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- Mar 12, 2007
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So after two months of intense studying and lurking on this forum I have finally finished the DAT. I'm very happy with everything except the reading score.
PAT: 23
QR: 19
RC: 18
Bio: 24
GC: 23
OC: 22
TS: 23
AA: 21
I've been working as an assistant this summer so I was only studying 4 days a week. But my background in biology and chemistry had me pretty much prepared for the test.
My preparation materials included: Topscore, Achiever, Destroyer, Kaplan, and my college textbooks.
Here's a break-down of the sections:
PAT:Very similar to the Crack the PAT practice tests except for TFEs and cube counting. You aren't able to apply the line counting strategy for the TFEs which made the section somewhat more difficult, but the cube counting was definitely easier.
QR: This section was somewhat harder then Achiever and most comparable to Topscore in difficulty. The majority of studying I did for QR involved taking practice tests and reviewing equations in Kaplan.
RC: I always did well in this section on practice tests (20+); however, I never really had a good strategy as I was always pressed for time and barely squeezed the last three questions out. My test had a couple of tone/intent type questions but I would say under 10. My biggest trouble in this section came from an incredibly boring ethics/morals type paper which made me stop reading and resort to word hunting.
Bio: I thought this section was not too bad. You should handle this section fine with a good understanding of Kaplan, Destroyer, and maybe a few sections of the Schaum's outline book. Like everyone else recently, I had the "off-the-wall" questions which were not covered in any of my DAT prep books. The upper division science courses I've taken did cover these topics, but I think that at least a couple of these questions could be answered with simple critical thinking and do not require a knowledge of everything in the Campbell biology book.
GC: Easy. This section was actually the one I was most worried about. If you've been doing Achiever/Topscore/Destroyer and are getting most of the questions right and understand the concepts behind the equations then you are good to go. Everything you need to know is in Kaplan.
OC: Nothing special. Same thing goes for OC as GC, practice with Achiever/Topscore/Destroyer and you'll be fine. Kaplan had everything I needed to know for this section.
Overall I felt great during the test because it was much easier then Achiever.
I have not submitted my application yet, but my GPA at UCSB is 3.49 cumulative. I'm hoping these scores can compensate for my average GPA.
PAT: 23
QR: 19
RC: 18
Bio: 24
GC: 23
OC: 22
TS: 23
AA: 21
I've been working as an assistant this summer so I was only studying 4 days a week. But my background in biology and chemistry had me pretty much prepared for the test.
My preparation materials included: Topscore, Achiever, Destroyer, Kaplan, and my college textbooks.
Here's a break-down of the sections:
PAT:Very similar to the Crack the PAT practice tests except for TFEs and cube counting. You aren't able to apply the line counting strategy for the TFEs which made the section somewhat more difficult, but the cube counting was definitely easier.
QR: This section was somewhat harder then Achiever and most comparable to Topscore in difficulty. The majority of studying I did for QR involved taking practice tests and reviewing equations in Kaplan.
RC: I always did well in this section on practice tests (20+); however, I never really had a good strategy as I was always pressed for time and barely squeezed the last three questions out. My test had a couple of tone/intent type questions but I would say under 10. My biggest trouble in this section came from an incredibly boring ethics/morals type paper which made me stop reading and resort to word hunting.
Bio: I thought this section was not too bad. You should handle this section fine with a good understanding of Kaplan, Destroyer, and maybe a few sections of the Schaum's outline book. Like everyone else recently, I had the "off-the-wall" questions which were not covered in any of my DAT prep books. The upper division science courses I've taken did cover these topics, but I think that at least a couple of these questions could be answered with simple critical thinking and do not require a knowledge of everything in the Campbell biology book.
GC: Easy. This section was actually the one I was most worried about. If you've been doing Achiever/Topscore/Destroyer and are getting most of the questions right and understand the concepts behind the equations then you are good to go. Everything you need to know is in Kaplan.
OC: Nothing special. Same thing goes for OC as GC, practice with Achiever/Topscore/Destroyer and you'll be fine. Kaplan had everything I needed to know for this section.
Overall I felt great during the test because it was much easier then Achiever.
I have not submitted my application yet, but my GPA at UCSB is 3.49 cumulative. I'm hoping these scores can compensate for my average GPA.
