DAT Breakdown (7/15) including practice tests

[olliellama]

Real DAT

PAT - 24
QR - 21
RC - 20
BIO - 21
GChem - 22
OChem - 22
SCI - 22
AA - 21

Practice tests

ADA 2007 (5 days till actual)
PAT - 22
QR - 21
RC - 13
BIO - 19
GChem - 21
OChem - 30

Qvault (1-ish weeks before actual)
Bio - 20, 19, 19, 23, 17, 19, 19, 17, 19
Gchem - 20, 20, 19, 18, 21, 20, 20, 19
Ochem - 20, 18, 24, 22, 19, 18, 19, 18, 17
QR - 20, 20, 22, 21, 19, 22
RC - 18, 20, 19, 20, 18, 19, 19
PAT - 21

Crack The Dat Reading (1-2-ish weeks before actual)
17, 17, 15, 19, 20, 19, 21, 21, 19

Kaplan Free Test (1-ish month till actual)
Bio - 17
GChem - 18
OChem - 19
QR - 18
RC - 15
PAT - 29

TopScore test 2, 3 (1 week before actual)
Bio - 19 , 18
Gchem - 18, 18
Ochem - 21, 19
RC - 19, 20
QR - 14, 21
PAT - 22, 21

Used link below as study schedule but replaced going through destroyer 2 times with Qvault/Crack the dat.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/sample-dat-study-schedule.719365/

-Qvault is great for everything. It is a must. I think I had almost 5 questions show up word for word.
-Bootcamp is also good, but I used it more for studying than practice tests.
-Destroyer is great for Ochem, Gchem and QR.
-Topscore is the best representation of the real test.
-ADA 2007 is also good, but Ochem is too easy. And RC was funky.
-CDR is good practice, would recommend to anyone struggling with this section.

For those of you that struggle with RC like me, get as many tests as you can and try different methods. I would also recommend reading Scientific American's daily articles. My method was to read half of the article and S&D.

I watched a lot of tv and ran daily while studying for the DAT. I think both of these helped me with stress management. Just get your body moving and do something fun in addition to countless hours of studying.

Whole TV series watched while studying...just for fun, I know you don't care.
-Archer
-Trailer Park Boys
-Mad Men

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[thegreat267]

I enjoy Mad men too

 

[MichiganStudent93]

Trailer Park Boys is the ****! Haha and I completely agree with you on keeping yourself distracted during studying. Awesome scores.

 

[ncdental33]

How did the QR in bootcamp stack up against the real thing? I am also using it more so for studying rather than taking practice tests.

 

[olliellama]

How did the QR in bootcamp stack up against the real thing? I am also using it more so for studying rather than taking practice tests.

Harder. I think I was making 18s (improperly of course), but it still is indicative of something. Qvault, ADA2007, and Topscore were very representative of the real thing.

 

[ncdental33]

Yeah I'm right in that same boat. I have been doing those tests and destroyer to try and get a grasp on QR since that is my weakest subject. How did gen chem in bootcamp/destroyer compare?

 

[olliellama]

Yeah I'm right in that same boat. I have been doing those tests and destroyer to try and get a grasp on QR since that is my weakest subject. How did gen chem in bootcamp/destroyer compare?

Bootcamp - don't remember. I used it early on in my study schedule. Wasn't the best decision, but oh well.

Destroyer - way harder. Destroyer does help you grasp a better understand of the concepts though. All the things you read about it are correct...it's tough.

 

[virtualmaster999]

Hey nice job!! How was the RC compared to practice exams you took? My exam is in a week, and it's the section that worries me the most. People have said it's a lot more straightforward/clear. Is that true??

 

[ncdental33]

Bootcamp - don't remember. I used it early on in my study schedule. Wasn't the best decision, but oh well.

Destroyer - way harder. Destroyer does help you grasp a better understand of the concepts though. All the things you read about it are correct...it's tough.

Alright cool, appreciate your advice.

Great scores man, congratulations. I hope next Thursday I will be looking at a printout just like yours.

Also, you have great taste in television.

 

[olliellama]

Hey nice job!! How was the RC compared to practice exams you took? My exam is in a week, and it's the section that worries me the most. People have said it's a lot more straightforward/clear. Is that true??

Hey nice job!! How was the RC compared to practice exams you took? My exam is in a week, and it's the section that worries me the most. People have said it's a lot more straightforward/clear. Is that true??

On the real thing, the questions felt pretty reasonable. Most were details that you can easily skim the article and find. Very few are inference/tone/etc. And, I didn't find them that bad. All practice tests felt much more difficult than the real thing. I felt Qvault was a good representation, just a little bit more difficult. CDR would be amazing, if the questions weren't in sequential order (and the articles weren't so interesting). Topscore RC is good, it's only fault is that it is only detail questions. If you're doing ok on any of these practice tests, I feel you should be ok on the real thing.

 

[virtualmaster999]

On the real thing, the questions felt pretty reasonable. Most were details that you can easily skim the article and find. Very few are inference/tone/etc. And, I didn't find them that bad. All practice tests felt much more difficult than the real thing. I felt Qvault was a good representation, just a little bit more difficult. CDR would be amazing, if the questions weren't in sequential order (and the articles weren't so interesting). Topscore RC is good, it's only fault is that it is only detail questions. If you're doing ok on any of these practice tests, I feel you should be ok on the real thing.

So you think I'd be fine with skimming each passage, followed by S&D?

 

[olliellama]

So you think I'd be fine with skimming each passage, followed by S&D?

Try it out on a practice test.

 

[RuffDay]

When you mentioned about 3-5 questions from QVAULT. Were you taking about biology?

 

[olliellama]

When you mentioned about 3-5 questions from QVAULT. Were you taking about biology?

Maybe about 2 on bio, 1 on Gchem, and 3 on QR. I know this adds up to 6, haha. Qvault really is awesome for all sections.

 

[Faefly]

Great scores.