Complete DAT Breakdown 08/07/09

[fodog]

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I just took the DAT this morning after only being able to sleep for a few hours. I think just getting to sleep the night before is one of the hardest things getting ready for this test! I couldn't believe how hard it was for me to sleep. I finally woke up my mom at 4:00 AM. We went on a walk up our street in our PJs trying to get some of the nervous tension out of me! ahh it was awful.( I think the newspaper delivery girls thought we were homeless) Anyway, we finally found some insomnia/anxiety medication that my brother used to take, and that put me right to sleep. I highly recommend drugging yourself if you know you're going to have a hard time sleeping the night before the big day.

I started studying around the beginning of May for about 8 hrs/day 6 days a week. I started to get burnt out the last couple weeks.

So I haven't posted much, but I have been a frequent visitor to this forum and it's helped me a lot! so I would just like to share how I studied and my feelings about my scores.

the scores:

PA: 21 (93.0)
QR: 15 (38.3) what the...
RC: 17 (25.7) AHH!
Bio: 22 (95.2)
GC: 24 (94.5)
OC: 29 (100.0)
TS: 24 (99.1)
AA: 21 (91.0)

So as you can see, my scores are pretty spread! I'm kicking myself about the QR and RC sections!!

Overall--I was pretty surprised how similar the sciences compared to the practice tests I took. I thought the questions were straightforward and nothing too complicated. Let me break it down by section...

BIO
I was stressin out about this section the most. I took the Kaplan online course, read parts of AP Cliffs, Destroyer, listened to MCAT audioosmosis, and got on Wikipedia about 1000 times a day. I think the most helpful study tool was Kaplan. There big study book is great--it might be lacking a little detail--but coupled with the online "workshops" and multitude of problems and quizzes they have online, I thought it prepared me very well.

If I were to do it again and more time, I would try to focus more on Ap Cliffs. But Kaplan's bio is great for physiology IMO.

Gen Chem
So much easier than the practice tests I took. about 40/60 in problems/conceptual. I thought it was straightforward and only I got only 1 problem that I hadn't seen before. Best prep for this: Kaplan. Destroyer does a good job solidifying with tons of problems, but definitely overkill.

O chem
This was my strongest subject going into the test. I read through Kaplan, made flashcards of reactions that I had forgotten, Destroyer (is good again for the problems and solidifying the material). This section was again straightforward and nothing too random. I also reviewed school notes for this.

PAT
Aperture: Not too hard. I would compare this part mostly to crack DAT PAT
TFE: again, crack DAT PAT for this
angles: Crack DAT PAT
Hole punching: achiever, topscore, Kaplan, CDP all similar here
Cubes: easy
pattern folding: CDP

GET CDP if you want to score 20 + on PAT. I was scoring between 20-24 on my CDP practice tests.

RC
holy freak. I suck at reading. hard to prepare for. Used Search and Destroy. A lot of the questions didn't work for this approach, hence the 17.

Math
I mostly used CDM, and I was scoring anywhere from 18-22. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw I got a 15 on math! I honestly don't know what went wrong here...

To sum things up: If you can afford it, do the online Kaplan course! the book alone is great but not enough. however, the book + online workshops+ thousands of questions= worth it. DESTROYER is good for solidifying principles but is defiantly overkill. You do NOT need this to do very well. CDP is a must. Hope you get an easy QR section.

So Overall I'm pretty happy with my scores. I'm especially excited about my TS. But I'm pretty worried about my RC and MATH scores. do a lot of schools have cutoffs? Will I need to retake? based on all my practice tests, I was hoping for a 22-23 AA, but oh well, I got screwed in a couple sections. What do you guys suggest I do? Call up schools and see where there cutoffs are? Retake? I would really appreciate any advice you guys have.

Oh my GPA is 3.91, and sGPA is 3.85. from BYU

If anyone has questions about anything, feel free to ask!


BTW, what are my chances for UoP, UCLA, and San Antonio? I'm from Utah.

Also--I'm not applying this year. I still have 2 more years of school left

 

[whawha]

What a great score!! Btw, what passages did you get?

 

[Emmie]

I highly recommend drugging yourself if you know you're going to have a hard time sleeping the night before the big day.

Btw, what passages did you get?

thank you, Whawha! 😍

 

[276640]

Great scores! If you don't mind me asking, what were you getting on all of your Kaplan Full Length Practice Tests? How similar were they to the real thing?

 

[nze82]

You have decent scores. However, you should check with schools to make sure that your 15QR score doesn't fall below their cutoff point. Your 17RC is also somewhat low. This might hinder your chances at some of the schools, specially if you're not a native English speaker (Probably not that big of a deal considering your great scores in all the other sections).
I think you should call your designated schools and make sure they don't have any cutoffs for that QR. Many people have been scoring low on this section (including myself), so your low score isn't a problem as long as it doesn't fall below the cutoff point. Other than that I think you're golden!
👍

 

[dev9036]

no doubts that ur great scores prove that r smart...I would stilll be cautious with that 15 and try to figure out if the school I am applying really take it?

 

[miedvied]

Congrats on the orgo score.

What were your practice test scores like (i.e., topscore)?

 

[crew09]

SA usually takes quite a few students from BYU, you numbers are solid, best of luck.

 

[tonyshawk]

Congrats! I took it today too and also got 21AA. Your sciences definitely look better than mine. Good luck!