DAT Breakdown 11/27/2013

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stootiefrootiec

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Okay, here is my breakdown:
PAT 24
QR 24
RC 25
Bio 23
GC 20
OC 19
TS 21
AA 22

I am not sure how good those will be. I did not do that well in undergrad, had a 3.0 GPA. I finished my Masters in Biology with a 4.0 GPA. I applied this cycle but late because of various circumstances. I have applied to 18 schools and have gotten secondaries back out to everyone. I am just hoping to get interviews now.

Be harsh you guys, give me your honest opinion about my chances!

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I think you have great odds! Good luck!

Also can you breakdown how you studied for QR, PAT, and Bio maybe?
 
Sure, so my major sources for study materials and then how I studied:

QR - Chad's videos and quizzes, Bootcamp quizzes -- I reviewed all of Chad's videos and took notes on what I was uncertain about and then I just did a lot of practice problems. Honestly, what helped me was having a sister in 9th grade and tutoring kids for a good part of my time in my Master's program. I really did not have to review much about fractions, percentages...you know the things that trip most people up. I have been teaching it to kids for a while so that is what was super helpful. Also, and I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but when I took the DAT, I was able to use the keypad and I didn't have to use the mouse. It made calculations really easy and fast. Are they changing this rule now? I'm not sure but it was a stroke of good luck.

PAT - Bootcamp quizzes, random youtube videos online -- So my technique for this during the actual exam was to skip Keyholes and TFE because I am HORRID at those. I did angle ranking by just looking at the answer choices and eliminating. So I looked at the largest and smallest option and just crossed out which ones didn't work. For hole punching, I used this method: . I practiced it until I could do it reasonably fast. For cube counting, best strategy is to just tally one layer at a time and then answer the questions. Some of the pictures were a bit complicated and you really had to think about the "invisible" cubes. Keyholes, I just scraped by. And TFE what really helped me was drawing out what I thought the shape would look like. Being able to visualize it was helpful for me. And for pattern folding, same thing. I looked at just one shape and found what was wrong with it. If I couldn't immediately find out what was wrong with one answer choice I moved on and eliminated as many as possible.

Bio, GC, OC - Ferrali's Notes, Chad's videos and quizzes, Bootcamp quizzes, Cliffs Bio -- I have a Master's in Bio and I taught Labs, so I was actually hoping to do a lot better on this section. Overall, I thought the science questions were a little opaque. I thought they would be more straightforward as they are in Bootcamp. I was using Destroyer a little bit, but it was discouraging and now I kind of wish I had focused more on that. I felt like their questions were more representative because they were not as easy to decipher the meanings. I felt like the language in the questions was meant to confuse you. Some questions were of course incredibly easy in this section. Do not think too hard about those. I did all the easy ones first and then I went back and answered the harder ones. I did that for pretty much every section really except for RC.

Hope that helps a little.
 
Thanks that helped a lot! I do have another question about bio though...so the questions were worded like Destroyer or just weird and you can't really compare it to anything? I think I know bio decently well, but MANY people have mentioned it being really hard to decipher on the real test which worries me...it would be good to practice with usual wordings beforehand you know?
 
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That is awesome you were able to use the keypad for the online calculator. Hopefully others can chime in about that. Great scores!
 
In my opinion, Destroyer is definitely more complicated than most question banks I have encountered. It is the most representative of what you will see on the test in terms of the really difficult questions in GC and OC. But unfortunately, bio is just out there. Destroyer and Bootcamp are comprehensive enough but the wording on the actual exam is just weird. I'm sorry I can't help more. Maybe someone else will have some better input for that?
 
Well, your undergrad GPA isn't so hot. But you more than make up for it with that 4.0 masters and 22 AA , 24 PAT. You will get in for sure as long as you get some interviews this late in the cycle and do well in them. Otherwise, apply early next cycle and you'll be a shoe-in.
 
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Well, your undergrad GPA isn't so hot. But you more than make up for it with that 4.0 masters and 22 AA , 24 PAT. You will get in for sure as long as you get some interviews this late in the cycle and do well in them. Otherwise, apply early next cycle and you'll be a shoe-in.
Yes, I expect this next week or so will be make or break really. I will update if I hear anything from a school.
 
You will be just fine! Yes the 3.0 isn't "great" but your masters GPA is good and your DAT scores are high enough to make up for the lower undergrad GPA. If you don't get interviews this time around it is because you applied very late. You will definitely be okay for next cycle! Any interviews you get this cycle will be a bonus for you!
 
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Okay, here is my breakdown:
PAT 24
QR 24
RC 25
Bio 23
GC 20
OC 19
TS 21
AA 22

I am not sure how good those will be. I did not do that well in undergrad, had a 3.0 GPA. I finished my Masters in Biology with a 4.0 GPA. I applied this cycle but late because of various circumstances. I have applied to 18 schools and have gotten secondaries back out to everyone. I am just hoping to get interviews now.

Be harsh you guys, give me your honest opinion about my chances!
You couldve gotten a much higher score if you didnt mess up so badly on OC and to a lesser extent GC. You did well on all the tougher sections but the worst in the easiest 2 sections. However 22AA is still very good, though you did have the potential for a 24AA and maybe higher if you studied the chems better.

Itd be easier to tell your chances if you mentioned what your overall GPA would be with the 2 GPAs you posted and if you said what your EC are like. Though if your EC are as solid as your DAT scores and masters GPA then Im confident youll be accepted to one or more schools.
 
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Thanks for the encouragement. And thank you Blake1e for the honesty. I did mess up on Chems and for me they are not the easiest sections at all for me. I am extremely good in RC and QR and I always have been since high school. The SAT, SAT 2, GRE...I've prepped for all and done incredibly well, so those I knew I would do well in both of those sections.

I do have my first interview invite BTW! :)
 
Congrats on your interview. 19 in OC section is not terrible.
 
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cograts!!!! can i ask where you did ur masters....i didnt do great in undergrad and im going to be retaking my DAT soo i need something to help me raise my GPA...whered u get ur interviews?!
Thanks. I'm from NC, so I did my master's at UNC-Greensboro. And I have interviews at both of my state schools, UNC and ECU.
 
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