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- Jun 5, 2013
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Hey guys, just thought I'd give the ol' DAT breakdown.
1st DAT scores:
PAT: 17
QR: 16
RC: 18
Bio: 17
GC: 16
OC: 20
TS: 18
AA: 17
New DAT scores:
PAT: 21
QR: 17
RC: 20
Bio: 22
GC: 20
OC: 21
TS: 20
AA: 20
I'm not a super genius, as you can see by my first set of scores lol. The key to doing well is studying the right things, practice tests, and getting your timing down.
First piece of advice: don't get some 800+ page book and try to get through it all
. I tried doing this, and when you have the attention span of a gnat, it simply does not work. The best thing you can do is practice problems with GOOD explanations.
I have Kaplan, McGraw Hill, Destroyer, Crack DAT Royal Flush, and DATbootcamp. I also highly recommend "Alan's Notes" for Biology (I can email a free copy if interested). I suggest getting a $5 2007-2008 Kaplan book on Amazon just to help you out on concepts you don't understand, the practice test it has, and the score table in it.
* Note * I never got to use Chad's Video's, but have heard very good things about them for GC and OC.
The most useful of any of these resources is DATbootcamp, hands down. Buy both the QR + SNS section and PAT + RC section. The upgrades are definitely worth it.
*2nd Note* Yes, I know this sounds suspiciously like a DAT Bootcamp promotional. I'm only this enthusiastic about it because it tremendously helped me for the real DAT. I challenge you to try it for yourself and see!
Pre-Test: Lol, why not include this
. Before the exam, I jogged around the parking lot at the Prometric test center for 10 minutes, then said a prayer. Seemed to help me!
Biology: Alan's notes! This is a 47 page word document that goes through all the basics of biology you need to know. I wrote down everything in here word for word on paper, then I went through all of the DAT Destroyer's 486 biology problems twice. All I did beyond that was the Bootcamp tests, usually scoring 21-23. Make sure you know everything everything on Bootcamp.
General Chemistry: I have always been horrible at Gen Chem. I nearly failed all of the gen chem classes I took freshman year. I have essentially no gen chem knowledge. I tried Destroyer, but just got discouraged and quit it. I did the 30 problems in the Kaplan 2007-2008 book practice test and made sure I knew all those. Was slightly helpful. What REALLY helped was DAT Bootcamp. GET IT!!! If it can help me get a 20 when I nearly failed Gen Chem and have no idea what's going on in it, it can help anyone!
Organic Chemistry: I didn't study too much for O Chem, as it is my best subject. Destroyer is good if you are decent at O Chem. If not, it will only discourage you. Again, use DAT Bootcamp - pretty representative of the actual exam.
Perceptual Ability: DO NOT make the mistake of thinking Crack DAT PAT will prepare you. It won't! I consistently scored 20-23 on all of CDP's practice tests, and felt quite confident on the PAT for my first test. Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw the real exam and I scored a 17. Once again, the correct answer is DAT Bootcamp! I cannot say how excellent this is! It only came out several days before I took the DAT, but it was also discounted for only $20. I bought it and it was SO helpful! I got way way better at Keyholes in only a day. Same with TFE and Angle Ranking. They also include the weird half-folds in Hole Punches just like on the real DAT. Do not cheat yourself out of a stellar PAT performance by missing out on DAT Bootcamp!!!
Reading Comprehension: I really don't have a lot to say for this. I started studying RC one week before I took the DAT because I thought it was not something you could improve on. I usually did Kaplan's "mapping" method, but this was just too slow, especially since I am naturally a slow reader (each passage on the DAT would take me 9 minutes to read thoroughly). I decided to take a gamble and try search and destroy. I did not read any of the passages before I started answering questions. I answered all the easy questions first, then tried to answer the more difficult ones I skipped before for each passage. I used both Crack DAT Reading and DAT Bootcamp, but I found the questions on DAT Bootcamp to be more representative of the real exam, albeit slightly harder. Do NOT use Kaplan. It is ridiculously hard lol. I was scoring 15-17 on all their practice exams lol.
Quantitative Reasoning: Every time I tried this, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide under a rock. I decided their were more important things to study, so I really didn't pay much attention to QR at all. From what I've heard, Crack DAT Math is pretty good, and DAT Bootcamp is good. I bought the Math Destroyer and got discouraged, never really used it. Guess I'm not the one to ask for advice on the QR section, but I'm satisfied with my 17 considering I didn't really study lol.
Best of luck to all future DAT takers!
1st DAT scores:
PAT: 17
QR: 16
RC: 18
Bio: 17
GC: 16
OC: 20
TS: 18
AA: 17
New DAT scores:
PAT: 21
QR: 17
RC: 20
Bio: 22
GC: 20
OC: 21
TS: 20
AA: 20
I'm not a super genius, as you can see by my first set of scores lol. The key to doing well is studying the right things, practice tests, and getting your timing down.
First piece of advice: don't get some 800+ page book and try to get through it all
. I tried doing this, and when you have the attention span of a gnat, it simply does not work. The best thing you can do is practice problems with GOOD explanations. I have Kaplan, McGraw Hill, Destroyer, Crack DAT Royal Flush, and DATbootcamp. I also highly recommend "Alan's Notes" for Biology (I can email a free copy if interested). I suggest getting a $5 2007-2008 Kaplan book on Amazon just to help you out on concepts you don't understand, the practice test it has, and the score table in it.
* Note * I never got to use Chad's Video's, but have heard very good things about them for GC and OC.
The most useful of any of these resources is DATbootcamp, hands down. Buy both the QR + SNS section and PAT + RC section. The upgrades are definitely worth it.
*2nd Note* Yes, I know this sounds suspiciously like a DAT Bootcamp promotional. I'm only this enthusiastic about it because it tremendously helped me for the real DAT. I challenge you to try it for yourself and see!
Pre-Test: Lol, why not include this
. Before the exam, I jogged around the parking lot at the Prometric test center for 10 minutes, then said a prayer. Seemed to help me!Biology: Alan's notes! This is a 47 page word document that goes through all the basics of biology you need to know. I wrote down everything in here word for word on paper, then I went through all of the DAT Destroyer's 486 biology problems twice. All I did beyond that was the Bootcamp tests, usually scoring 21-23. Make sure you know everything everything on Bootcamp.
General Chemistry: I have always been horrible at Gen Chem. I nearly failed all of the gen chem classes I took freshman year. I have essentially no gen chem knowledge. I tried Destroyer, but just got discouraged and quit it. I did the 30 problems in the Kaplan 2007-2008 book practice test and made sure I knew all those. Was slightly helpful. What REALLY helped was DAT Bootcamp. GET IT!!! If it can help me get a 20 when I nearly failed Gen Chem and have no idea what's going on in it, it can help anyone!
Organic Chemistry: I didn't study too much for O Chem, as it is my best subject. Destroyer is good if you are decent at O Chem. If not, it will only discourage you. Again, use DAT Bootcamp - pretty representative of the actual exam.
Perceptual Ability: DO NOT make the mistake of thinking Crack DAT PAT will prepare you. It won't! I consistently scored 20-23 on all of CDP's practice tests, and felt quite confident on the PAT for my first test. Needless to say, I was shocked when I saw the real exam and I scored a 17. Once again, the correct answer is DAT Bootcamp! I cannot say how excellent this is! It only came out several days before I took the DAT, but it was also discounted for only $20. I bought it and it was SO helpful! I got way way better at Keyholes in only a day. Same with TFE and Angle Ranking. They also include the weird half-folds in Hole Punches just like on the real DAT. Do not cheat yourself out of a stellar PAT performance by missing out on DAT Bootcamp!!!
Reading Comprehension: I really don't have a lot to say for this. I started studying RC one week before I took the DAT because I thought it was not something you could improve on. I usually did Kaplan's "mapping" method, but this was just too slow, especially since I am naturally a slow reader (each passage on the DAT would take me 9 minutes to read thoroughly). I decided to take a gamble and try search and destroy. I did not read any of the passages before I started answering questions. I answered all the easy questions first, then tried to answer the more difficult ones I skipped before for each passage. I used both Crack DAT Reading and DAT Bootcamp, but I found the questions on DAT Bootcamp to be more representative of the real exam, albeit slightly harder. Do NOT use Kaplan. It is ridiculously hard lol. I was scoring 15-17 on all their practice exams lol.
Quantitative Reasoning: Every time I tried this, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide under a rock. I decided their were more important things to study, so I really didn't pay much attention to QR at all. From what I've heard, Crack DAT Math is pretty good, and DAT Bootcamp is good. I bought the Math Destroyer and got discouraged, never really used it. Guess I'm not the one to ask for advice on the QR section, but I'm satisfied with my 17 considering I didn't really study lol.
Best of luck to all future DAT takers!
