So after two months or so of study here's what it aaall came down to:
PAT: 20
QR: 21
RC: 23
BIO: 20
GC: 27
OG: 23
TS: 23
AA: 23
Books: Kaplan BB Book, DAT Destroyer, CDP, some Math Destroyer
CDP: 21/21/20/21/26
(PAT/QR/RC/BIO/GC/OG/TS/AA)
Kaplan Diagnostic: 18/19/18/17/19/18/18/18
Kaplan Midterm: 23/22/18/19/19/18/19/19
Kaplan Final: 20/22/19/29/19/25/25/23
Practice Test 1: 22/25/19/18/20/21/20/21
PAT: Nothing too tricky, the Hole punching section was definitely easier than CDP, but everything else was pretty on par. Angles sucked as always, but other than that not too bad.
QR: This was tough. I probably didn't spend enough time reviewing this section and am not sure how I managed a 21, but hell I'll take it. I would say buy the Math Destroyer, because it really is identical to what you will see on test day. Make sure you can do some characteristic problems like combined work (though I didn't have any) and definitely probability and rates. I ended up marking and putting an educated guess down for a ton and then going back to them because I got really nervous I'd run out of time.
RC: I have no idea how I got a 23 here. This was my worst section on all the practices but the adrenaline from the test made me read super fast I guess. Practice a few of these and it will help. I used the Kaplan taking notes method here. Got lucky with only science articles, and didn't get frapped or pianoed (thank god).
TS: GC was definitely easier than Destroyer, but it helped to do some harder problems. Bio was somewhere in between Destroyer and Kaplan difficulty and Organic really wasn't bad at all. I had more conceptual stuff than actual reactions for OC.
Studying:
I took a Kaplan course from June 8th for about six weeks. I had Orgo Lab at UNC during this time so I was not too hardcore about studying. I read through about two thirds of the material, but it was not until the last two weeks before the DAT that I really started cramming.
I started off by going through the entire Kaplan BB book for the sciences, and making my own notes of the chapters based on things I felt like I needed to catch up on. Aside from this I did all the DAT Destroyer questions twice, and, after the first time, wrote down all the ones I had the most trouble with.
I was studying about 8-9 hours a day for these two weeks mostly because I was such a slacker the month before. I went to the mountains for a day and a half and had a whole day for work orientation so I had a few breaks in between cramming. I made myself a schedule where I read two chapters from each subject of the natural sciences in Kaplan BB and did a CDP everyday (I had the 5-pack). The last week I took two practice tests and just did Destroyer questions. I wrote down the concepts I was having trouble remembering, and the day before the DAT I relaxed and just read over that list.
Morning of I was SO SO nervous and showed an hour early, only to find that you can actually get started anytime in the hour span before your exam. I didn't review anything in the morning and went for a quick 15 minute jog to soothe the nerves. Felt so much better once it was done!
Good luck everyone! 😍
PAT: 20
QR: 21
RC: 23
BIO: 20
GC: 27
OG: 23
TS: 23
AA: 23
Books: Kaplan BB Book, DAT Destroyer, CDP, some Math Destroyer
CDP: 21/21/20/21/26
(PAT/QR/RC/BIO/GC/OG/TS/AA)
Kaplan Diagnostic: 18/19/18/17/19/18/18/18
Kaplan Midterm: 23/22/18/19/19/18/19/19
Kaplan Final: 20/22/19/29/19/25/25/23
Practice Test 1: 22/25/19/18/20/21/20/21
PAT: Nothing too tricky, the Hole punching section was definitely easier than CDP, but everything else was pretty on par. Angles sucked as always, but other than that not too bad.
QR: This was tough. I probably didn't spend enough time reviewing this section and am not sure how I managed a 21, but hell I'll take it. I would say buy the Math Destroyer, because it really is identical to what you will see on test day. Make sure you can do some characteristic problems like combined work (though I didn't have any) and definitely probability and rates. I ended up marking and putting an educated guess down for a ton and then going back to them because I got really nervous I'd run out of time.
RC: I have no idea how I got a 23 here. This was my worst section on all the practices but the adrenaline from the test made me read super fast I guess. Practice a few of these and it will help. I used the Kaplan taking notes method here. Got lucky with only science articles, and didn't get frapped or pianoed (thank god).
TS: GC was definitely easier than Destroyer, but it helped to do some harder problems. Bio was somewhere in between Destroyer and Kaplan difficulty and Organic really wasn't bad at all. I had more conceptual stuff than actual reactions for OC.
Studying:
I took a Kaplan course from June 8th for about six weeks. I had Orgo Lab at UNC during this time so I was not too hardcore about studying. I read through about two thirds of the material, but it was not until the last two weeks before the DAT that I really started cramming.
I started off by going through the entire Kaplan BB book for the sciences, and making my own notes of the chapters based on things I felt like I needed to catch up on. Aside from this I did all the DAT Destroyer questions twice, and, after the first time, wrote down all the ones I had the most trouble with.
I was studying about 8-9 hours a day for these two weeks mostly because I was such a slacker the month before. I went to the mountains for a day and a half and had a whole day for work orientation so I had a few breaks in between cramming. I made myself a schedule where I read two chapters from each subject of the natural sciences in Kaplan BB and did a CDP everyday (I had the 5-pack). The last week I took two practice tests and just did Destroyer questions. I wrote down the concepts I was having trouble remembering, and the day before the DAT I relaxed and just read over that list.
Morning of I was SO SO nervous and showed an hour early, only to find that you can actually get started anytime in the hour span before your exam. I didn't review anything in the morning and went for a quick 15 minute jog to soothe the nerves. Felt so much better once it was done!
Good luck everyone! 😍
Last edited:
