DAT Advice

[gras10]

Hey guys,

So I've been lurking here for pretty much the whole summer, reading about everyones tips and DAT experiences. Now, mine is coming up in 8 days. Ive been confident all summer, but the nerves are starting to set in. For the most part, my scores on practice tests have been high, but every now and then i get a section that seems much harder than anything I've encountered before (specifically for PAT and QR).

I know my scores are above average, so please don't think I'm just fishing for attention here, but i would LOVE to get into a school out of state, and i know those are always tougher.

So here it goes:
As for practice tests, I've taken the 2007 and got an AA of 22, but I've seen pretty much everyone agree that this test is much easier than what i should expect, so I'm not sure how much this actually means.

For the PAT I've been doing CDP and averaging 22's and 23's most of the time, which i was happy with, until i started doing Bootcamp and was getting 19-20.

Same goes for math with Bootcamp. I have always been strong in math, but its been a while since i have taken any classes in it, and my scores on bootcamp are averaging 19, usually having to just guess on upwards of 10 problems, simply because i don't have enough time. I know Ari says this section is harder, but is it really THAT much harder that i should only be finishing 75% of the problems before resorting to guessing.

As for the sciences, its not my actual numbers that are worrying me, but the inconsistency. Again, i know Ari always says not to worry as much about the scores, as learning from the tests, but its hard to ignore them. My Bootcamp scores are as follows:

Test 1 - 22 Bio / 19 GC / 14 OC
(foolishly took this one in late april before i studied anything but Bio)

Test 2 - 25 Bio / 22 GC / 20 OC
( 3 days ago)

Test 3 - 22 Bio / 30 GC / 20 OC
(Yesterday)

Test 4 - 20 Bio / 24 GC / 24 OC
(This morning)

Im happy with my steady improvement in orgo, but my GC and Bio are bouncing all over the place, and I'm afraid to get a section on the real test that has a lot of question that focus on my weaknesses. Are these sections hit or miss or do i have some buffer room?

Any advice on how i should spend my last week studying? Also, do y'all think I'm ready to take it, and score competitively for the more difficult out of state schools like UNC or UCLA?

Sorry for the long post!
Thanks in advance everyone, you've helped me out a ton this summer already!!

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[TheDanger]

Your scores for tests 2, 3, and 4 are solid. From these tests I'm sure you can pinpoint your weak areas, so I would spend your last week focusing on those. I would definitely brush up on the QR section. Chad's QR videos are good because he gives shortcuts for certain types of problems, which saves a tonnnn of time.

In my opinion, 21+ scores are competitive so as long as the rest of your app is strong as well, it seems like you have a decent shot at out of state schools (although I can't speak for UNC or UCLA specifically). I wouldn't stress if I were you. Just keep doing what you've been doing and strengthen areas that you're weaker in. Good luck!

 

[Jazzouz]

I scored higher on the real DAT than the 2007 by 2 AA. 18 to 20 so you never know! It's very random.

 

[gras10]

Awesome, Thats good to hear. Thanks for the advice and responding so quickly guys.

About the QR though.....Ill definitely check out chads QR, I've actually ignored them up until this point.

What gets me the most on the Bootcamp QR isn't the actual math, but rather understanding a lot of the word problems and figuring out how to translate it into a formula. Does the real thing have a lot of wordy passages or are the problems concise for the most part?

Thanks again!

 

[drkayz]

I had not a single lengthy problem in QR on my exam, they were all like 2 sentences at the most. None of the "If John and Mary will be twice their mothers age in 6 years and John is half as old as Mary how old is their mother" kind of crap. Most of it was straightforward and I felt like I had plenty of time. I had I think one insane trig question and one insane geometry question, so just be sure to focus on those areas!

 

[OU11BB]

i would just do practice questions from old ADA tests. repetition, repetition, repetition...