- Joined
- Dec 1, 2005
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 0
Academic Average 20
Total Science 19
PAT 24
O-Chem 19
Chem 20
Biology 20
Reading Comprehension 22
Quantitative Reasoning 19
Achiever is a waste of money in my opinion, and it definitely is NOT a good gauge of how you will score on the real DAT.
Here's my Achiever scores
TEST 1
AA 16 TS 16 Perceptual ability 17 O-chem 15 Chem 16 Bio 16 Math 16
Reading 18
Test 2
AA 17 TS 16 Perceptual ability 18 O-chem 16 Chem 18 Bio 14
Math 17 Reading 18
Thanks for everyone's input and advice.
Perceptual Ability-- Crack DAT PAT all the way; this is all you need. I did really well, but felt like I could have done even better.
Make sure you are %100 in both hole-punching and cube counting. Hole-punching was very difficult for me at first, but after enough practice it finally clicked and became second nature. Most sections were easier on the real DAT except key-hole and pattern-unfolding. Pattern unfolding was at least as difficult, and I thought the key-hole was considerably more difficult.
Math-- I'm pretty good at math, but I did not study this section as much as I should have. Chad's videos are good for this section. WORK ON TIMING..
Chem-- CHAD's videos are awesome for General Chemistry! I know I'm not the first to say it, but its worth repeating. This section seamed really easy on the real test; not exactly sure how I got 'only' a 20, but I will certainly take it...
Biology-- Not as bad as I was expecting. I have a good background for this section, but I didn't study 'enough' for Bio. I would just suggest the usual-- Cliff's Notes, Kaplan, and IFF you have time-- read Campbell's Biology.
Reading-- I don't know what to suggest for this. I listened to many SDN user's advice and practiced reading with Achiever, but I don't think it helped any, and it was very demoralizing. The real DAT was MUCH easier than Achiever reading... I did well, but I am a pretty good reader and I guess I got lucky on the passages given to me.
O-Chem-- Chad's videos are great here, also. This was my weakest subject starting out, yet I was able to pull off a 19 using Chad's Video's and quizes extensively...
I know my scores aren't as great as most of the poster's on SDN, but I wanted to encourage future test takers who my be worried by some of the rhetoric that gets tossed around. Also, realize that even though it seems like everyone who posts their scores get 20+, its obviously impossible for everyone to be scoring in the 90's percentiles... I guess people who score lower feel embarrassed and choose not to share their real scores. An 18-20 is pretty good, and if you score a 17 or lower, there's a very good chance you will be better prepared for the next test ( 90 days later of course) and score higher.
One final piece of encouragement; work hard, but try not to get over-anxious about your upcoming exam like I did. (Easier said than done-- I know..)
Work hard, keep your head up, and realize that your worth is not tied to the outcome of the test.
Good Luck!
Total Science 19
PAT 24
O-Chem 19
Chem 20
Biology 20
Reading Comprehension 22
Quantitative Reasoning 19
Achiever is a waste of money in my opinion, and it definitely is NOT a good gauge of how you will score on the real DAT.
Here's my Achiever scores
TEST 1
AA 16 TS 16 Perceptual ability 17 O-chem 15 Chem 16 Bio 16 Math 16
Reading 18
Test 2
AA 17 TS 16 Perceptual ability 18 O-chem 16 Chem 18 Bio 14
Math 17 Reading 18
Thanks for everyone's input and advice.
Perceptual Ability-- Crack DAT PAT all the way; this is all you need. I did really well, but felt like I could have done even better.
Make sure you are %100 in both hole-punching and cube counting. Hole-punching was very difficult for me at first, but after enough practice it finally clicked and became second nature. Most sections were easier on the real DAT except key-hole and pattern-unfolding. Pattern unfolding was at least as difficult, and I thought the key-hole was considerably more difficult.
Math-- I'm pretty good at math, but I did not study this section as much as I should have. Chad's videos are good for this section. WORK ON TIMING..
Chem-- CHAD's videos are awesome for General Chemistry! I know I'm not the first to say it, but its worth repeating. This section seamed really easy on the real test; not exactly sure how I got 'only' a 20, but I will certainly take it...
Biology-- Not as bad as I was expecting. I have a good background for this section, but I didn't study 'enough' for Bio. I would just suggest the usual-- Cliff's Notes, Kaplan, and IFF you have time-- read Campbell's Biology.
Reading-- I don't know what to suggest for this. I listened to many SDN user's advice and practiced reading with Achiever, but I don't think it helped any, and it was very demoralizing. The real DAT was MUCH easier than Achiever reading... I did well, but I am a pretty good reader and I guess I got lucky on the passages given to me.
O-Chem-- Chad's videos are great here, also. This was my weakest subject starting out, yet I was able to pull off a 19 using Chad's Video's and quizes extensively...
I know my scores aren't as great as most of the poster's on SDN, but I wanted to encourage future test takers who my be worried by some of the rhetoric that gets tossed around. Also, realize that even though it seems like everyone who posts their scores get 20+, its obviously impossible for everyone to be scoring in the 90's percentiles... I guess people who score lower feel embarrassed and choose not to share their real scores. An 18-20 is pretty good, and if you score a 17 or lower, there's a very good chance you will be better prepared for the next test ( 90 days later of course) and score higher.
One final piece of encouragement; work hard, but try not to get over-anxious about your upcoming exam like I did. (Easier said than done-- I know..)
Work hard, keep your head up, and realize that your worth is not tied to the outcome of the test.
Good Luck!
