- Joined
- Jun 4, 2014
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 43
Hello everyone!
Today I took the DAT and I figured I should provide my very own breakdown, after looking at so many others’. Here are my scores:
PAT: 28
QR: 30
RC: 25
Bio: 24
GC: 28
OC: 25
TS: 26
AA: 26
Materials Used:
Crack the DAT (all subjects)
Crack DAT PAT
Cliff’s Biology
Feralis Biology Notes
Chem notes from my college course
2007 ADA Exam
I just finished my sophomore year, so I’ll be applying next year. My GPA is 4.0 so far. I began studying at the beginning of May, when school got out, so I only studied for 2 summer months. I’m glad that I decided to take it this early, because I was fresh out of General Biology and Organic Chemistry. I haven’t taken any upper level bio classes and I still did well. My college classes definitely prepared me well (Yes Hope College!!)
Biology (24):
This was the subject I feared most, because I’m a chemistry & math girl. The huge amount of information that this section covers freaked me out a little! I started by taking notes on a couple sections in my actual biology book that we hadn’t covered in my General Bio class, so that I would get familiar with them. Then, I read through Cliff’s to refresh my memory on every topic, little by little throughout about a week. After that, I slowly read through the Feralis notes to reinforce everything I had just learned. I liked how this gave me an overview of everything, helping me see how it all fits together. Throughout the whole 2 months, I periodically took tests on Crack the DAT to learn more/check my progress. I took notes on some of the stuff I got wrong. Honestly, these tests were overall way harder and more detailed than the actual DAT. Nevertheless, they were good preparation because they helped me see almost every possible topic. There were still some details on the real DAT that I simply hadn’t memorized, but I felt pretty confident about most of the questions.
GC (28):
First I skimmed through all of the Powerpoint notes from my college General Chemistry class, just to refresh my memory on all the topics I had forgotten over time. Along with this, I skimmed through certain sections of the book from my class. After that, I again used Crack the DAT to figure out which topics and details I didn’t know well enough. Again, for me these tests were way more difficult than the real thing, but because of that they prepared me well.
OC (25):
Because I was fresh out of this class and did well in it, I didn’t study much for this section. I only did the Crack the DAT tests, which seems to have been sufficient. Same thing as other sciences – way more detailed and unfamiliar reactions on the practice tests, so the real thing felt like a breeze. If you worked hard in your college course and understood everything, you should be fine.
PAT (28):
My sole preparation for this section was Crack DAT PAT. Overall, the practice tests were a good representation of the real thing, and I appreciated the strategies that I learned. The keyhole problems on the real exam were more difficult because they were pretty weird shapes, and lots of proportions. Top Front End felt the same. Angles were a bit easier on the real thing. Hole Punches were a little different, but not any more difficult. Cubes were easier. Pattern Folding was the same.
QR (30):
Math has always come quite naturally to me, so I felt no need to study for this section. I did, however, take some Crack the DAT practice tests, which I thought prepared me well for the different types of questions I would see on the real thing. There were no big curveballs, so I felt confident about all my answers, and this ended up being my best score.
RC (25):
There’s no good way to study for this besides practice. Again, I used Crack the DAT and scored about the same as I did on the practice tests. However, the practice tests had way more questions about tone and inference – the real thing was a lot more search and destroy kind of questions. My passages weren’t all that interesting, but I just plugged through it and did pretty well.
Other Notes:
Besides getting familiar with the PAT strategy, my main focus during studying was on science. There’s so much content covered in the sciences that it’s impossible for anyone to know every detail. My advice is to keep plugging away at it, but don’t fret if you don’t know every single thing. Many of the real problems are more general, or can be figured out with logic and basic science knowledge. I simply got familiar with all of the material by reading over it over and over, and most of the important concepts seemed to stick.
From there, it was all practice. Practice tests taught me new information, got me used to the format of the test, helped me with the timing aspect, and helped me learn from my mistakes. I think Crack the DAT prepared me well so I’d recommend it. The actual test felt no different format-wise than all the practice I had been doing all along, which helped me stay calm and do my thing.
The best thing I did was take the 2007 ADA test the night before my real test. It honestly was a confidence booster, because the science questions seemed way easier than my Crack the DAT practice ones. The real exam was a little more difficult, but it was still a very accurate representation.
I studied on and off for 2 months. Some people say they study 8 hours/day for 3 months – for me, this wasn’t necessary. It’s all about knowing what works best as a study method for you. I still worked 20 hours a week, volunteered a day a week, watched plenty of Netflix, and had a life! I used bits & pieces of time whenever I could, instead of getting burned out by studying for hours & hours. 2 months ended up being more than enough, even though I didn’t feel all that prepared. The best thing you can do is work hard in your college classes, and then study in the way that suits you best. Practice is key, rather than trying to memorize endless details that probably won't even be necessary to know. I went in with a humble confidence and everything worked out just fine!
Let me know if you have any questions! I’m so thankful to be done, and now my real summer begins!
Today I took the DAT and I figured I should provide my very own breakdown, after looking at so many others’. Here are my scores:
PAT: 28
QR: 30
RC: 25
Bio: 24
GC: 28
OC: 25
TS: 26
AA: 26
Materials Used:
Crack the DAT (all subjects)
Crack DAT PAT
Cliff’s Biology
Feralis Biology Notes
Chem notes from my college course
2007 ADA Exam
I just finished my sophomore year, so I’ll be applying next year. My GPA is 4.0 so far. I began studying at the beginning of May, when school got out, so I only studied for 2 summer months. I’m glad that I decided to take it this early, because I was fresh out of General Biology and Organic Chemistry. I haven’t taken any upper level bio classes and I still did well. My college classes definitely prepared me well (Yes Hope College!!)
Biology (24):
This was the subject I feared most, because I’m a chemistry & math girl. The huge amount of information that this section covers freaked me out a little! I started by taking notes on a couple sections in my actual biology book that we hadn’t covered in my General Bio class, so that I would get familiar with them. Then, I read through Cliff’s to refresh my memory on every topic, little by little throughout about a week. After that, I slowly read through the Feralis notes to reinforce everything I had just learned. I liked how this gave me an overview of everything, helping me see how it all fits together. Throughout the whole 2 months, I periodically took tests on Crack the DAT to learn more/check my progress. I took notes on some of the stuff I got wrong. Honestly, these tests were overall way harder and more detailed than the actual DAT. Nevertheless, they were good preparation because they helped me see almost every possible topic. There were still some details on the real DAT that I simply hadn’t memorized, but I felt pretty confident about most of the questions.
GC (28):
First I skimmed through all of the Powerpoint notes from my college General Chemistry class, just to refresh my memory on all the topics I had forgotten over time. Along with this, I skimmed through certain sections of the book from my class. After that, I again used Crack the DAT to figure out which topics and details I didn’t know well enough. Again, for me these tests were way more difficult than the real thing, but because of that they prepared me well.
OC (25):
Because I was fresh out of this class and did well in it, I didn’t study much for this section. I only did the Crack the DAT tests, which seems to have been sufficient. Same thing as other sciences – way more detailed and unfamiliar reactions on the practice tests, so the real thing felt like a breeze. If you worked hard in your college course and understood everything, you should be fine.
PAT (28):
My sole preparation for this section was Crack DAT PAT. Overall, the practice tests were a good representation of the real thing, and I appreciated the strategies that I learned. The keyhole problems on the real exam were more difficult because they were pretty weird shapes, and lots of proportions. Top Front End felt the same. Angles were a bit easier on the real thing. Hole Punches were a little different, but not any more difficult. Cubes were easier. Pattern Folding was the same.
QR (30):
Math has always come quite naturally to me, so I felt no need to study for this section. I did, however, take some Crack the DAT practice tests, which I thought prepared me well for the different types of questions I would see on the real thing. There were no big curveballs, so I felt confident about all my answers, and this ended up being my best score.
RC (25):
There’s no good way to study for this besides practice. Again, I used Crack the DAT and scored about the same as I did on the practice tests. However, the practice tests had way more questions about tone and inference – the real thing was a lot more search and destroy kind of questions. My passages weren’t all that interesting, but I just plugged through it and did pretty well.
Other Notes:
Besides getting familiar with the PAT strategy, my main focus during studying was on science. There’s so much content covered in the sciences that it’s impossible for anyone to know every detail. My advice is to keep plugging away at it, but don’t fret if you don’t know every single thing. Many of the real problems are more general, or can be figured out with logic and basic science knowledge. I simply got familiar with all of the material by reading over it over and over, and most of the important concepts seemed to stick.
From there, it was all practice. Practice tests taught me new information, got me used to the format of the test, helped me with the timing aspect, and helped me learn from my mistakes. I think Crack the DAT prepared me well so I’d recommend it. The actual test felt no different format-wise than all the practice I had been doing all along, which helped me stay calm and do my thing.
The best thing I did was take the 2007 ADA test the night before my real test. It honestly was a confidence booster, because the science questions seemed way easier than my Crack the DAT practice ones. The real exam was a little more difficult, but it was still a very accurate representation.
I studied on and off for 2 months. Some people say they study 8 hours/day for 3 months – for me, this wasn’t necessary. It’s all about knowing what works best as a study method for you. I still worked 20 hours a week, volunteered a day a week, watched plenty of Netflix, and had a life! I used bits & pieces of time whenever I could, instead of getting burned out by studying for hours & hours. 2 months ended up being more than enough, even though I didn’t feel all that prepared. The best thing you can do is work hard in your college classes, and then study in the way that suits you best. Practice is key, rather than trying to memorize endless details that probably won't even be necessary to know. I went in with a humble confidence and everything worked out just fine!
Let me know if you have any questions! I’m so thankful to be done, and now my real summer begins!
