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- May 10, 2014
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Thanks for everyone who shared their DAT experience on this forum;
After about 4-month study, I finally took the DAT yesterday, here are my scores.
PAT: 27
QR: 24
RC: 20
Bio: 22
GC: 27
OC: 24
TS: 24
AA: 23
Here are the materials I used and all the scores for the material:
Materials Used for Review:
1. Chad's Videos (10/10)
2. Feralis' Notes (9.5/10)
3. Cliffs AP Bio (9/10)
Materials Used for Practice:
1. DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
2. DAT Qvault (10/10)
3. DAT Destroyer (9/10)
4. Math Destroyer (10/10)
5. DAT Achiever (7/10)
6. Topscore (7/10)
7. Crack DAT (7/10)
Practice Test Scores for DAT Qvault
Bio: 27/23/22/27/22/23/29/25/25/25
GC: 21/21/22/22/20/21/19/20/21/20
OC: 22/19/26/21/20/22/21/29/20/20
PAT: 21/21/21/21/21/22/21/21/24/21
RC: 19/20/18/18/18/18/20
Practice Test Scores for DAT Bootcamp
Bio: 23/22/26/23/23
GC: 30/24/24/22/22
OC: 22/20/21/20/23
PAT: 23/23/24/21/22
RC: 16/16/19/23/20
QR: 23/21/23/21/21
Practice Test Scores for Topscore
Bio: 18/21/17
GC: 19/23/23
OC: 19/28/23
PAT: 23/24/23
RC: 20/21/20
QR: 23/22/22
Practice Test Scores for Achiever
Bio: 20/19/18/17/17/17/18
GC: 19/19/20/21/18/18/18
OC: 20/21/21/15/16/17/18
PAT: 21/21/21/19/21/20/22
RC: 13/17/15/16/17/22/17
QR: 30/22/23/20/22/21/22
Practice Test Scores for 2007 & 2009 sample test
Bio: 24/24
GC: 28/24
OC: 30/24
PAT: 25/25
RC: --/18
QR: 25/19
Crack DAT
Pat: 21/22/20/21/25/25/23/22/23/23
RC: 15/14/14/15/18/15/17/19/21/20
Bio 22
I have a PhD in Cancer Biology, but I found it did not benefit a lot, probably because most of my research is focused on very little things rather then the big pictures. I reviewed this section using a mixture of Cliff's, and Feralis'. Feralis' notes have everything you could need. As people in this forum mentioned before, it was a little too detailed. I made my own set of notes base on those and I think just taking the notes is very helpful for memorizing things, also putting in your own words is much better than just reading someone else's work over and over.
I started by using DAT Destroyer. I would suggest doing this after your review to solidify your knowledge, I went through the Destroyer three times, and read the explanation for answers very carefully. I then went into QVault, Bootcamp et al. to refine everything. I actually leave Bootcamp to the end as my last practice because people in this forum said that are the best representation for the actual exam.
After taking the real DAT today, I found it is difficult to say which material is the best representation for real DAT, even the 2009 practice. Because I got a lot of random questions in the real test, there were about 3 evolution questions and 1 picture questions that I have no clue. Therefore my suggestion is do as many questions as possible and make sure you know the details.
GC 27
Chad's Videos and DAT Destroyer are certainly sufficient for this section. During practice, I found this is my weakest part among the science section. I missed about the half question the first time I went through the Destroyer, which down to about 10% the second time. I could not finished this section on time in Achiever. In the real exam, the question is very simple and straightforward, no heavy calculations as those questions in Destroyer and Achiever. I think the Qvault and DAT Bootcamp is quite similar to the real exam.
OC 24
Again, Chad's Videos and DAT Destroyer are sufficient for this section. Similar to GC, I missed about the half questions the first time I went through the Destroyer, which down to about 10% the second time. Make sure you remember the roadmaps and reaction involved nitrogen. In the real exam, I did get a few random questions, but overall it is OK. Destroyer and Achiever are overkill, but sometimes you need these extra preparation. Again, the Qvault and DAT Bootcamp is quite similar to the real exam.
PAT 27
I always love PAT; I found this section very interesting to do. I think the key for this section is practice, I started with Crack DAT, I think their difficulty is about the same to real DAT. The Angles in Topscore and Qvault are too easy. The Key hole and top front end in DAT Bootcamp and Achiever are more difficult than real DAT.
I actually want to share a method I used for the cube counting section. I learned this method from my friend who got 30 in PAT. I initially used traditional cube counting method (as you can find on youtube), but I found under pressure, I constantly getting two to three wrong answers every time I am doing practice. But after using this new method, I never get any wrong answers.
The method is very simple: for example, if you imaging you have 4 cube at bottom and 2 cubes on the top: I would write down this as:
4 4
4 2 2 4
The middle bottom two cubes have two faces exposed and rest of cubes have four faces exposed.Using this method, you are making a “roadmap for cubes”. You would have the location of the cubes as well as how many faces are exposed, then you go to make sure the number of cube you counted (6) is the same to the total number of cubes (6). After this, if you want, you can proofread again, because you have the location for each cube you can correct any cubes that u counted wrong the first time, after this I would finally make a table as how many cube have 2 (2) or 4 (4) faces exposed, the make sure the sum of cubes (4+2) equals to the number of all cubes (6). Then you are ready to answer the questions.
At beginning, I was not very comfortable with this method because the “roadmap” some time confusing, but after more practices, I found it is really a great method to use for this section.
RC 20
You will know from my practice scores that I am very bad at reading, part because English is my second language. Even with my first language, I suck at reading, because I am a very very very slow reader. I was freaked out the first time I tried Crack DAT reading, I got a 15, and I actually thought I would retake the DAT because of this section, I did not like Crack DAT reading because too many passages are non-scientific and there are also some types of questions you will never get in the real test. The questions on Topscore and Quavlt are too simple and the passages on Quavlt are extremely long. For Achiever, the passages and questions are too difficult, Bootcamp is good representation but it is still harder than the real test.
To prepare for this section, I searched this forum and gather all the topics about the passages that people previous encountered. Then I went to find some articles about those topics on Internet and read those if I got time.
For the method, I initially tried S&D, which did not work for me, I changed my strategy to 10 min & 10min, which is 10min reading the passage and 10min answer the questions. Which works fairly well for me. In my real exam, I got three passages, which appear not to be any topics I read before, one is about medical Screening, one is about Gecko’s foot and last one is about drug addiction. To my surprise, the passages are fairly short about 10-12 paragraphs long. The first 10 questions for each passage are always in order. I just answered questions while reading the passage. I was able to finish three passages with a few minutes spare, which never happened to me when I was doing the practices.
I think even through the topics I read did not appear in my test, they did boost my reading speed. Also I think it maybe worth to read some topics that previous appeared in other’s test just in case it appeared in your exam if you are super lucky, and if you are bad at reading like me.
QR 24
Not much to say about this section, I finished the math destroyer first, and redo all the questions I did wrong the first time. I think the real test is easier then any of the practices I did before, I could not finished the math sections in Achiever, Bootcamp, and 2009 practice test on time, but I finished the math section in real test with 10 mins spare.
That's all I can think of right now. I am so happy that I finally make all sections above 20.
Good luck guys, feel free to ask me any questions, I wish you all the best!!!
After about 4-month study, I finally took the DAT yesterday, here are my scores.
PAT: 27
QR: 24
RC: 20
Bio: 22
GC: 27
OC: 24
TS: 24
AA: 23
Here are the materials I used and all the scores for the material:
Materials Used for Review:
1. Chad's Videos (10/10)
2. Feralis' Notes (9.5/10)
3. Cliffs AP Bio (9/10)
Materials Used for Practice:
1. DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
2. DAT Qvault (10/10)
3. DAT Destroyer (9/10)
4. Math Destroyer (10/10)
5. DAT Achiever (7/10)
6. Topscore (7/10)
7. Crack DAT (7/10)
Practice Test Scores for DAT Qvault
Bio: 27/23/22/27/22/23/29/25/25/25
GC: 21/21/22/22/20/21/19/20/21/20
OC: 22/19/26/21/20/22/21/29/20/20
PAT: 21/21/21/21/21/22/21/21/24/21
RC: 19/20/18/18/18/18/20
Practice Test Scores for DAT Bootcamp
Bio: 23/22/26/23/23
GC: 30/24/24/22/22
OC: 22/20/21/20/23
PAT: 23/23/24/21/22
RC: 16/16/19/23/20
QR: 23/21/23/21/21
Practice Test Scores for Topscore
Bio: 18/21/17
GC: 19/23/23
OC: 19/28/23
PAT: 23/24/23
RC: 20/21/20
QR: 23/22/22
Practice Test Scores for Achiever
Bio: 20/19/18/17/17/17/18
GC: 19/19/20/21/18/18/18
OC: 20/21/21/15/16/17/18
PAT: 21/21/21/19/21/20/22
RC: 13/17/15/16/17/22/17
QR: 30/22/23/20/22/21/22
Practice Test Scores for 2007 & 2009 sample test
Bio: 24/24
GC: 28/24
OC: 30/24
PAT: 25/25
RC: --/18
QR: 25/19
Crack DAT
Pat: 21/22/20/21/25/25/23/22/23/23
RC: 15/14/14/15/18/15/17/19/21/20
Bio 22
I have a PhD in Cancer Biology, but I found it did not benefit a lot, probably because most of my research is focused on very little things rather then the big pictures. I reviewed this section using a mixture of Cliff's, and Feralis'. Feralis' notes have everything you could need. As people in this forum mentioned before, it was a little too detailed. I made my own set of notes base on those and I think just taking the notes is very helpful for memorizing things, also putting in your own words is much better than just reading someone else's work over and over.
I started by using DAT Destroyer. I would suggest doing this after your review to solidify your knowledge, I went through the Destroyer three times, and read the explanation for answers very carefully. I then went into QVault, Bootcamp et al. to refine everything. I actually leave Bootcamp to the end as my last practice because people in this forum said that are the best representation for the actual exam.
After taking the real DAT today, I found it is difficult to say which material is the best representation for real DAT, even the 2009 practice. Because I got a lot of random questions in the real test, there were about 3 evolution questions and 1 picture questions that I have no clue. Therefore my suggestion is do as many questions as possible and make sure you know the details.
GC 27
Chad's Videos and DAT Destroyer are certainly sufficient for this section. During practice, I found this is my weakest part among the science section. I missed about the half question the first time I went through the Destroyer, which down to about 10% the second time. I could not finished this section on time in Achiever. In the real exam, the question is very simple and straightforward, no heavy calculations as those questions in Destroyer and Achiever. I think the Qvault and DAT Bootcamp is quite similar to the real exam.
OC 24
Again, Chad's Videos and DAT Destroyer are sufficient for this section. Similar to GC, I missed about the half questions the first time I went through the Destroyer, which down to about 10% the second time. Make sure you remember the roadmaps and reaction involved nitrogen. In the real exam, I did get a few random questions, but overall it is OK. Destroyer and Achiever are overkill, but sometimes you need these extra preparation. Again, the Qvault and DAT Bootcamp is quite similar to the real exam.
PAT 27
I always love PAT; I found this section very interesting to do. I think the key for this section is practice, I started with Crack DAT, I think their difficulty is about the same to real DAT. The Angles in Topscore and Qvault are too easy. The Key hole and top front end in DAT Bootcamp and Achiever are more difficult than real DAT.
I actually want to share a method I used for the cube counting section. I learned this method from my friend who got 30 in PAT. I initially used traditional cube counting method (as you can find on youtube), but I found under pressure, I constantly getting two to three wrong answers every time I am doing practice. But after using this new method, I never get any wrong answers.
The method is very simple: for example, if you imaging you have 4 cube at bottom and 2 cubes on the top: I would write down this as:
4 4
4 2 2 4
The middle bottom two cubes have two faces exposed and rest of cubes have four faces exposed.Using this method, you are making a “roadmap for cubes”. You would have the location of the cubes as well as how many faces are exposed, then you go to make sure the number of cube you counted (6) is the same to the total number of cubes (6). After this, if you want, you can proofread again, because you have the location for each cube you can correct any cubes that u counted wrong the first time, after this I would finally make a table as how many cube have 2 (2) or 4 (4) faces exposed, the make sure the sum of cubes (4+2) equals to the number of all cubes (6). Then you are ready to answer the questions.
At beginning, I was not very comfortable with this method because the “roadmap” some time confusing, but after more practices, I found it is really a great method to use for this section.
RC 20
You will know from my practice scores that I am very bad at reading, part because English is my second language. Even with my first language, I suck at reading, because I am a very very very slow reader. I was freaked out the first time I tried Crack DAT reading, I got a 15, and I actually thought I would retake the DAT because of this section, I did not like Crack DAT reading because too many passages are non-scientific and there are also some types of questions you will never get in the real test. The questions on Topscore and Quavlt are too simple and the passages on Quavlt are extremely long. For Achiever, the passages and questions are too difficult, Bootcamp is good representation but it is still harder than the real test.
To prepare for this section, I searched this forum and gather all the topics about the passages that people previous encountered. Then I went to find some articles about those topics on Internet and read those if I got time.
For the method, I initially tried S&D, which did not work for me, I changed my strategy to 10 min & 10min, which is 10min reading the passage and 10min answer the questions. Which works fairly well for me. In my real exam, I got three passages, which appear not to be any topics I read before, one is about medical Screening, one is about Gecko’s foot and last one is about drug addiction. To my surprise, the passages are fairly short about 10-12 paragraphs long. The first 10 questions for each passage are always in order. I just answered questions while reading the passage. I was able to finish three passages with a few minutes spare, which never happened to me when I was doing the practices.
I think even through the topics I read did not appear in my test, they did boost my reading speed. Also I think it maybe worth to read some topics that previous appeared in other’s test just in case it appeared in your exam if you are super lucky, and if you are bad at reading like me.
QR 24
Not much to say about this section, I finished the math destroyer first, and redo all the questions I did wrong the first time. I think the real test is easier then any of the practices I did before, I could not finished the math sections in Achiever, Bootcamp, and 2009 practice test on time, but I finished the math section in real test with 10 mins spare.
That's all I can think of right now. I am so happy that I finally make all sections above 20.
Good luck guys, feel free to ask me any questions, I wish you all the best!!!
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