Average DAT Breakdown

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ItsaGreatDay

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I just took the DAT yesterday, so in SDN tradition will give my breakdown in case it will help anyone else. I achieved an adequate score, by no means outstanding, but I am satisfied given my situation and the time (or lack thereof) that I was able to devote to studying.

The highlights that may be of interest:
30min for scheduled break!
5 rock keyholes in PAT
NO TRIG in QR, still geometry, quite a few new QC


21AA/21TS/23PAT
21BI 20GC 22OC 23RC 20QR

The test center:
allowed anything in your locker, access restricted to scheduled break. During scheduled break, allowed to use phone, look at notes if you want, even go outside. **BREAK WAS 30MIN** I had thought it would only be 15min, but got 30, which was really nice to give my eyes a break from staring at the computer screen.

The test itself:
Science-
nothing crazy, I felt pretty well-prepared, although I didn't know all the answers. The nice thing with this part is that you either know it or don't, and quickly move on. I finished all 3 parts with 20min to spare, which felt great.

PAT- I got 5 different rocks during the keyholes and got pulled into the trap of wasting my time, so I was in full out panic by the time I got to hole punching with only 20min left for that, cube counting, and patterns. I ran out of time and randomly selected answers for the last few questions.

RC- the new highlight feature is really nice, although you have to do all the highlighting before you move into the questions, so it might actually slow you down if you already have a good system of mapping or search and destroy that works well. I read pretty quickly, so I read the whole article highlighting what seemed important, and then went to the questions. I had plenty of time to go through it all with time to spare.

QR- I just wasn't fast enough. Took too long figuring some of the problems out instead of just selecting an answer and marking it. This certainly cost me points, b/c I ran out of time without even looking at the last few questions. I am kicking myself for how poorly I handled this section. I don't think anything was too difficult on it, I just didn't execute well.

Study Method:
6 weeks (following finals for the spring semester; I knew I needed a June test date, b/c early application is a must, but I couldn't study for it during the semester) for 20-25hrs/week. That's all I could manage with working and taking care of the fam (3kids).
Chad's videos on coursesaver saved my chem sections, especially GC, since I haven't taken 2nd semester GC yet. I also found a lot of his QR to be really helpful.
DAT Destroyer- I managed to work through all of OC, GC, and QR 1x, and about 2/3 of BI. I also worked through Orgoman's adjunctive QC supplement. I would've felt really well prepared if I could've gone through it all a 2nd time.
Feralis Bio- I read through it 1x. I made notes on about a third of it before realizing I just didn't have the time to re-write it all, and just read the rest.
Crack DAT- PAT, RC, and timing for BI, OC, GC
Bootcamp- I only used what was available for free, ie parts of the PAT academy, and one test in each section. If I could've bought a 1month subscription, I would've done it, but I couldn't make myself spend another $250 I didn't have for 3months access.

Could've-would've-should've
purchased a bootcamp subscription
- I think if I'd had those practice QR, PAT, and RC tests, my scores in each section would've been a little higher, especially QR, as the timing really hurt me there. Their questions def are more representative of the real thing than any of the other resources I used. Also, thankfully, the keyhole portion of PAT academy was free, so I got to see a couple rock questions; Crack DAT doesn't have any rocks. I think science would have been pretty much the same w/ or w/o Bootcamp.
gone through Destroyer a 2nd time- I think my science would've been slightly better
Taken a Tylenol before the test- I ended up with a migraine that was so bad I threw up a couple times on my way home. I started feeling nauseous in RC w/ scrolling up and down with the passages, and QR was a real struggle. I knew I'd have a headache by the end and meant to take something before I left, but I forgot.
Taken at least one full-length practice exam- I didn't have a chunk of time like that, b/c even on my days off, my 3yr old was with me, so I was constantly interrupted. No chance of a solid 5hrs.

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Congrats those are great scores. You didn't even take a practice exam and you killed it. ItsaGreatDay for you lol. Question: How did you prepare for QR?
 
Don't sell yourself short. These are great scores. I have kids too so I know how difficult it must have been for you to study for this exam. Congrats!
 
Congrats those are great scores. You didn't even take a practice exam and you killed it. ItsaGreatDay for you lol. Question: How did you prepare for QR?

Thanks! I worked through DAT Destroyer, viewed Greenlight test prep GRE videos for an introduction to QC, did a few QR practice sets on Crack DAT, and took the one free QR section on Bootcamp. Bootcamp includes QC questions, unlike Crack or Destroyer, although like I mentioned, the good ppl at Destroyer put out a free addendum of 20 QC questions along with the answers, which was extremely helpful. I also highly rec the QR section on coursesaver, Chad had some great shortcuts for some of the different types of problems that really saved me, otherwise I would've been even slower!
 
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Don't sell yourself short. These are great scores. I have kids too so I know how difficult it must have been for you to study for this exam. Congrats!
thanks! I figure challenges like this are good practice for Dschool (hopefully)!
 
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no shame in a 21AA! in fact, that is a VERY good score and puts you the highest chunk of all test takers. You should be proud of yourself. If i was in your same situation, i definitely would not have scored as well as i did. You didn't even have bootcamp or other practice exams! Congrats on the score, now finish those apps! :)
 
no shame in a 21AA! in fact, that is a VERY good score and puts you the highest chunk of all test takers. You should be proud of yourself. If i was in your same situation, i definitely would not have scored as well as i did. You didn't even have bootcamp or other practice exams! Congrats on the score, now finish those apps! :)
on it! ;) app is IN... almost as hard as the DAT, lol, just when I thought I was done, there was always something else! Now I get to join the ranks of those playing the waiting game...
 
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