Break Down (23 AA) & CrackDAT review

[dr.ddental]

Alright! So I’m pretty new here and have mostly just been lurking on here, but I really wanted to review this software. Also, in case you need reassurance about what feels like crappy studying..

So basic stats and GPA:

DAT:

AA 23
TS 22
OC 26
GC 21
BIO 22
RC 30
QR 16 ☹️
PAT 19

GPA: Science and cumulative 4.0

Alright so my studying honestly took a windy course (no defined schedule), and trying to put 3 hrs a day in during the week (rarely made probably 3/4 days a week, terrible, I know!) Don’t recommend this, caused a lot of stress and I’m sure I could’ve done better. It sounds like Bootcamp is the way to go if you’re on a budget and are trying to limit your purchases to 1 main resource. Because:

That was my goal in choosing crackdat. I saw a few good reviews and it was cheap enough, and sounded pretty holistic..

Okay, personally I hated CrackDAT.
The sciences are SO random and hard for what now seems no reason.
Bio: regularly scoring 15
GC: regularly scoring 16/17
OC: regularly scoring 16/17/18
PAT: often scored 17 (more so accurate I guess)
QR: often scored 19! So less worried and made me comparatively comfortable I guess. Also, my brain was fried at this point!
RC: 19/20. rarely used, only two practice tests to see if it was really much different than SAT type reading, which I’ve always been pretty comfortable with.

I studied a subject hard and my score remained the same. Toward the end I just quit using it, and started to study like I do for any other exam and quit this attempt at a “program”. I felt I learned more in those last couple weeks than most the rest.

So of course, I was TERRIFIED for this test. I thought I was gonna bomb it. I was so nervous, but tried to remember that things work out, so I’d just think 23, 23, 23 (at the time I thought this was a crazy reach, so it’s kinda hilarious to me that I got one).

Anyhow, I’m just trying to give an honest review of a program that made studying much more stressful and unproductive than it needed to be. Also, to give hope to those who found themselves in messy study schedules! I found all the science questions I got to be <<relatively>> basic, so just really nail those basics and try to get an idea (don’t need freak out about every detail) of as many bio topics as you have time for. I read over most chapters of the free boot camp notes actually.

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions and thank you for letting me enjoy such an awesome community!

The day will come, and it will work out! You’ll be writing your own breakdown soon and it will be okay, I promise, be strong!

PS: I know this is terribly written, it’s been a lonnng day/week/3 months

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[ChemistryDentist]

+1 for the honest review of CracktheDAT. I thought it was pretty bad myself. Great scores though, you'll be great for apps!

 

[DrRipStudwell]

How much easier were the sciences compared to your exams? Your scores destroyed your practice exams. Did you fix them by just studying a ton more?

 

[dr.ddental]

How much easier were the sciences compared to your exams? Your scores destroyed your practice exams. Did you fix them by just studying a ton more?

They were MUCH easier. The answer choices on the DAT weren’t confusing, it was pretty obvious what the answer should be. Like for O Chem, some of the answer choices were just obviously products that don’t ever exist.
Really the basics of ochem and gen chem were really the problems I got. Know the big reactions like what all the EAS, SN1 vs SN2, E2 vs E1, the marvovnikov’s rule, the orbital hybridization, etc. One of the trickier ones was a Alkoxy-mercuration (anti-markovnikov).

I never saw better results on CrackDAT, I just tried to review the stuff I had seen in courses and get an overview of the bio topics. Most of my bio questions could be answered just by having some context (a bigger picture knowledge). I didn’t even get through all the free boot camp bio notes. I was working full time while studying so I felt my studying could’ve been much better. I was gonna be thrilled to get a 20 considering my practice tests. The science was most similar to the 2007 DAT for me, and I think I got a 22 AA when I did that.

 

[physioengineer]

Alright! So I’m pretty new here and have mostly just been lurking on here, but I really wanted to review this software. Also, in case you need reassurance about what feels like crappy studying..

So basic stats and GPA:

DAT:

AA 23
TS 22
OC 26
GC 21
BIO 22
RC 30
QR 16 ☹
PAT 19

GPA: Science and cumulative 4.0

Alright so my studying honestly took a windy course (no defined schedule), and trying to put 3 hrs a day in during the week (rarely made probably 3/4 days a week, terrible, I know!) Don’t recommend this, caused a lot of stress and I’m sure I could’ve done better. It sounds like Bootcamp is the way to go if you’re on a budget and are trying to limit your purchases to 1 main resource. Because:

That was my goal in choosing crackdat. I saw a few good reviews and it was cheap enough, and sounded pretty holistic..

Okay, personally I hated CrackDAT.
The sciences are SO random and hard for what now seems no reason.
Bio: regularly scoring 15
GC: regularly scoring 16/17
OC: regularly scoring 16/17/18
PAT: often scored 17 (more so accurate I guess)
QR: often scored 19! So less worried and made me comparatively comfortable I guess. Also, my brain was fried at this point!
RC: 19/20. rarely used, only two practice tests to see if it was really much different than SAT type reading, which I’ve always been pretty comfortable with.

I studied a subject hard and my score remained the same. Toward the end I just quit using it, and started to study like I do for any other exam and quit this attempt at a “program”. I felt I learned more in those last couple weeks than most the rest.

So of course, I was TERRIFIED for this test. I thought I was gonna bomb it. I was so nervous, but tried to remember that things work out, so I’d just think 23, 23, 23 (at the time I thought this was a crazy reach, so it’s kinda hilarious to me that I got one).

Anyhow, I’m just trying to give an honest review of a program that made studying much more stressful and unproductive than it needed to be. Also, to give hope to those who found themselves in messy study schedules! I found all the science questions I got to be <<relatively>> basic, so just really nail those basics and try to get an idea (don’t need freak out about every detail) of as many bio topics as you have time for. I read over most chapters of the free boot camp notes actually.

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions and thank you for letting me enjoy such an awesome community!

The day will come, and it will work out! You’ll be writing your own breakdown soon and it will be okay, I promise, be strong!

PS: I know this is terribly written, it’s been a lonnng day/week/3 months

Congrats, Dr.Dental, those scores are awesome! Love to see that 30 RC....

AA: 23
PAT: 25
GPA: hi 3.7 science, 3.8 cumulative

I'm with you on not having a defined study schedule and having things turn out ok after all. For anyone who finds themselves in that position: study hard, but don't flip out - it won't help! Control yourself as much as possible and try to feel a healthy amount of pressure. In total, I likely ended up studying 1 hour a week Jan - early May using a free iPhone app I found with ~1000 questions in all subjects. (most useful for PAT, probably, to get your brain used to the question types.) Late May I studied a little harder (10-12 hours / week) with DAT Destroyer, which helped me adjust to tougher questions and figure out where I was weak by looking at the questions I would consistently miss. Then I took Organic II and Organic Lab June - July, taking my DAT July 18. Although the pace was hard to keep up with, being so immersed in organic chemistry was super helpful. Didn't review any orgo for the DAT, since I had essentially been reviewing much more heavily all summer. GC was weak for me, but I ended up pulling out a 20 (thanks in part to Chad, but more than anything a generally deeper understanding of Chemistry that Orgo II gave me - I had a great prof.)

What I would recommend to anyone as the most valuable study strategy: Find as many free practice tests as possible - from anywhere.

Obviously some of them will be way off in terms of difficulty, but for me the practice tests served more than anything for making my brain familiar with the formatting and to help show me areas of weakness / unfamiliarity, that I could polish up afterwards. (Always review practice exams - super valuable).

I got 2 free tests from March2Success (through an army recruiter), 2 free from Kaplan (friend gave me a book he didn't use, tests are resett-able), 1 free from Bootcamp, 1 free from the DAT website, and 1 free from my health profession advisor (which I didn't even have time to use, lol).

When taking those tests, I didn't go back and check my answers, and tried to take them in uncomfortable environments, so that taking the test on test day was pretty comfortable. (My worst practice test was a Kaplan seated by the kid play station in Chik Fil A - that was a test of focus and patience to be sure!! haha) This can be discouraging (I was scoring around 19s, highest [far lower on Kaplan] on most tests using this method, but obviously it ended up well.

(But I won't claim that all ended well merely because of my preparation - I definitely think I had some luck and favor from the Lord with me on that too ;-). )

My score came out at a 23AA as well, when I thought I was probably closer to a 19 or 20. I didn't want to commit to the expensive Bootcamp program, so I ended up studying all of the free resources I could find, alongside DAT destroyer and 1 month of Chad's to review Gen Chem and some basic bio concepts. Bio questions for me on the exam seemed pretty basic. My TS was 21, but my RC and QR raised my AA quite a bit. Had never scored so high on a PAT test as I did on test day. I watched the free bootcamp keyhole strategy video LITERALLY the night before the exam and think that was a big difference maker.

LAST THING: Personally, I believe that more than anything it's important to go into the test room confident, calm, well-nourished and well-rested. Don't wear yourself out the night before. This is a marathon of a process, not a sprint. Do whatever gets you zoned in the night before, but don't overwork yourself. Something my old Calc III prof used to say kept coming back to me ... "You understudy, YOU FAIL. You overstudy, YOU FAIL." (LOL. maybe a bit dramatic. Don't worry, just try to go in to the test with a fresh mind.)

 

[soon2bdr2u]

Alright! So I’m pretty new here and have mostly just been lurking on here, but I really wanted to review this software. Also, in case you need reassurance about what feels like crappy studying..

So basic stats and GPA:

DAT:

AA 23
TS 22
OC 26
GC 21
BIO 22
RC 30
QR 16 ☹
PAT 19

GPA: Science and cumulative 4.0

Alright so my studying honestly took a windy course (no defined schedule), and trying to put 3 hrs a day in during the week (rarely made probably 3/4 days a week, terrible, I know!) Don’t recommend this, caused a lot of stress and I’m sure I could’ve done better. It sounds like Bootcamp is the way to go if you’re on a budget and are trying to limit your purchases to 1 main resource. Because:

That was my goal in choosing crackdat. I saw a few good reviews and it was cheap enough, and sounded pretty holistic..

Okay, personally I hated CrackDAT.
The sciences are SO random and hard for what now seems no reason.
Bio: regularly scoring 15
GC: regularly scoring 16/17
OC: regularly scoring 16/17/18
PAT: often scored 17 (more so accurate I guess)
QR: often scored 19! So less worried and made me comparatively comfortable I guess. Also, my brain was fried at this point!
RC: 19/20. rarely used, only two practice tests to see if it was really much different than SAT type reading, which I’ve always been pretty comfortable with.

I studied a subject hard and my score remained the same. Toward the end I just quit using it, and started to study like I do for any other exam and quit this attempt at a “program”. I felt I learned more in those last couple weeks than most the rest.

So of course, I was TERRIFIED for this test. I thought I was gonna bomb it. I was so nervous, but tried to remember that things work out, so I’d just think 23, 23, 23 (at the time I thought this was a crazy reach, so it’s kinda hilarious to me that I got one).

Anyhow, I’m just trying to give an honest review of a program that made studying much more stressful and unproductive than it needed to be. Also, to give hope to those who found themselves in messy study schedules! I found all the science questions I got to be <<relatively>> basic, so just really nail those basics and try to get an idea (don’t need freak out about every detail) of as many bio topics as you have time for. I read over most chapters of the free boot camp notes actually.

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions and thank you for letting me enjoy such an awesome community!

The day will come, and it will work out! You’ll be writing your own breakdown soon and it will be okay, I promise, be strong!

PS: I know this is terribly written, it’s been a lonnng day/week/3 months

So my practice scores look just like yours. I am scheduled to take my test 1/1/2020. I said if I am not scoring 20 on bootcamp, maybe I should reschedule, but maybe I shouldnt???

 

[dr.ddental]

Well I can’t really speak to boot camp. From the reviews of that I read it sounded like those scores were more reflective than say crackdat of your actual score. I will also add that I did really well in these subjects in my actual courses- so I feel I had a really good foundation to work off of.

Additionally, I don’t think many people ever feel quite ready for this test. So if you’ve already put in a significant amount of studying and feel your practice scores are getting stagnant then I would probably go for it. Especially if you’re currently in school and classes are starting back up.

Trust yourself in the days leading up to the test and remember that it’s only a few hours of your life, it will be okay! Plus, you’re in a great position timeline wise to take it again before the next cycle if you aren’t happy with your scores. Good luck, and remember we’ve all been there feeling the pressure and made it through.

 

[soon2bdr2u]

what resources did you use to study for sciences? and QR? QR is my weakest of course