dat books and practice materials

[yrl]

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could someone kindly list out ALL (or almost all) the DAT materials that exist out there that i can buy? and possibly list them in order of how helpful they were to you?

 

[TheGreenWave]

Im not going to list everything but ill give it a go. Ill try and add my 2 cents for the ones I used personally.

1. Kaplan Blue book (great for laying down a foundation)
2. Destroyer (a must have for orgo/bio; great practice problems, some of which end up on your exam verbatim!)
3. Crack Dat Pat (the best PAT prep out there I saw)
4a. Topscore (great for testing yourself - I found the practice tests to be very accurate compared to your actual DAT score)
4b. Achiever (never used it, heard it may be overkill)
5. Cliffs or Campbells's Bio - if you want a more thorough bio review
6. MCAT hyperlearning (made by princeton review - a nice complement to kaplans blue book IMO)

 

[TheGreenWave]

Im not going to list everything but ill give it a go. Ill try and add my 2 cents for the ones I used personally.

1. Kaplan Blue book (great for laying down a foundation)
2. Destroyer (a must have for orgo/bio; great practice problems, some
of which end up on your exam verbatim!)
3. Crack Dat Pat (the best PAT prep out there)
4a. Topscore (great for testing yourself - I found the practice tests to
be very accurate compared to your actual DAT score)
4b. Achiever (never used it, heard it may be overkill)
5. Cliffs or Campbells's Bio - if you want a more thorough bio review
6. MCAT hyperlearning (made by princeton review - a nice complement
to kaplans blue book IMO)

These are what I would consider the "major players" as far as DAT prep. Surely there are other texts/sites/study guides that will be useful, but this is what most people use to study from what I have gathered. Your undergrad textbooks are also very useful, though not as focused towards the DAT (obviously). SDN is a great resource since many people will post and/or answer questions.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what you need to do to succeed. Ask yourself, can I study on a set schedule without classes? (if so, defintely dont pay for kaplan) Do I prefer learning from practice problems or reading? Would I rather really know the basics or see all the details and remember what I deem important? etc...

If money is an issue, I would suggest the following resources: Kaplan BB + Destroyer + Crack Dat Pat + Topscore. If you buy kaplan and destroyer used then pay for the others (which are online resources), youre probably looking at around $400. A great investment if you ask me. 🙂

Good luck.

 

[TheGreenWave]

Im not going to list everything but ill give it a go. Ill try and add my 2 cents for the ones I used personally.

1. Kaplan Blue book (great for laying down a foundation)
2. Destroyer (a must have for orgo/bio; great practice problems, some
of which end up on your exam verbatim!)
3. Crack Dat Pat (the best PAT prep out there)
4a. Topscore (great for testing yourself - I found the practice tests to
be very accurate compared to your actual DAT score)
4b. Achiever (never used it, heard it may be overkill)
5. Cliffs or Campbells's Bio - if you want a more thorough bio review
6. MCAT hyperlearning (made by princeton review - a nice complement
to kaplans blue book IMO)

These are what I would consider the "major players" as far as DAT prep. Surely there are other texts/sites/study guides that will be useful, but this is what most people use to study from what I have gathered. Your undergrad textbooks are also very useful, though not as focused towards the DAT (obviously). SDN is a great resource since many people will post and/or answer questions.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what you need to do to succeed. Ask yourself, can I study on a set schedule without classes? (if so, defintely dont pay for kaplan) Do I prefer learning from practice problems or reading? Would I rather really know the basics or see all the details and remember what I deem important? etc...

If money is an issue, I would suggest the following resources: Kaplan BB + Destroyer + Crack Dat Pat + Topscore. If you buy kaplan and destroyer used then pay for the others (which are online resources), youre probably looking at around $400. A great investment if you ask me. 🙂

Good luck.

 

[TheGreenWave]

Im not going to list everything but ill give it a go. Ill try and add my 2 cents for the ones I used personally.

1. Kaplan Blue book (great for laying down a foundation)
2. Destroyer (a must have for orgo/bio; great practice problems, some
of which end up on your exam verbatim!)
3. Crack Dat Pat (the best PAT prep out there)
4a. Topscore (great for testing yourself - I found the practice tests to
be very accurate compared to your actual DAT score)
4b. Achiever (never used it, heard it may be overkill)
5. Cliffs or Campbells's Bio - if you want a more thorough bio review
6. MCAT hyperlearning (made by princeton review - a nice complement
to kaplans blue book IMO)

These are what I would consider the "major players" as far as DAT prep. Surely there are other texts/sites/study guides that will be useful, but this is what most people use to study from what I have gathered. Your undergrad textbooks are also very useful, though not as focused towards the DAT (obviously). SDN is a great resource since many people will post and/or answer questions.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what you need to do to succeed. Ask yourself, can I study on a set schedule without classes? (if so, defintely dont pay for kaplan) Do I prefer learning from practice problems or reading? Would I rather really know the basics or see all the details and remember what I deem important? etc...

If money is an issue, I would suggest the following resources: Kaplan BB + Destroyer + Crack Dat Pat + Topscore. If you buy kaplan and destroyer used then pay for the others (which are online resources), youre probably looking at around $400. A great investment if you ask me. 🙂

Good luck.

 

[igotswansons]

How would you suggest studying for the DAT with this material? I plan on purchasing the Kaplan Book, DAT destroyer, CLiff AP Bio and maybe the Crack DAT PAT. I am assuming the Kaplan and Cliff's are more for referencing. Do you know of a comprehensive outline that you can base your studying off of? Is simply going through the DAT destroyer and Topscore questions good enough (going back and referencing the Kaplan and Cliff's for explanations)? I was planning on going through the DAT destroyer and answering all the questions and using the Kaplan and Cliff's as reference when needed but not as a primary study aid. Would you say this is adequate?

 

[Avery07]

How would you suggest studying for the DAT with this material? I plan on purchasing the Kaplan Book, DAT destroyer, CLiff AP Bio and maybe the Crack DAT PAT. I am assuming the Kaplan and Cliff's are more for referencing. Do you know of a comprehensive outline that you can base your studying off of? Is simply going through the DAT destroyer and Topscore questions good enough (going back and referencing the Kaplan and Cliff's for explanations)? I was planning on going through the DAT destroyer and answering all the questions and using the Kaplan and Cliff's as reference when needed but not as a primary study aid. Would you say this is adequate?

You need to have a good background before going to destroyer. From what I hear destroyer is insane and will really prep you but you need to know what's what going into it otherwise you'll be like . I would recommend going through KBB and CliffsAP before messing with destroyer. Right now I'm thoroughly going throuch CliffsAP and will make sure I have it down front and back and reciting it in my sleep before purchasing destroyer.

As for you maybe getting CrackPAT. You need to deffinately get this product. There is no substitute for it and without it you'll deffinately be a mess on TFE and pattern folding. Hole punching, angles, and cubes can probably be done without it but that still wouldn't be sufficient.

 

[TheGreenWave]

In my opinion, KBB is a great way to guide your science studies. I read through it twice thoroughly before utilizing anything else in terms of science. Since math and PAT are very different (neither of which require much memorization) I did a little of both every day - here repetition/problems are crucial.

Once I had a very good grasp of all the science sections, had practiced QR and Perceptual stuff, I took my second Topscore test (the first I used as a benchmark before studying). Then I worked on my weaker areas using Kaplan + more detailed science resources. After say 2-3 more weeks of solid studying I took the third Topscore test. Again I used this exam as an indication of where I needed improvement.

Once you are pretty comfortable with all the sections and have improved your weak points, you move on to destroyer*. Many questions are answerable while others seem like overkill. However, often times these "random questions" end up verbatim on your actual DAT. So why not invest? After going through all of the questions for the science sections 3-4 times you should be ready for the DAT. (The first couple of times through take forever, but it gets better.)


*One exception to the "move on to destroyer only when youre ready rule" are the orgo roadmaps. Learning these reactions should be the bulk of your preparation for the organic chem section.

 

[azar87]

Don't forget Math destroyer which is a new must have......if ur buyen a new destroyer make sure u get the math destroyer along with it ....its a good combo price and if the destroyer is a must have then anythign that can help in math and is a destroyer is needed.....the math is just crazy unless ur really good at it anyways math destroyer can only help plus i dont think there are really any good math resources out there that are on point for the DAT so add that to ur list if you haven't already.

 

[igotswansons]

Is the Kaplan Blue Book that you can buy at any bookstore sufficient or would you suggest purchasing all the material from the course (ie. white book, notes, cards, ect)? A few people on these boards are selling all the course material. Is this overkill?

 

[Kkae]

Those are pretty much the major players. In general, a lot of ppl tend to have lower scores on the QR section of the DAT. It's important to keep that score up as it counts as part of your Average score. If you have the time and the money, go ahead and get the Math Destroyer. I have no experience with it, but anything that can help u to get a solid score in that section is a plus.
U can also visit here:http://stu-dentdiaries.blogspot.com/ for a compilation of essential materials. Hit the DAT Study Materials tab.

Good Luck...