- Joined
- Jun 27, 2014
- Messages
- 43
- Reaction score
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Hey Guys,
Like i said last week, all of you had been helping me out tons prepare for my DAT, and nw that its finally done, i can hopefully helps some newcomers out.
My breakdown isn't going to be as detailed as most, because just about everything that can be said already has. I mainly just want to give another opinion on certain study materials
My scores:
PAT: 25
QR: 23
RC: 27
BIO: 24
GChem: 26
OChem: 27
TS: 25
AA: 25
For the PAT, i had heard great things from past years about CDP, but i bought the full version and was honestly disappointed in it. The cubes were stupid complex (although on my real test i had somewhat of an optical illusion), and the keyholes tested shapes way more than the actual test, which focused on proportions and lengths of sides rather than shapes. DAT Bootcamp was my best resource for this section, especially with the added tests (now offers 10 tests instead of 5)
For the QR, and RC, my only resource was Bootcamp. I had heard good things about Math Destroyer but chose not to purchase it. The QR on bootcamp was more difficult than the actual test, in the sense that the problems were much lengthier and harder to comprehend, however the style and difficulty of the actual math was spot on. Bootcamp helped me to master the timing, and allowed me to finish the QR on my test with nearly 15 minutes to spare.
Same can be said for RC as QR, bootcamp has similar style questions, with the actual passages being slightly more lengthy. For this section, everyone has different strategies, but all i did was read to get a simple understanding and a basic working knowledge of the topic and layout of the passage, and from there, search and destroy.
As if this one hasn't been said thousands of times, but for OChem, and GChem Chad's all the way. For the past 2 months not a single day passed where i didn't at least watch one video. Chad's has absolutely EVERYTHING you could ever need, or want to know for the test: by far the best resource. I used destroyer too, but truth be told it helped minimally, and at best helped to shoot me down at the beginning of my practice question journey.
For Bio I used Cliff notes, and mistakenly though "the 4th edition is newer so it must be better"....absolutly not. I bough the third after reading over edition 4 twice and was surprised at how much useful information was left out. I probably would have missed 5 or 6 more questions without reading it. Feralis Biology notes are also extremely useful, and is basically (if not exactly) a concuse summary of the Cliffs book.
So overall, just hang in there, and don't let yourself get burnt out. Keep working hard. It will all be worth it in the end when you conquer the DAT. If you need a break, take it. 2 or 3 hours of effective studying is much more useful than 7 hours of nonproductive. Lastly, make sure to stay calm test day, and don't let the nerves cloud your mind.
So to everyone on here....Thank you, and i hope this can help someone in the future
Like i said last week, all of you had been helping me out tons prepare for my DAT, and nw that its finally done, i can hopefully helps some newcomers out.
My breakdown isn't going to be as detailed as most, because just about everything that can be said already has. I mainly just want to give another opinion on certain study materials
My scores:
PAT: 25
QR: 23
RC: 27
BIO: 24
GChem: 26
OChem: 27
TS: 25
AA: 25
For the PAT, i had heard great things from past years about CDP, but i bought the full version and was honestly disappointed in it. The cubes were stupid complex (although on my real test i had somewhat of an optical illusion), and the keyholes tested shapes way more than the actual test, which focused on proportions and lengths of sides rather than shapes. DAT Bootcamp was my best resource for this section, especially with the added tests (now offers 10 tests instead of 5)
For the QR, and RC, my only resource was Bootcamp. I had heard good things about Math Destroyer but chose not to purchase it. The QR on bootcamp was more difficult than the actual test, in the sense that the problems were much lengthier and harder to comprehend, however the style and difficulty of the actual math was spot on. Bootcamp helped me to master the timing, and allowed me to finish the QR on my test with nearly 15 minutes to spare.
Same can be said for RC as QR, bootcamp has similar style questions, with the actual passages being slightly more lengthy. For this section, everyone has different strategies, but all i did was read to get a simple understanding and a basic working knowledge of the topic and layout of the passage, and from there, search and destroy.
As if this one hasn't been said thousands of times, but for OChem, and GChem Chad's all the way. For the past 2 months not a single day passed where i didn't at least watch one video. Chad's has absolutely EVERYTHING you could ever need, or want to know for the test: by far the best resource. I used destroyer too, but truth be told it helped minimally, and at best helped to shoot me down at the beginning of my practice question journey.
For Bio I used Cliff notes, and mistakenly though "the 4th edition is newer so it must be better"....absolutly not. I bough the third after reading over edition 4 twice and was surprised at how much useful information was left out. I probably would have missed 5 or 6 more questions without reading it. Feralis Biology notes are also extremely useful, and is basically (if not exactly) a concuse summary of the Cliffs book.
So overall, just hang in there, and don't let yourself get burnt out. Keep working hard. It will all be worth it in the end when you conquer the DAT. If you need a break, take it. 2 or 3 hours of effective studying is much more useful than 7 hours of nonproductive. Lastly, make sure to stay calm test day, and don't let the nerves cloud your mind.
So to everyone on here....Thank you, and i hope this can help someone in the future
