Dat 9/13...

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hlsawdust

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I took the Kaplan course, I bought TopScore, then about a week ago, I ordered DAT Achiever. Then came my REAL test today:

PAT: 27 😱
QR: 21
RC: 19
Bio: 19 🙁
GC: 20
OC: 23
TS: 20
AA: 20

My breakdown...
Bio: The bio section was much harder than I expected. I had at least 5-6 questions on ecology/evolution that were completely out of the blue and I know those hurt me.

GC: Amazingly easy, minimal calculations and mostly concept questions. I went into this with GC being my biggest weakness and it came out above my bio o_0

OC: Also quite easy, all basic reactions: HBr, Br2 in UV, Diels Alder, o-m-p directing groups, hydroboration, etc. Very straight-forward.

PAT: CRAAAAAZY easy compared to the practices. Keyholes were all on the same face, top-front-end nothing more than a hole through the middle. Angles were a little more challenging, but my test center had large 17" monitors that let me see them better, so maybe I just got lucky. Hole punch was a little harder than Kaplan (still 16 holes, but made smaller and folds a little more obscure), but I use to fold origami as a kid so it didn't seem that bad. Achiever is overkill, TopScore and Kaplan were pretty good.

RC: I got passages on asteroids/comets, brain imaging and glutamine receptors. Interestingly enough, I went in with this being my AA booster and it tied for my low.

QR: Basic calculations, mostly algebra and word problems. Trig was simple - didn't even need to know any identities.
 
did you ask them if you could put your fingers up beforehand? i was looking at the dat info packet online where it talks about test conditions whats allowed what isnt, and it doesnt mention anything about using fingers or anything else being cheating...
 
Greatttttttttt Job, how were your PAT scores on Kaplan and Achiever?
 
first of all.. great scores!

you and ihave something in common.. gchm is my weakness too... how were you scoring on kaplan practice tests? were the concept questions tricky?
 
congrats on your scores. Looks like you did pretty well ont the QR section. Any advice for those of us that suck at math. Is the real thing more similar to achiever, kaplan, topscore, ADA sample test? thanks.
 
Kaplan midterm: PAT-19, AA-18, TS-16 😡
Kaplan final: PAT-22, AA-19, TS-18
Kaplan extra exam 1: PAT-26, AA-19, TS-19
Kaplan extra exam 2: PAT-24, AA-21, TS-19
(didn't take the 3rd extra)

TopScore 1:
Bio-20
GC-19
OC-23
TS-21
QR-20
RC-22
AA-21
PAT-21

TopScore 2:
Bio-17
GC-18
OC-21
TS-18
QR-18
RC-21
AA-19
PAT-21
(I was really tired on this one)

Topscore 3: I skipped right when I got DAT Achiever

DAT Achiever 1:
Bio-19
GC-18
OC-19
TS-19
RC-19
QR-18
AA-18
PAT-18

DAT Achiever 2 (only did sciences and PAT):
Bio-18
GC-16
OC-17
TS-17
PAT-17

DAT Achiever 3 (same, only sciences and PAT):
Bio-16
GC-15 🙁
OC-19
TS-17
PAT-18

Math was MUCH easier than any practices - all the algebra was quick and any large multiplications/divisions could be easily simplified for me.

Bare minimum basic stuff:
>If you're having trouble fiddling with small numbers without a calc, use your fingers: have your right hand fingers be singles digits and thumb = 5; so index = 1, + middle = 2, + ring = 3, + pinky = 4, thumb ALONE = 5, thumb + index = 6, etc. to 9. Then have your left hand be the tens digit and you have a simple system between 1-99 (mostly only useful for +/- though...)
>Memorize the probability formula: n!/c!(n-c)! where n is the maximum number of choices, and c is desired number - I got 2-3 probability questions, all very simple though.
>SOHCAHTOA is an obvious must for trig, but know at least the basic sin 0=0, sin 30= 1/2, sin 45= root(2)/2, sin 60=root(3)/2, sin 90=1, as well as corresponding values for cos and tan (remember csc, sec, and cot are just the inverse of these). It helps to know that sin is + in Quadrants 1&2, cos is + in Q1&4, tan is + in Q1&3.
>Radian/Degree conversions are a must too (degree = radians * 180/pi) and (radians = degree * pi/180)
>Either with Achiever or TopScore, one of those stated how you could convert percentages into fractions (i.e. 15% = 15/100) - I got a couple of these questions and ALL of them I was able to simplify down when I converted and multiplied.
>You're guaranteed to get at least one speed question (d/t=s) and at least one interest question so just do enough practices on those and you'll be set, none of mine were that difficult.

I'll list more if I remember any. Hope these hope!
 
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