didnt devote enough time to studying and it shows.
GC: 18 - It's low...but i'll take what i can get. Chem's always been a weakness and i had a lot of trouble in this section during the exam. I used Kaplan and did problems in the destroyer. I didnt study conceptual gchem enough and it KILLED me on the real DAT. I made notes from Kaplan material and the destroyer but I just didnt have time to learn this correctly.
OC: 19 - I was scoring a bit better than this on my practice exams but i just wasn't prepared enough. I studied the most for this section and didnt see the payoff I wanted. The destroyer helped me immensely but I didnt have time to learn it inside and out like I shouldve. I transcribed everything in Kaplan into my personal notes for review, then made more condensed notes of all of the reactions I came across in destroyer.
Bio: 23 - I actually studied the least for this section so i think i was lucky that i knew the answers to a lot of the questions they chose to ask this time. The reason i spent so little time on this section was because i heard a lot about how impossible it was to study for it (since any random question could be asked). I wasn't doing so hot on the practice exams (scoring 18's on all 3 achiever tests) but didn't have enough time to memorize AP cliffs so gave it up. I spent three days reading my AP bio Barrons book end to end, doing the end chapter problems, kaplan blue book problems, and doing the bio section of destroyer.
QR: 18 - I was scoring above 20's in Topscore and Achiever but the word problems on the real DAT were more numerous and time consuming than i expected. I think my inflated practice exam scores were due to the fact that i left word problems until the end. If i could change things, i would've made sure to learn to solve them faster rather than strategizing a way to avoid them. I did all the problems in the destroyer and just did practice exams.
RC: 26 - I didn't expect to do as well as i did on this section. I was breaking 20 on my practice exams but i guess there's nothing as motivating at making you focus like the real thing. I did 3 practice exams worth of RC, which helped the most with getting adjusted to the format of the test.
PAT: 23 - the hole punching and cube counting were easier than practice exams. SOME (not all) of the angles MUCH more difficult. (there were some obvious ones). And the remaining sections, pretty comparable to them. I used CRACK DAT PAT (5 test version) but only had enough time to finish 3 of them, getting over 20s in each. I also did some achiever and topscore pat exams and pulled >20s.
GPA: 3.58 Sci GPA: 3.46
School's Applied: Boston, NYU, Temple, Tufts, UCLA, USC, UOP, Western
I feel like it's out of my hands now and up to the fates (admissions officers). I hope they feel merciful.
. Im hoping to stay in Cali but will go anywhere that takes me. Any thoughts on my chances or advice would be appreciated and i'll try to answer any questions.
Thanks again to all on SDN
All in all, i think my individual scores were pretty scattered, so i can only hope my better scores make up for my less-than-stellar ones in the eyes of the schools.GC: 18
OC: 19
Bio: 23
QR: 18
RC: 26
PAT: 23
TS: 20
AA: 21
BREAKDOWN - This is terrible/embarassing to admit, but I didnt really start studying for the DAT until 3 weeks before my test date. I took a Kaplan course early last summer while working but didnt study the material seriously at all. Afterwards, it was difficult to find time in between school and work to study and I ended up taking it a YEAR later. I promised to devote time to studying as soon as school ended but with working full-time, I ended up being too lazy/tired at the end of the day to study much at all. It was only when my test date was approaching that I took some time off and pushed myself to focus. PLEASE, no one do what I did. I didnt devote enough time to studying and it shows.
GC: 18 - It's low...but i'll take what i can get. Chem's always been a weakness and i had a lot of trouble in this section during the exam. I used Kaplan and did problems in the destroyer. I didnt study conceptual gchem enough and it KILLED me on the real DAT. I made notes from Kaplan material and the destroyer but I just didnt have time to learn this correctly.
OC: 19 - I was scoring a bit better than this on my practice exams but i just wasn't prepared enough. I studied the most for this section and didnt see the payoff I wanted. The destroyer helped me immensely but I didnt have time to learn it inside and out like I shouldve. I transcribed everything in Kaplan into my personal notes for review, then made more condensed notes of all of the reactions I came across in destroyer.
Bio: 23 - I actually studied the least for this section so i think i was lucky that i knew the answers to a lot of the questions they chose to ask this time. The reason i spent so little time on this section was because i heard a lot about how impossible it was to study for it (since any random question could be asked). I wasn't doing so hot on the practice exams (scoring 18's on all 3 achiever tests) but didn't have enough time to memorize AP cliffs so gave it up. I spent three days reading my AP bio Barrons book end to end, doing the end chapter problems, kaplan blue book problems, and doing the bio section of destroyer.
QR: 18 - I was scoring above 20's in Topscore and Achiever but the word problems on the real DAT were more numerous and time consuming than i expected. I think my inflated practice exam scores were due to the fact that i left word problems until the end. If i could change things, i would've made sure to learn to solve them faster rather than strategizing a way to avoid them. I did all the problems in the destroyer and just did practice exams.
RC: 26 - I didn't expect to do as well as i did on this section. I was breaking 20 on my practice exams but i guess there's nothing as motivating at making you focus like the real thing. I did 3 practice exams worth of RC, which helped the most with getting adjusted to the format of the test.
PAT: 23 - the hole punching and cube counting were easier than practice exams. SOME (not all) of the angles MUCH more difficult. (there were some obvious ones). And the remaining sections, pretty comparable to them. I used CRACK DAT PAT (5 test version) but only had enough time to finish 3 of them, getting over 20s in each. I also did some achiever and topscore pat exams and pulled >20s.
GPA: 3.58 Sci GPA: 3.46
School's Applied: Boston, NYU, Temple, Tufts, UCLA, USC, UOP, Western
I feel like it's out of my hands now and up to the fates (admissions officers). I hope they feel merciful.
. Im hoping to stay in Cali but will go anywhere that takes me. Any thoughts on my chances or advice would be appreciated and i'll try to answer any questions.Thanks again to all on SDN
