Biological Diversity....overwhelmed

[PocketRocket]

I'm currently using Cliffs and Feralis to review my bio and I have come to a bit of a roadblock. I have taken bio 1+2, microbio, cell n molec bio, eco, and genetics throughout my college years. All of the bio up to this point was a review and I feel very comfortable with it. However, when I am reading the Bio diversity chapter I swear it feels like Chinese to me. The amount of unheard terminology is overwhelming and I am really struggling given that I'm not used to learning through memorization. I have spent more than 6 hours on this chapter and I guess I'm slowly getting there but do I really have to know everything that is on Feralis notes in this chapter to get a great score? If that is the case then I am okay with it. I will bite the bullet and just keep drilling this chapter until it makes sense. But if you think there is a better way please let me know!

Thanks guys!

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[virtualmaster999]

Bump! I was just about to ask the same thing! Is it better to go through Destroyer for questions on this topic, or know somewhat the basics of this section (which I'm not too sure how much "basic" is)?


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[DentalLonghorn2014]

bump

 

[baronen26]

I'd say try to do as much KBB, feralis and cliffs as you can... even then there will be some questions with topics that you may have never even heard of. It really is like playing a game of trivial pursuit

 

[virtualmaster999]

The bad part is I'm not sure how much detail to go into


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[PocketRocket]

I guess I'm just gonna spend half of today making flashcards/notes of this chapter and then occasionally reviewing it. I think that is the best way to go about it.

I was also thinking about getting a giant poster board and just mapping out the Domains, Kingdoms, etc and the types of species relevant to this chapter and pretty much just organizing all my notes on it. Then I would glue it to my ceiling so that when I wake up it would be the first thing I see. I would also sleep with a flashlight so that if I feel the urge to review in the middle of the night I can do so without getting up to turn on the lights

 

[virtualmaster999]

The struggle is so real


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[FeralisExtremum]

It sucks because in terms of quantity of information : question yield ratio, biological diversity is probably the lowest (while at the same time being relatively difficult to memorize because of how obscure and dense all the terminology is)...but the truth is biological diversity questions do show up, and there are even versions of the test where there is a significant chunk of biological diversity. If you want to guarantee a great score, know everything - it's fair game for the DAT.

 

[virtualmaster999]

It sucks because in terms of quantity of information : question yield ratio, biological diversity is probably the lowest (while at the same time being relatively difficult to memorize because of how obscure and dense all the terminology is)...but the truth is biological diversity questions do show up, and there are even versions of the test where there is a significant chunk of biological diversity. If you want to guarantee a great score, know everything - it's fair game for the DAT.

In kbb it says only 7.5% of bio is diversity so doesn't that mean it's capped at 3 questions?


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[FeralisExtremum]

The breakdown they give is just a sample based on one specific exam the ADA released, probably the 2009 version. In reality the amount of questions (on a specific subject) varies with the many versions of the exam. Some people will get 10+ biological diversity questions, some will get 1 or 2, some people get an amount in between...it all depends.

 

[virtualmaster999]

The breakdown they give is just a sample based on one specific exam the ADA released (probably the 2009 version). In reality the amount of questions varies with the many versions of the exam. Some people will get 10+ biological diversity questions, some will get 1 or 2, some people get an amount in between...it all depends.

Wow I never knew that thanks! Is that applicable to the other sections as well besides RC and PAT?


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[FeralisExtremum]

Yes, each of the sections can vary in its emphasis and amount of questions from each section (except for PAT as you pointed out). E.g. some people have chemistry sections that are heavily conceptual while others have mostly calculation based. Some people will have more trigonometry questions in QR than others. Some people will get more "tone" based questions than others in their RC, etc.

 

[virtualmaster999]

Yes, each of the sections can vary in its emphasis and amount of questions from each section (except for PAT as you pointed out). E.g. some people have chemistry sections that are heavily conceptual while others have mostly calculation based. Some people will have more trigonometry questions in QR than others. Some people will get more "tone" based questions than others in their RC, etc.

Damn that's crazy. Glad I found that out. How is the test valid or fair though if they do that, since some people could get a significantly easier test?


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[FeralisExtremum]

The scoring scale should, at least in theory, account for variation in difficulty. So 5 questions wrong on a harder section will likely yield a higher score than 5 questions wrong on an easier version of the same section.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Yes, each of the sections can vary in its emphasis and amount of questions from each section (except for PAT as you pointed out). E.g. some people have chemistry sections that are heavily conceptual while others have mostly calculation based. Some people will have more trigonometry questions in QR than others. Some people will get more "tone" based questions than others in their RC, etc.

What Feralis stated is correct! I have been working with students for many years and there are many versions of the DAT and no way to know before hand what test you will receive. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst! The DAT is very challenging and you must be fully prepared, no short cuts to a high DAT score.