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It's finally over 
. I would like to thank everyone that helped during the study process and the countless DAT Breakdowns I've been reading over these past few weeks. The moral of the story is... don't slack off. I made an unrealistic goal for myself each day and found myself a week behind. But nevertheless, lets get to the breakdown...
Score:
PAT 23, QR 21, RC 19, BIO 21, CHEM 20, ORGO 22, TS 21, AA 21
Lets start off by saying I slacked off a lot during the first month of my studies. I started May 18th when my finals ended and originally planned for 7/6/2015 to take my test but about a week before my exam I knew I wouldn't finish in time.
The day before my exam: I originally planned out to just do light review but ended up studying from 7am to 12pm with a 3 hour break. In other words, I was cramming. When I saw @virtualmaster999 s thread on what he did to prepare, I knew I was nowhere close to how committed to how much he practiced. After taking my full length 5 from Kaplan and scoring a 19, I panicked and was going to reschedule.... but realized how broke I was and how the only next available date would've been August 9th and didn't want to postpone my exam any longer.
What I should have done differently: I wish totally wish I didn't spend the first month using the Kaplan review book. I used the course because my girlfriend bought me it as a Christmas gift, to which she used to get a 23 (that was her only resource). After reading more and more breakdowns I realized Kaplan was not comprehensive enough. It's not comprehensive enough and is quite outdated the workshops were from 2007... I switched to destroyer and only started it 2 weeks before my exam. I kept all my notes for every section in a 3 subject notebook which I wish I should've made notecards for... If I were to retake the exam, I would have gone over destroyer 2 more times; I only had enough time to go over it ONCE and 8/15 Math Destroyer exams.
Materials used:
Cliff's AP Bio: 6/10 This was okay for me... I felt the material wasn't as great, it didn't have as much explanation as I wanted.
Chad's Videos/Quizzes: 10/10 Very much worth your time and money. I suggest going over it at least twice.
Kaplan Course: 8/10 The full length exams were very nice but I didn't utilize it to the fullest.
Kaplan 2015 Review Book: 5/10 The book was nice but I didn't really utilize it to the fullest.
DAT Destroyer: 11/10 I should have gone over it a few more times... but it was definitely worth it.
Math Destroyer: 10/10
DAT Bootcamp: 10/10 I only went through the sciences
Ferali's Notes: Unrated I didn't read all 80 some pages, it was way too dense for me and I figured I would be better off making my own notes.
I didn't get to use the 2007 and 2009 DAT like I planned, nor did I get to use the American Chemical Society Orgo booklet.
Practice Scores:
Bio: 21
The section was very straight forward but quite detailed given that some of the answer choices had 2 possibilities with slight variation. The questions I saw VERY much like what I encountered on Destroyer and Bootcamp. I actually saw 5-6 questions that were worded exactly from destroyer (too bad the answers weren't) I had a little bit of every topic that was covered in destroyer. I was hoping they would cover A&P a little more (I'm a kinesiology major and pretty much all my classes are applied physiology) I probably got like 3-4 questions on anything pertaining to A&P. I wish I had time to go over Destroyer 2 more times and maybe read all of Ferali's notes. I wish I made flash cards for this section because there was just so much material for one section...
Chem: 20
I thought I was going to score the highest on this section due to my practice scores but mannnnn it was difficult. There was some stuff on there I've never seen on Destroyer, Bootcamp, or Chad's. I didn't have as many conceptual questions as I expected. There's not much left to say about this section... I wish I went over destroyer 2 more times and rewatched all of Chad's videos a few days before my exam but again, I ran out of time.
Orgo: 22
Very straight forward, I think I missed some of the conceptual questions and maybe one reaction. The DAT Destroyer orgo roadmaps are CRUCIAL I don't think I saw a reaction that wasn't covered on the roadmaps. I made a stack of notecards for each reaction and went through them a few times a day. I wish I went over it at least 2 more times to understand the concepts as well as gone over the ACS booklet.... and my old orgo exams I kept...
PAT: 23
I didn't practice this section was much as I should have, especially angle ranking... The Keyholes and TFE were very easy, I took an engineering drafting class in high school where I got certified in AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor; we had to create TFE images and 3D images using the program. Angle ranking was quite difficult and but I think DAT Bootcamp's generators would've been the most representative given that some of the angles were different by like 2-8 degrees MAX. Cube counting: easy. I don't suggest the tally method given that I only had about 2-3 questions per shape, instead, I just counted in my head starting from the bottom layer. One thing to note on this, which I didn't know before was that you can't assume cubes are behind another shape even if the shape looks symmetrical, cubes may only be present if it has structural purpose, which blew my mind.. Hole punching was easy except one which kinda tripped me up because I usually score 100% on this using the grids on my scratch paper. Pattern folding was fairly easy except one shape. I'm pretty sure I missed the majority of my points in angle ranking.
RC: 19
First off. I NEVER. EVER. finished a reading comp practice test in time, and if I did, it was because I guessed. I'm probably the slowest reader you'll find... When people say "oh, just read the passage in 8 minutes..." Please. It takes me 20 minutes to read the section because whenever I read I can't help but to pay attention to detail and try to paint a picture in my head so it all makes sense conceptually. I tried mapping using my practice questions but it never really helped. During my Kaplan full lengths, I would use S&D but I was still pretty slow at it, but most of them would be right. I was absolutely dreading this section and figured my adrenaline would kick in and turn on my laser vision. (First passage: 15 paragraphs) (second passage: 21 paragraphs) (Third passage: 17 paragraphs). When I first saw how many paragraphs were in every section I knew I had to dump my original plan of skimming and mapping each section and went straight for S&D. I actually finished this section with 4 minutes left over and was very surprised. I wish I actually followed my plan of reading a section of scientific american a day but that only lasted a week lol... Overall, I'm quite happy with a 19.
QR: 21
I didn't study for QR as much as I should have, I've taken Cal 1, 2, 3, differentials, and engineering math in the past so I didn't spend too much time studying this section, hence the 8/15 complete math destroyers. I was wrong. I had some pretty weird trig questions, which I'm sure if I completed the destroyer I would known how to do them. I usually never finish QR on time in my practice exams but I actually had 6 minutes left over to check a few questions. I think math destroyer and QR in the DAT Destroyer would've helped if I put in the time. On the bright side, my keypad worked which was awesome. I went into the exam 5 minutes early during my 15 minute break and wrote out the entire unit circle which saved a lot of time trying to work it out in your head.
Overall: I'm fairly content with my scores. I was hoping to beat my girlfriend (who got a 23) but I can't complain. Hopefully these scores with a 3.68 cGPA and 3.6 sGPA are competitive enough to get me in this cycle!
Good luck and thank you everybody!
. I would like to thank everyone that helped during the study process and the countless DAT Breakdowns I've been reading over these past few weeks. The moral of the story is... don't slack off. I made an unrealistic goal for myself each day and found myself a week behind. But nevertheless, lets get to the breakdown...Score:
PAT 23, QR 21, RC 19, BIO 21, CHEM 20, ORGO 22, TS 21, AA 21
Lets start off by saying I slacked off a lot during the first month of my studies. I started May 18th when my finals ended and originally planned for 7/6/2015 to take my test but about a week before my exam I knew I wouldn't finish in time.
The day before my exam: I originally planned out to just do light review but ended up studying from 7am to 12pm with a 3 hour break. In other words, I was cramming. When I saw @virtualmaster999 s thread on what he did to prepare, I knew I was nowhere close to how committed to how much he practiced. After taking my full length 5 from Kaplan and scoring a 19, I panicked and was going to reschedule.... but realized how broke I was
and how the only next available date would've been August 9th and didn't want to postpone my exam any longer.What I should have done differently: I wish totally wish I didn't spend the first month using the Kaplan review book. I used the course because my girlfriend bought me it as a Christmas gift, to which she used to get a 23 (that was her only resource). After reading more and more breakdowns I realized Kaplan was not comprehensive enough. It's not comprehensive enough and is quite outdated the workshops were from 2007... I switched to destroyer and only started it 2 weeks before my exam. I kept all my notes for every section in a 3 subject notebook which I wish I should've made notecards for... If I were to retake the exam, I would have gone over destroyer 2 more times; I only had enough time to go over it ONCE and 8/15 Math Destroyer exams.
Materials used:
Cliff's AP Bio: 6/10 This was okay for me... I felt the material wasn't as great, it didn't have as much explanation as I wanted.
Chad's Videos/Quizzes: 10/10 Very much worth your time and money. I suggest going over it at least twice.
Kaplan Course: 8/10 The full length exams were very nice but I didn't utilize it to the fullest.
Kaplan 2015 Review Book: 5/10 The book was nice but I didn't really utilize it to the fullest.
DAT Destroyer: 11/10 I should have gone over it a few more times... but it was definitely worth it.
Math Destroyer: 10/10
DAT Bootcamp: 10/10 I only went through the sciences
Ferali's Notes: Unrated I didn't read all 80 some pages, it was way too dense for me and I figured I would be better off making my own notes.
I didn't get to use the 2007 and 2009 DAT like I planned, nor did I get to use the American Chemical Society Orgo booklet.
Practice Scores:
Bio: 21
The section was very straight forward but quite detailed given that some of the answer choices had 2 possibilities with slight variation. The questions I saw VERY much like what I encountered on Destroyer and Bootcamp. I actually saw 5-6 questions that were worded exactly from destroyer (too bad the answers weren't
) I had a little bit of every topic that was covered in destroyer. I was hoping they would cover A&P a little more (I'm a kinesiology major and pretty much all my classes are applied physiology) I probably got like 3-4 questions on anything pertaining to A&P. I wish I had time to go over Destroyer 2 more times and maybe read all of Ferali's notes. I wish I made flash cards for this section because there was just so much material for one section...Chem: 20
I thought I was going to score the highest on this section due to my practice scores but mannnnn it was difficult. There was some stuff on there I've never seen on Destroyer, Bootcamp, or Chad's. I didn't have as many conceptual questions as I expected. There's not much left to say about this section... I wish I went over destroyer 2 more times and rewatched all of Chad's videos a few days before my exam but again, I ran out of time.
Orgo: 22
Very straight forward, I think I missed some of the conceptual questions and maybe one reaction. The DAT Destroyer orgo roadmaps are CRUCIAL I don't think I saw a reaction that wasn't covered on the roadmaps. I made a stack of notecards for each reaction and went through them a few times a day. I wish I went over it at least 2 more times to understand the concepts as well as gone over the ACS booklet.... and my old orgo exams I kept...
PAT: 23
I didn't practice this section was much as I should have, especially angle ranking... The Keyholes and TFE were very easy, I took an engineering drafting class in high school where I got certified in AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor; we had to create TFE images and 3D images using the program. Angle ranking was quite difficult and but I think DAT Bootcamp's generators would've been the most representative given that some of the angles were different by like 2-8 degrees MAX. Cube counting: easy. I don't suggest the tally method given that I only had about 2-3 questions per shape, instead, I just counted in my head starting from the bottom layer. One thing to note on this, which I didn't know before was that you can't assume cubes are behind another shape even if the shape looks symmetrical, cubes may only be present if it has structural purpose, which blew my mind.. Hole punching was easy except one which kinda tripped me up because I usually score 100% on this using the grids on my scratch paper. Pattern folding was fairly easy except one shape. I'm pretty sure I missed the majority of my points in angle ranking.
RC: 19
First off. I NEVER. EVER. finished a reading comp practice test in time, and if I did, it was because I guessed. I'm probably the slowest reader you'll find... When people say "oh, just read the passage in 8 minutes..." Please. It takes me 20 minutes to read the section because whenever I read I can't help but to pay attention to detail and try to paint a picture in my head so it all makes sense conceptually. I tried mapping using my practice questions but it never really helped. During my Kaplan full lengths, I would use S&D but I was still pretty slow at it, but most of them would be right. I was absolutely dreading this section and figured my adrenaline would kick in and turn on my laser vision. (First passage: 15 paragraphs) (second passage: 21 paragraphs) (Third passage: 17 paragraphs). When I first saw how many paragraphs were in every section I knew I had to dump my original plan of skimming and mapping each section and went straight for S&D. I actually finished this section with 4 minutes left over and was very surprised. I wish I actually followed my plan of reading a section of scientific american a day but that only lasted a week lol... Overall, I'm quite happy with a 19.
QR: 21
I didn't study for QR as much as I should have, I've taken Cal 1, 2, 3, differentials, and engineering math in the past so I didn't spend too much time studying this section, hence the 8/15 complete math destroyers. I was wrong. I had some pretty weird trig questions, which I'm sure if I completed the destroyer I would known how to do them. I usually never finish QR on time in my practice exams but I actually had 6 minutes left over to check a few questions. I think math destroyer and QR in the DAT Destroyer would've helped if I put in the time. On the bright side, my keypad worked which was awesome. I went into the exam 5 minutes early during my 15 minute break and wrote out the entire unit circle which saved a lot of time trying to work it out in your head.
Overall: I'm fairly content with my scores. I was hoping to beat my girlfriend (who got a 23) but I can't complain. Hopefully these scores with a 3.68 cGPA and 3.6 sGPA are competitive enough to get me in this cycle!
Good luck and thank you everybody!
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