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Took my DAT a few days ago. SDN was a great source that allowed me to pick the best study materials, as I looked at breakdowns of people who did well, and used the same stuff they used so I figure I would leave behind what I learned to maybe help others, as I know I was paranoid through most of my studying time. I am applying this coming cycle I am a Human Bio major, with an oGPA of 3.45 and science GPA of 3.4 To me, the test reflects how hard you work. If you put in the time, you will do well. I spent a lot of my time searching SDN trying to compare my practice test scores to other people, trying to gauge how well I would do. In the end, no practice test, nor what anyone else did will give you a definite answer about what you will get on your test, that was my problem. I wanted to know what I would get before walking in the test, and that energy wasted could have been used on more important things and I may have done a little better in a few subjects. Also, do not be scared of practice test scores. I would let a practice test score ruin my day, it would get under my skin and I would be mad all day long because of a bad score. Just keep pushing, learn from the mistakes and don't worry about the number. I studied for the DAT for one full semester, and after final exams I had about 2.5 weeks of only DAT studying. I worked as well, and did research, but I made sure to take a light schedule this semester to leave me good time to study each day for the DAT.
Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 20
RC: 23
BIO: 21
GC: 23
OC: 25
TS: 23
AA: 22
Bio: This section was one that I studied a lot for, and I think a lot of people say that it is pointless to put a lot of time in to. I kind of agree, in reference to those 2-3 questions that are random. I didn't know the first question on the real test, which really sucked but I guessed and kept on going. Overall I would study hard for this section, put more time into GC/OC, but still don't neglect this section. I used Cliffs, which provided a good base. I then used Alan's notes, DAT bootcamp, DATQvault, and DAT destroyer. All of these sources for me where equally valuable, but one that was a must have would have to be Bootcamp.
GC: Chads is all I used, reviewed all the notes I took, and took DAT Bootcamp tests over and over again. I also used DAT destroyer as well, which was awesome and prepares you very well, but the questions are very tough. The long calculations were a bit over the top, and about a week before the test I went through the concept questions and skipped the long math problems.
OC: I used the same sources as I used for GC. I felt that DAT destroyer was the most helpful for this particular section. I went through the OC section of Destroyer 3 times. DAT bootcamp provided good practice as well.
PAT: Bootcamp. I practiced this really hard the last week of studying, and I practiced it here and there in my study time when I was tired of studying science. Bootcamp was the only thing I used, and I wish I would have practiced it more, because I felt I could have knocked it out of the park with a little more practice with bootcamp.
RC: As most others have said, I did not really study this at all. I did the first 3 tests for DAT bootcamp, found what worked for me and then left it alone. For me, I read the first question and then read the article until I found the answer. By the time I got through the first 5 I had read all of the article. I would then search and destroy from there, because after reading the whole article I could kind of remember where certain things where in the article.
QR: My least favorite subject. I was very happy to get a 20, but considering how much I studied for this section I hoped for better. Math destroyer was perfect, a little harder than the real thing, but definitely necessary. I did the first 7 tests, and I just did them over and over until I would only miss 1 or 2 questions when I timed myself. I never did very well on DAT bootcamp tests. These where very tough for me, but allowed me to really learn how to skip what I didn't know and try my best to get correct what I did know.
Overall the test was very doable as many have said. It is crucial to have the correct mindset, the correct strategy, and to not freak out if you don't know a question. I can't stress enough to not let practice test scores get you down. I think I did well because I constantly took practice tests over and over. The more questions you expose yourself to, the more questions you know. The only test that I have the actual scores that I took for the first time was the 2009 DAT everything else I can't really remember because I took them so many times.
2009: Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR
22/21/22/20/20/17
In my opinion, the 2009 was a pretty good indicator, I took it 2 weeks before my test and from there I focused on my weak points. As you can see though I did better on the real thing. I don't think it was because the real thing was easier, in my honest opinion I think they were pretty equal in difficulty level. Throughout my DAT process I was very worried about which resource was easier which was harder, if I could go back and change one thing I would have focused more on learning from each question instead of worrying if it was harder or easier. A good friend of mine told me when I was mad about doing bad on a practice test, "every question you don't know on the practice test, is one more you will know when you take the real thing."
Shout out to Ari and DAT Bootcamp, Dr. Romano and DAT destroyer, Chad for his awesome videos, and SDN for pointing me in the right direction in choosing the best study materials. Best of luck to all of those taking the DAT soon! Hard work pays off!!
Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 20
RC: 23
BIO: 21
GC: 23
OC: 25
TS: 23
AA: 22
Bio: This section was one that I studied a lot for, and I think a lot of people say that it is pointless to put a lot of time in to. I kind of agree, in reference to those 2-3 questions that are random. I didn't know the first question on the real test, which really sucked but I guessed and kept on going. Overall I would study hard for this section, put more time into GC/OC, but still don't neglect this section. I used Cliffs, which provided a good base. I then used Alan's notes, DAT bootcamp, DATQvault, and DAT destroyer. All of these sources for me where equally valuable, but one that was a must have would have to be Bootcamp.
GC: Chads is all I used, reviewed all the notes I took, and took DAT Bootcamp tests over and over again. I also used DAT destroyer as well, which was awesome and prepares you very well, but the questions are very tough. The long calculations were a bit over the top, and about a week before the test I went through the concept questions and skipped the long math problems.
OC: I used the same sources as I used for GC. I felt that DAT destroyer was the most helpful for this particular section. I went through the OC section of Destroyer 3 times. DAT bootcamp provided good practice as well.
PAT: Bootcamp. I practiced this really hard the last week of studying, and I practiced it here and there in my study time when I was tired of studying science. Bootcamp was the only thing I used, and I wish I would have practiced it more, because I felt I could have knocked it out of the park with a little more practice with bootcamp.
RC: As most others have said, I did not really study this at all. I did the first 3 tests for DAT bootcamp, found what worked for me and then left it alone. For me, I read the first question and then read the article until I found the answer. By the time I got through the first 5 I had read all of the article. I would then search and destroy from there, because after reading the whole article I could kind of remember where certain things where in the article.
QR: My least favorite subject. I was very happy to get a 20, but considering how much I studied for this section I hoped for better. Math destroyer was perfect, a little harder than the real thing, but definitely necessary. I did the first 7 tests, and I just did them over and over until I would only miss 1 or 2 questions when I timed myself. I never did very well on DAT bootcamp tests. These where very tough for me, but allowed me to really learn how to skip what I didn't know and try my best to get correct what I did know.
Overall the test was very doable as many have said. It is crucial to have the correct mindset, the correct strategy, and to not freak out if you don't know a question. I can't stress enough to not let practice test scores get you down. I think I did well because I constantly took practice tests over and over. The more questions you expose yourself to, the more questions you know. The only test that I have the actual scores that I took for the first time was the 2009 DAT everything else I can't really remember because I took them so many times.
2009: Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR
22/21/22/20/20/17
In my opinion, the 2009 was a pretty good indicator, I took it 2 weeks before my test and from there I focused on my weak points. As you can see though I did better on the real thing. I don't think it was because the real thing was easier, in my honest opinion I think they were pretty equal in difficulty level. Throughout my DAT process I was very worried about which resource was easier which was harder, if I could go back and change one thing I would have focused more on learning from each question instead of worrying if it was harder or easier. A good friend of mine told me when I was mad about doing bad on a practice test, "every question you don't know on the practice test, is one more you will know when you take the real thing."
Shout out to Ari and DAT Bootcamp, Dr. Romano and DAT destroyer, Chad for his awesome videos, and SDN for pointing me in the right direction in choosing the best study materials. Best of luck to all of those taking the DAT soon! Hard work pays off!!
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