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- Feb 4, 2014
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I took my first DAT Thursday night. I absolutely bombed biology, and was pretty much brain dead in RC. Without further due, here are my scores:
PA 20
QR 21
RC 17
Biology 16
GC 23
Organic 22
TS 20
AA 20
(Skip this paragraph if you just want to know my test itself.) Overall, I didn't actually studied that much. I was not a science major in college (econ and math major). I have already graduated, and works at the performing arts, so I have weird hours, no real weekends, and have side jobs to support myself as an starving artist. I knew that I had to take the DAT at some point this summer, so studied a little bit on and off (definitely more off than on) since February. I took a long break from studying because I was so occupied by my performances until early May, at which I wasn't sure if I would be ready to take the DAT yet. Finally, 9 days before my test date, I decided to register for the test, and logistics turned out that the only option was 5/29, which was 9 days away. It was crazy, absolutely DO NOT recommend doing this. So moral of the story -- register your DAT early, folks!
In the short 9 days (actually less), I tried to go through DAT destroyer (did not finish. up to #300 in biology, ~#100 for GC, and #200 for OC), and also did a few tests with DAT Bootcamp for science and reading (did not finish). It had been a while since my science days (4-6 years), so I had a lot of refreshing to do. I did briefly went through Chad's video on the topics I need for OC. Also read through Cliff AP bio, and supplemented it with random Youtube videos on whatever area I didn't do well on DAT destroyer. And I went over my biochem/physiology notes from college days. For PAT, I mostly used Crack the DAT. DAT Bootcamp for RC. I didn't spend any time reviewing gen chem /math/RC because my study time was extremely limited. Again, I don't recommend doing this, folks!
OK, now comes the real breakdown:
Biology: It was hard. Harder than DAT Destroyer. I had always done well in genetics section, but there were a few problems on the test that was like "huh?" Topics are quite random, but barely any physiology. I spent 70% of my time studying bio, yet I did the worst in it. Sigh.
GC: Way easier than DAT Destroyer. Don't have much advice for studying GC. Just know the equations well, understand the few main concepts and you should be all set.
OC: Chad's video helped a lot. Also study the mechanisms helps if you don't memorize stuff well. I memorized as least amount of facts as possible, and relied on mechanisms to find out my answers. Use unit analysis as a last resort tool.
PAT: Crack the DAT. Also helps if you physically make some of the shapes and figuring out relationships between sides for TFE.
RC: Can't offer much advice in them. English was my second language, wasn't a science major, and didn't do much science research. Most of my questions were S&D friendly, though my brain was dead when I was at my 3rd passage, and I kept reading the same line. Used a mix of "Question road map" strategy and "S&D" (mostly when I ran out of time).
QR: As I said before, I didn't review this at all. Knowing my test now, I probably would have done some reviewing on unit conversions and trigs.
Additional tips: Felt the DAT official practice tests were a bit easier than my real DAT exam, and my scores from the practice tests let my guards down a bit. Argh!
So yeah. That's my summary. Still trying to decide if I want to take DAT again. Good luck guys!
PA 20
QR 21
RC 17
Biology 16
GC 23
Organic 22
TS 20
AA 20
(Skip this paragraph if you just want to know my test itself.) Overall, I didn't actually studied that much. I was not a science major in college (econ and math major). I have already graduated, and works at the performing arts, so I have weird hours, no real weekends, and have side jobs to support myself as an starving artist. I knew that I had to take the DAT at some point this summer, so studied a little bit on and off (definitely more off than on) since February. I took a long break from studying because I was so occupied by my performances until early May, at which I wasn't sure if I would be ready to take the DAT yet. Finally, 9 days before my test date, I decided to register for the test, and logistics turned out that the only option was 5/29, which was 9 days away. It was crazy, absolutely DO NOT recommend doing this. So moral of the story -- register your DAT early, folks!
In the short 9 days (actually less), I tried to go through DAT destroyer (did not finish. up to #300 in biology, ~#100 for GC, and #200 for OC), and also did a few tests with DAT Bootcamp for science and reading (did not finish). It had been a while since my science days (4-6 years), so I had a lot of refreshing to do. I did briefly went through Chad's video on the topics I need for OC. Also read through Cliff AP bio, and supplemented it with random Youtube videos on whatever area I didn't do well on DAT destroyer. And I went over my biochem/physiology notes from college days. For PAT, I mostly used Crack the DAT. DAT Bootcamp for RC. I didn't spend any time reviewing gen chem /math/RC because my study time was extremely limited. Again, I don't recommend doing this, folks!
OK, now comes the real breakdown:
Biology: It was hard. Harder than DAT Destroyer. I had always done well in genetics section, but there were a few problems on the test that was like "huh?" Topics are quite random, but barely any physiology. I spent 70% of my time studying bio, yet I did the worst in it. Sigh.
GC: Way easier than DAT Destroyer. Don't have much advice for studying GC. Just know the equations well, understand the few main concepts and you should be all set.
OC: Chad's video helped a lot. Also study the mechanisms helps if you don't memorize stuff well. I memorized as least amount of facts as possible, and relied on mechanisms to find out my answers. Use unit analysis as a last resort tool.
PAT: Crack the DAT. Also helps if you physically make some of the shapes and figuring out relationships between sides for TFE.
RC: Can't offer much advice in them. English was my second language, wasn't a science major, and didn't do much science research. Most of my questions were S&D friendly, though my brain was dead when I was at my 3rd passage, and I kept reading the same line. Used a mix of "Question road map" strategy and "S&D" (mostly when I ran out of time).
QR: As I said before, I didn't review this at all. Knowing my test now, I probably would have done some reviewing on unit conversions and trigs.
Additional tips: Felt the DAT official practice tests were a bit easier than my real DAT exam, and my scores from the practice tests let my guards down a bit. Argh!
So yeah. That's my summary. Still trying to decide if I want to take DAT again. Good luck guys!
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