Hey Guys-
I just took my DAT, and these are my scores.
PAT: 26 (99.4%)
QR: 22 (96.4%)
RC: 23 (90.4%)
BIO: 22 (95.8%)
GC: 24 (96.1%)
OC: 22 (88.7%)
TS: 22 (94.8%)
AA: 23 (98.1%)
I believe I should've done a little better, but overall, I'm satisfied, especially with the PAT and RC scores.
Here is the breakdown.
The study materials I used:
DAT Destroyer: Very good. I strongly recommend it.
DAT OC Odyssey: Ehhh, I thought it was a bit overkill. It's a good practice though. Buy it if you have the time and the money.
Crack DAT MATH Ace Edition: CDM is good for timing yourself. The difficulty is.. I'd say, about the same as the real DAT.
Crack DAT PAT Ace Edition: Buy it. Buy it. Buy it.
DAT Achiever: Achiever is the worst representation of the DAT. I was getting 18s and 19s on tests 1, 2 and 3, and 16s and 17s on tests 4 and 5. I knew beforehand that it was hard, but still, it was very... VERY discouraging. I started to panic so much at the end that I wanted postpone the test. Oh, but I loved the PAT section, especially the TFE and pattern folding section. It's very hard. But you really learn how to visualize and not use the cheap "count the line" method, which does not always work.
Cliff's AP Bio: It's one of the must have's. I knew this book from front to back. My DAT was not as random as people say theirs were, but it was as random as this book. Most of the bolded words in the book are a fair game.
MCAT Exam Kracker for Bio and GC: I read these through once. I wanted to review them couple more times, but I just ran out of time.
Kaplan MCAT OC Review: Don't get it if you don't have time. If you want to know the detailed mechanisms and reaction names, get them. But I think the roadmaps in the DAT Destroyer are sufficient. But I only got a 22 in OC.. so.. meh.
5 Steps to a 5 Flashcards: I bought them only because I like to study with flashcards. (I probably made about 2000 flashcards myself) It's a good supplement to the Cliff's AP Bio. They seemed like they could be on the DAT.
Real DAT
PAT:
Key Hole: Definitely harder than CDP. The objects are more irregular and ambiguous. I think it was actually harder than Achiever as well. I guessed on couple but I guess.. I guessed well? lol.
TFE: This was one of my weak points in PAT. On my first time doing it on CDP, I could not even finish on time. Then, I found out about the "line counting method" on youtube. The method was helpful on CDP but not on Achiever. So I practiced practiced and practiced. Soon I was able to visualize not perfectly but enough to get go through each problem in less than a minute. I strongly recommend that you challenge yourself to visualize. Really. It helps not only in this section, but in other PAT sections as well.
Cube Counting: Piece of cake. It is about the same or even easier than CDP. Well... to me, cube counting is just easy. It was easy on CDP and Achiever. I was able to go through this section on CDP in less than 6 minutes and get everything right.
Pattern Folding: I hated this section because it gives me a headache. Thank God it was not that bad in the real DAT.
Hole Punching: I love this section! It's so fun, don't you think? Compared to CDP, the real DAT was harder because some of the problems had complicated folding patterns. CDP will get you a decent score. Master the Achiever, then you will get a great score in PAT.
QR: I graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. I thought I was going to breeze through the QR section on my practice tests. But man o man, knowing how to do Fourier transforms and integrals is different from solving algebraic problems. After not having done high school math for four years, I became very rusty on probabilities, trig. identities, etc. I panicked when I got 18s and 19s on Achiever. The problem was.. first of all, I was arrogant. And second of all, I did not practice enough. I believe DAT destroyer does cover all the material you need to know for the test. However, I don't think it has enough problems for you to practice. This is important because once you know all the material, problems are pretty easy and straightforward. What comes down to is how FAST you can analyze and solve the problem. Unless you are aiming for high 20s, don't get caught up with difficult probability problems you see on Achiever. Difficulty-wise, CDP is little bit easier, QR section in Destroyer is about the same, and Achiever is just ridiculous.
RC: English isn't my first language. I was getting 16s and 17s on Achiever. Somebody told me that the minimum score schools require is a 17. So I was expecting a 17. So... I don't know how I pulled a 23 on the real test. The passages were definitely more easy-reading and questions more straightforward. But still.. I think it's a miracle that I got a 23
Bio: People say bio in DAT is very random. But I don't think it is, at least mine wasn't. Yea- there were some questions that made one of my eyebrows go up and think 'wth' but I was not completely unfamiliar with what they were talking about. I had some idea. In fact, I think Destroyer and Achiever are more random. 22 isn't a great score but I'll tell you how I studied. I read through Cliff's AP Bio and solved Destroyer each like three or four times. Meanwhile, I made and reviewed flashcards for every terminology I did not know and questions I got wrong. That's it! hahaha... Yea, it's pretty simple. Repeat.
GC: First of all, GC on Achiever is way harder. My average on Achiever GC section was 18. I even got a 16 on one of the Achiever tests (but I think headache had to do with that). Anyway, the real DAT GC is okay. DAT Destroyer should be enough.
OC: I wanted to do really well on OC (like a 25 well) because my OC professor wrote me a LOR. I studied a lot but I don't know what happened on the test; 22 isn't bad I guess. Again, DAT Destroyer is enough. The roadmaps are really good. If you want more practice, get DAT Odyssey. If you want to know the reaction names and mechanisms behind the reactions.. Google it. Don't get Kaplan MCAT Review because it's not necessary. It's a good book but very unnecessary. Don't panic about OC. Yes, orgo is definitely challenging. But think of it like the QR section. Just like you don't have to know in-depth mathematical proofs behind the Pythagorean theorem, you don't have to know the every little detail behind a Aldol reaction.
That's about it.. I think. Man, I still can't believe that I'm done with DAT. I'm so glad that I don't have to take it again...... or do I? harhar... Anyways, if you have questions, let me know!! I'd love to help, especially those who haven't taken the test yet.
I just took my DAT, and these are my scores.
PAT: 26 (99.4%)
QR: 22 (96.4%)
RC: 23 (90.4%)
BIO: 22 (95.8%)
GC: 24 (96.1%)
OC: 22 (88.7%)
TS: 22 (94.8%)
AA: 23 (98.1%)
I believe I should've done a little better, but overall, I'm satisfied, especially with the PAT and RC scores.
Here is the breakdown.
The study materials I used:
DAT Destroyer: Very good. I strongly recommend it.
DAT OC Odyssey: Ehhh, I thought it was a bit overkill. It's a good practice though. Buy it if you have the time and the money.
Crack DAT MATH Ace Edition: CDM is good for timing yourself. The difficulty is.. I'd say, about the same as the real DAT.
Crack DAT PAT Ace Edition: Buy it. Buy it. Buy it.
DAT Achiever: Achiever is the worst representation of the DAT. I was getting 18s and 19s on tests 1, 2 and 3, and 16s and 17s on tests 4 and 5. I knew beforehand that it was hard, but still, it was very... VERY discouraging. I started to panic so much at the end that I wanted postpone the test. Oh, but I loved the PAT section, especially the TFE and pattern folding section. It's very hard. But you really learn how to visualize and not use the cheap "count the line" method, which does not always work.
Cliff's AP Bio: It's one of the must have's. I knew this book from front to back. My DAT was not as random as people say theirs were, but it was as random as this book. Most of the bolded words in the book are a fair game.
MCAT Exam Kracker for Bio and GC: I read these through once. I wanted to review them couple more times, but I just ran out of time.
Kaplan MCAT OC Review: Don't get it if you don't have time. If you want to know the detailed mechanisms and reaction names, get them. But I think the roadmaps in the DAT Destroyer are sufficient. But I only got a 22 in OC.. so.. meh.
5 Steps to a 5 Flashcards: I bought them only because I like to study with flashcards. (I probably made about 2000 flashcards myself) It's a good supplement to the Cliff's AP Bio. They seemed like they could be on the DAT.
Real DAT
PAT:
Key Hole: Definitely harder than CDP. The objects are more irregular and ambiguous. I think it was actually harder than Achiever as well. I guessed on couple but I guess.. I guessed well? lol.
TFE: This was one of my weak points in PAT. On my first time doing it on CDP, I could not even finish on time. Then, I found out about the "line counting method" on youtube. The method was helpful on CDP but not on Achiever. So I practiced practiced and practiced. Soon I was able to visualize not perfectly but enough to get go through each problem in less than a minute. I strongly recommend that you challenge yourself to visualize. Really. It helps not only in this section, but in other PAT sections as well.
Cube Counting: Piece of cake. It is about the same or even easier than CDP. Well... to me, cube counting is just easy. It was easy on CDP and Achiever. I was able to go through this section on CDP in less than 6 minutes and get everything right.
Pattern Folding: I hated this section because it gives me a headache. Thank God it was not that bad in the real DAT.
Hole Punching: I love this section! It's so fun, don't you think? Compared to CDP, the real DAT was harder because some of the problems had complicated folding patterns. CDP will get you a decent score. Master the Achiever, then you will get a great score in PAT.
QR: I graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. I thought I was going to breeze through the QR section on my practice tests. But man o man, knowing how to do Fourier transforms and integrals is different from solving algebraic problems. After not having done high school math for four years, I became very rusty on probabilities, trig. identities, etc. I panicked when I got 18s and 19s on Achiever. The problem was.. first of all, I was arrogant. And second of all, I did not practice enough. I believe DAT destroyer does cover all the material you need to know for the test. However, I don't think it has enough problems for you to practice. This is important because once you know all the material, problems are pretty easy and straightforward. What comes down to is how FAST you can analyze and solve the problem. Unless you are aiming for high 20s, don't get caught up with difficult probability problems you see on Achiever. Difficulty-wise, CDP is little bit easier, QR section in Destroyer is about the same, and Achiever is just ridiculous.
RC: English isn't my first language. I was getting 16s and 17s on Achiever. Somebody told me that the minimum score schools require is a 17. So I was expecting a 17. So... I don't know how I pulled a 23 on the real test. The passages were definitely more easy-reading and questions more straightforward. But still.. I think it's a miracle that I got a 23
Bio: People say bio in DAT is very random. But I don't think it is, at least mine wasn't. Yea- there were some questions that made one of my eyebrows go up and think 'wth' but I was not completely unfamiliar with what they were talking about. I had some idea. In fact, I think Destroyer and Achiever are more random. 22 isn't a great score but I'll tell you how I studied. I read through Cliff's AP Bio and solved Destroyer each like three or four times. Meanwhile, I made and reviewed flashcards for every terminology I did not know and questions I got wrong. That's it! hahaha... Yea, it's pretty simple. Repeat.
GC: First of all, GC on Achiever is way harder. My average on Achiever GC section was 18. I even got a 16 on one of the Achiever tests (but I think headache had to do with that). Anyway, the real DAT GC is okay. DAT Destroyer should be enough.
OC: I wanted to do really well on OC (like a 25 well) because my OC professor wrote me a LOR. I studied a lot but I don't know what happened on the test; 22 isn't bad I guess. Again, DAT Destroyer is enough. The roadmaps are really good. If you want more practice, get DAT Odyssey. If you want to know the reaction names and mechanisms behind the reactions.. Google it. Don't get Kaplan MCAT Review because it's not necessary. It's a good book but very unnecessary. Don't panic about OC. Yes, orgo is definitely challenging. But think of it like the QR section. Just like you don't have to know in-depth mathematical proofs behind the Pythagorean theorem, you don't have to know the every little detail behind a Aldol reaction.
That's about it.. I think. Man, I still can't believe that I'm done with DAT. I'm so glad that I don't have to take it again...... or do I? harhar... Anyways, if you have questions, let me know!! I'd love to help, especially those who haven't taken the test yet.
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