DAT breakdown 7/9/15

[hoppingpre]

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Hi! Just posting a breakdown because I know I really appreciated reading all the breakdown threads while I was preparing for the DAT.

BIO: 22
GC: 23
OC: 24
PAT: 22
RC: 24
QR: 27

TS: 23
AA: 24

Overall, I'm reasonably happy with my scores. Everyone on SDN seems to score 25+ but I'm well aware that this represents a shallow end of the pool. Personally, I expected a higher score for OC because I'd been doing really well on the practice exams! But some questions on the exam took me by surprise. Oh well.

I prepared for 5.5 weeks following the DAT Bootcamp Schedule (condensed from its 10 weeks, basically cramming 2 days on the schedule into 1). I spent about 2 weeks reviewing, and then 3 weeks taking lots and lots of practice exams. I spent the last 1/2 week taking full-lengths. The last full-length I took was the 2007 ADA exam, which predicted BIO 22, GC 23, OC 28, PAT 21. So with the exception of OC, they were pretty on target.

Moving on, I used these resources:

1) DAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer
Excellent for making sure you have a solid foundation in the sciences! I went through GC/OC/Math two times (as recommended by BC) and Biology once. I thought it was especially helpful in OC. OC was my weakest subject, and when I went through the book for the first time, I couldn't even answer half of the questions. However, I read through the Roadmaps every day for two weeks before my exam, and it definitely helped boost my score.

Math Destroyer was also the best, and only, resource I needed for the QR section. The questions on Math Destroyer were tougher than on the actual DAT, but they were conceptually similar. There was nothing I was asked on the actual DAT that I hadn't seen in a similar form before.

2) DAT Bootcamp
Best. Resource. Ever. Worth every single penny. The GC practice exams in particular were very helpful. This was also the only resource I used for PAT and RC. I was very worried in particular for PAT because I never scored above a 20 on the practice exams, but at least in my case, Bootcamp was definitely harder than the actual. Keyholes, cube counting, and pattern folding were somewhat comparable, but on the actual, the TFE, angle ranking, and hole punching sections were noticeably easier for me.

As for RC, I thought Bootcamp's tests were tougher. Bootcamp's questions were more conceptual and (somewhat) confusingly worded, whereas on the actual, it was fairly direct and easy to find answers for. I didn't have any special methods for this section, I just read through the passages and answered the questions.

3) datQvault (Bio only)
This was a good bank of random biology questions. It hit several concepts that Destroyer didn't have. I'd say it was definitely worth its value.

4) Cliff's notes + some of Feralis' notes
Of course, the mandatory review of Biology. I went through Cliff's notes, taking all the section quizzes and the two AP Biology tests at the end. Fairly good resource for covering your bases. It's just a pity it doesn't cover important sections such as physiology.

I also went through some of Feralis' notes, but I thought it had a lot of unnecessary information and skimped on it. Well, that's probably why I got a 22 on my Bio section.

As for the actual testing experience:
- Arrive early! I was allowed to take the exam a bit earlier than my scheduled time, which I was happy about.
- Bring something to eat on your 15 min break after the PAT, because you will be hungry... 15 minutes goes by really quickly however, so something simple like granola bars would be the best.
- Bring a sweater/socks/sweatpants because it will likely be cold.
- My testing center had an excellent setup! I was happy to find that the keyboard for the computer worked, and I could type in numbers instead of manually clicking. It made the QC much easier.
- My testing center didn't have erasable boards, but I never ran out of space. They were double sided, so I had all the space I needed. I just switched them out when I took my break after the PAT.

Overall:
I was worried that 5.5 weeks wouldn't be enough to prepare, but looking back, I think it might've been too long. I started forgetting things after the 4th week and by the time of the last week, I was really running out of stamina. The last few days before my exam, I would simply take a full-length, and then watch TV for the rest of the day.

I'm very happy I didn't take a review course at Kaplan or Princeton. The resources I had were plenty for preparing me for the DAT. Thank you!

 

[ThunderSplash]

Great scores! I have all the same materials that you do except for datQvault. Considering I'm a bio major, how necessary would you say qvault is? Also, where did you find other full length practice exams other than the 07? Thanks!

 

[hoppingpre]

Great scores! I have all the same materials that you do except for datQvault. Considering I'm a bio major, how necessary would you say qvault is? Also, where did you find other full length practice exams other than the 07? Thanks!

Hi ThunderSplash.

I was also a Biology major. And to be honest, I don't think my major helped me at all while preparing for this exam, because the Bio section is all about breadth, not depth. If you are reasonably confident that you know a lot of Biology tidbits, I'd say you can forego qvault, but in my case, it definitely helped me cover my bases. If you are doing well on your Bio practice exams, skip it, but if you're scoring under a 21 on BC, I'd say go for it. (Oh and I forgot to mention I used Cliff Notes.)

As for full-lengths, I mean I went through Bootcamp's exams! I.e. I opened up all the practice exams as tabs, and went through them without taking a break.

Good luck on your exam!

 

[510586]

Hi! Just posting a breakdown because I know I really appreciated reading all the breakdown threads while I was preparing for the DAT.

BIO: 22
GC: 23
OC: 24
PAT: 22
RC: 24
QR: 27

TS: 23
AA: 24

Overall, I'm reasonably happy with my scores. Everyone on SDN seems to score 25+ but I'm well aware that this represents a shallow end of the pool. Personally, I expected a higher score for OC because I'd been doing really well on the practice exams! But some questions on the exam took me by surprise. Oh well.

I prepared for 5.5 weeks following the DAT Bootcamp Schedule (condensed from its 10 weeks, basically cramming 2 days on the schedule into 1). I spent about 2 weeks reviewing, and then 3 weeks taking lots and lots of practice exams. I spent the last 1/2 week taking full-lengths. The last full-length I took was the 2007 ADA exam, which predicted BIO 22, GC 23, OC 28, PAT 21. So with the exception of OC, they were pretty on target.

Moving on, I used these resources:

1) DAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer
Excellent for making sure you have a solid foundation in the sciences! I went through GC/OC/Math two times (as recommended by BC) and Biology once. I thought it was especially helpful in OC. OC was my weakest subject, and when I went through the book for the first time, I couldn't even answer half of the questions. However, I read through the Roadmaps every day for two weeks before my exam, and it definitely helped boost my score.

Math Destroyer was also the best, and only, resource I needed for the QR section. The questions on Math Destroyer were tougher than on the actual DAT, but they were conceptually similar. There was nothing I was asked on the actual DAT that I hadn't seen in a similar form before.

2) DAT Bootcamp
Best. Resource. Ever. Worth every single penny. The GC practice exams in particular were very helpful. This was also the only resource I used for PAT and RC. I was very worried in particular for PAT because I never scored above a 20 on the practice exams, but at least in my case, Bootcamp was definitely harder than the actual. Keyholes, cube counting, and pattern folding were somewhat comparable, but on the actual, the TFE, angle ranking, and hole punching sections were noticeably easier for me.

As for RC, I thought Bootcamp's tests were tougher. Bootcamp's questions were more conceptual and (somewhat) confusingly worded, whereas on the actual, it was fairly direct and easy to find answers for. I didn't have any special methods for this section, I just read through the passages and answered the questions.

3) datQvault (Bio only)
This was a good bank of random biology questions. It hit several concepts that Destroyer didn't have. I'd say it was definitely worth its value.

As for the actual testing experience:
- Arrive early! I was allowed to take the exam a bit earlier than my scheduled time, which I was happy about.
- Bring something to eat on your 15 min break after the PAT, because you will be hungry... 15 minutes goes by really quickly however, so something simple like granola bars would be the best.
- Bring a sweater/socks/sweatpants because it will likely be cold.
- My testing center had an excellent setup! I was happy to find that the keyboard for the computer worked, and I could type in numbers instead of manually clicking. It made the QC much easier.
- My testing center didn't have erasable boards, but I never ran out of space. They were double sided, so I had all the space I needed. I just switched them out when I took my break after the PAT.

Overall:
I was worried that 5.5 weeks wouldn't be enough to prepare, but looking back, I think it might've been too long. I started forgetting things after the 4th week and by the time of the last week, I was really running out of stamina. The last few days before my exam, I would simply take a full-length, and then watch TV for the rest of the day.

I'm very happy I didn't take a review course at Kaplan or Princeton. The resources I had were plenty for preparing me for the DAT. Thank you!

Great scores. Do you by any chance have your bootcamp scores or know how your real scores compared to them? I know it's not a definite indicator but I usually like seeing how BC compares to the actual by individual tests.

 

[ThunderSplash]

Hi ThunderSplash.

I was also a Biology major. And to be honest, I don't think my major helped me at all while preparing for this exam, because the Bio section is all about breadth, not depth. If you are reasonably confident that you know a lot of Biology tidbits, I'd say you can forego qvault, but in my case, it definitely helped me cover my bases. If you are doing well on your Bio practice exams, skip it, but if you're scoring under a 21 on BC, I'd say go for it. (Oh and I forgot to mention I used Cliff Notes.)

As for full-lengths, I mean I went through Bootcamp's exams! I.e. I opened up all the practice exams as tabs, and went through them without taking a break.

Good luck on your exam!

Ah, I see. Thank you! I'll definitely have to look into qvault then. I'm not where I need to be in Biology and was wondering if destroyer would correct that. Better safe than sorry.

 

[hoppingpre]

Great scores. Do you by any chance have your bootcamp scores or know how your real scores compared to them? I know it's not a definite indicator but I usually like seeing how BC compares to the actual by individual tests.

Hi! Yes, I do have them.
My scores the first time through Bootcamp were:
PAT: 18 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 19
GC: 24 / 19 / 23 / 24 / 21
BIO: 22 / 19 / 22 / 18 / 21
OC: 20 / 20 / 21 / 26 / 19
QR: 23 / 21 / 30 / 24 / 20
RC: 21 / 24 (I didn't take any more)

I scored much higher my second time through (25+ in all sections), but that hardly counts, haha.

 

[510586]

Hi! Yes, I do have them.
My scores the first time through Bootcamp were:
PAT: 18 / 18 / 18 / 18 / 19
GC: 24 / 19 / 23 / 24 / 21
BIO: 22 / 19 / 22 / 18 / 21
OC: 20 / 20 / 21 / 26 / 19
QR: 23 / 21 / 30 / 24 / 20
RC: 21 / 24 (I didn't take any more)

I scored much higher my second time through, but that hardly counts, haha.

Sweet thanks man. Nice jump in PAT scores by the way.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Hi! Just posting a breakdown because I know I really appreciated reading all the breakdown threads while I was preparing for the DAT.

BIO: 22
GC: 23
OC: 24
PAT: 22
RC: 24
QR: 27

TS: 23
AA: 24

Overall, I'm reasonably happy with my scores. Everyone on SDN seems to score 25+ but I'm well aware that this represents a shallow end of the pool. Personally, I expected a higher score for OC because I'd been doing really well on the practice exams! But some questions on the exam took me by surprise. Oh well.

I prepared for 5.5 weeks following the DAT Bootcamp Schedule (condensed from its 10 weeks, basically cramming 2 days on the schedule into 1). I spent about 2 weeks reviewing, and then 3 weeks taking lots and lots of practice exams. I spent the last 1/2 week taking full-lengths. The last full-length I took was the 2007 ADA exam, which predicted BIO 22, GC 23, OC 28, PAT 21. So with the exception of OC, they were pretty on target.

Moving on, I used these resources:

1) DAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer
Excellent for making sure you have a solid foundation in the sciences! I went through GC/OC/Math two times (as recommended by BC) and Biology once. I thought it was especially helpful in OC. OC was my weakest subject, and when I went through the book for the first time, I couldn't even answer half of the questions. However, I read through the Roadmaps every day for two weeks before my exam, and it definitely helped boost my score.

Math Destroyer was also the best, and only, resource I needed for the QR section. The questions on Math Destroyer were tougher than on the actual DAT, but they were conceptually similar. There was nothing I was asked on the actual DAT that I hadn't seen in a similar form before.

2) DAT Bootcamp
Best. Resource. Ever. Worth every single penny. The GC practice exams in particular were very helpful. This was also the only resource I used for PAT and RC. I was very worried in particular for PAT because I never scored above a 20 on the practice exams, but at least in my case, Bootcamp was definitely harder than the actual. Keyholes, cube counting, and pattern folding were somewhat comparable, but on the actual, the TFE, angle ranking, and hole punching sections were noticeably easier for me.

As for RC, I thought Bootcamp's tests were tougher. Bootcamp's questions were more conceptual and (somewhat) confusingly worded, whereas on the actual, it was fairly direct and easy to find answers for. I didn't have any special methods for this section, I just read through the passages and answered the questions.

3) datQvault (Bio only)
This was a good bank of random biology questions. It hit several concepts that Destroyer didn't have. I'd say it was definitely worth its value.

4) Cliff's notes + some of Feralis' notes
Of course, the mandatory review of Biology. I went through Cliff's notes, taking all the section quizzes and the two AP Biology tests at the end. Fairly good resource for covering your bases. It's just a pity it doesn't cover important sections such as physiology.

I also went through some of Feralis' notes, but I thought it had a lot of unnecessary information and skimped on it. Well, that's probably why I got a 22 on my Bio section.

As for the actual testing experience:
- Arrive early! I was allowed to take the exam a bit earlier than my scheduled time, which I was happy about.
- Bring something to eat on your 15 min break after the PAT, because you will be hungry... 15 minutes goes by really quickly however, so something simple like granola bars would be the best.
- Bring a sweater/socks/sweatpants because it will likely be cold.
- My testing center had an excellent setup! I was happy to find that the keyboard for the computer worked, and I could type in numbers instead of manually clicking. It made the QC much easier.
- My testing center didn't have erasable boards, but I never ran out of space. They were double sided, so I had all the space I needed. I just switched them out when I took my break after the PAT.

Overall:
I was worried that 5.5 weeks wouldn't be enough to prepare, but looking back, I think it might've been too long. I started forgetting things after the 4th week and by the time of the last week, I was really running out of stamina. The last few days before my exam, I would simply take a full-length, and then watch TV for the rest of the day.

I'm very happy I didn't take a review course at Kaplan or Princeton. The resources I had were plenty for preparing me for the DAT. Thank you!

Congratulations!

Excellent scores across the board! Wow, that's the highest QR score I have seen in quite a while...You should get multiple interviews with scores like that.

Nice tip about bringing a sweater, socks, etc. Hard to concentrate when you too cold!

Thank you for the detailed review on how you studied and Destroyed the DAT, it is encouraging to the students still studying!

Wishing you the best ..

Dr. Jim Romano and Nancy

 

[stag123]

Do you think the Destroyer Bio is enough resource to prepare for the bio section? I tried skimming though Cliffs/Feralis, but I'm more of an active learner, so I felt like I wasn't retaining much information by just reading. I make notes throughout the bio destroyer and go over/look up wrong answers also.

Do you think that should be enough or should I invest in Qvault bio? I haven't taken a BC test, but I will at the end of the week when I finish destroyer.

 

[hoppingpre]

Congratulations!

Excellent scores across the board! Wow, that's the highest QR score I have seen in quite a while...You should get multiple interviews with scores like that.

Nice tip about bringing a sweater, socks, etc. Hard to concentrate when you too cold!

Thank you for the detailed review on how you studied and Destroyed the DAT, it is encouraging to the students still studying!

Wishing you the best ..

Dr. Jim Romano and Nancy

Thank you! Your book helped get me these scores! 🙂

Do you think the Destroyer Bio is enough resource to prepare for the bio section? I tried skimming though Cliffs/Feralis, but I'm more of an active learner, so I felt like I wasn't retaining much information by just reading. I make notes throughout the bio destroyer and go over/look up wrong answers also.

Do you think that should be enough or should I invest in Qvault bio? I haven't taken a BC test, but I will at the end of the week when I finish destroyer.

No, I don't think Destroyer Bio is enough by itself. It does a very good job at covering random tidbits of information that may be on your exam, but it doesn't cover everything. The same can be said for everything else - none of the resources I used would've been enough on their own. If you're more of an active learner, I think qvault could be a very good resource, as it's just a bank of questions with quite good explanations and prompts.

I didn't really use Feralis' notes much either to be honest, but I perused its section on Physiology since it had a lot of essential basic information that was missing from Cliff's notes.

 

[jayyyohwins]

congrats on your scores!!!

I'll be taking my DAT pretty soon and had a question for you regarding the chemistry sections. How did you use the destroyer as a tool to help you learn? Did you keep working out the problems or learn the equations and how to those types of problems?

Gchem is my weakest area right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to attack it best.

 

[SyracuseOrange92]

congrats on your scores!!!

I'll be taking my DAT pretty soon and had a question for you regarding the chemistry sections. How did you use the destroyer as a tool to help you learn? Did you keep working out the problems or learn the equations and how to those types of problems?

Gchem is my weakest area right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to attack it best.

I second this question, I've been struggling recently!

Congrats to you!!

 

[hoppingpre]

congrats on your scores!!!

I'll be taking my DAT pretty soon and had a question for you regarding the chemistry sections. How did you use the destroyer as a tool to help you learn? Did you keep working out the problems or learn the equations and how to those types of problems?

Gchem is my weakest area right now, and I'm trying to figure out how to attack it best.

Hi. I'd be happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

I think the key to Gchem is to do lots and lots of practice problems. If you do enough problems, you'll start recognizing a trend/pattern. I went through the Destroyer two times for Gchem and it was quite helpful in pointing out where I was weak. I didn't actually strictly memorize any questions; I simply did enough problems in the Destroyer that I could recall the equation to use. That being said, it's important to understand why you got problems wrong, and have a good idea of what's going on, because that'll help you when it comes to unconventionally worded problems.

For the DAT, I would suggest that you really hammer down these concepts in particular:
- Periodic table trends
- Mole conversions
- ALL acids/base equations and problems (including conversion between pH and molar concentrations)
- Solubility problems (common ion effect)
- Ideal gas law (PV=nRT) (P1V1=P2V2)
- Equilibrium (le chatelier's principle)

Also these questions may pop up and they're very easy and plug-and-chug if you know what to do. You don't wanna miss these kinds of problems:
- Nuclear chemistry (AKA decay)
- Freezing pt depression/boiling pt elevation
- Rate laws
- Thermodynamics problems (enthalpies)
- Oxidation-reduction (including balancing redox rxns)

Personally, I don't recall what I could've gotten wrong in GC on my test, but there were some questions about pressure that took me back, and I wish I had spent more time studying that section.

Best of luck.

 

[510586]

How many times did you run through math destroyer?

 

[hoppingpre]

How many times did you run through math destroyer?

Hi!

I never went through the whole thing, actually. I skipped around throughout the book. At one point, I tried doing Test 15, but that completely destroyed me. I think anything past test 10 is a waste of time simply because they're exceedingly more difficult than what will be on your actual exam.

I did do enough problems that I noticed that a lot of the questions were the same thing, just with different numbers. I.e. there is always a rate problem (very simple plug and chug), an age problem, and a distance/velocity problem.

I didn't do much memorization for this section either. This is exactly what I memorized:
- Very basic trig identities and angle equivalents (SOHCAHTOA will get you far); destroyer tests you sometimes on slightly more difficult identities but I personally never encountered anything beyond sin^2x + cos^2x = 1 on any BC practice tests OR on my actual
- Area + circumference formulas: Circle, sphere, triangle
- Volume formulas: sphere
>> Everything else like hollow cylinder or pyramids are just extensions of these formulas, just picture a cylinder as the surface of a circle multiplied by its height
- Statistics (68-95-99.7% rule is very important to remember)
- Distance formulas
- Ellipse equation
- Celsius/fahrenheit conversion (but on my exam, they provided this in the question!)
- Simple conversions (2.54 cm = 1 inch, 1.6 km = mi, 3 ft = 1 yd)

There were a lot of probability and conversion questions on my test. These two can both be very easily mastered if you practice them.

Good luck!

 

[510586]

Hi!

I never went through the whole thing, actually. I skipped around throughout the book. At one point, I tried doing Test 15, but that completely destroyed me. I think anything past test 10 is a waste of time simply because they're exceedingly more difficult than what will be on your actual exam.

I did do enough problems that I noticed that a lot of the questions were the same thing, just with different numbers. I.e. there is always a rate problem (very simple plug and chug), an age problem, and a distance/velocity problem.

I didn't do much memorization for this section either. This is exactly what I memorized:
- Very basic trig identities and angle equivalents (SOHCAHTOA will get you far); destroyer tests you sometimes on slightly more difficult identities but I personally never encountered anything beyond sin^2x + cos^2x = 1 on any BC practice tests OR on my actual
- Area + circumference formulas: Circle, sphere, triangle
- Volume formulas: sphere
>> Everything else like hollow cylinder or pyramids are just extensions of these formulas, just picture a cylinder as the surface of a circle multiplied by its height
- Statistics (68-95-99.7% rule is very important to remember)
- Distance formulas
- Ellipse equation
- Celsius/fahrenheit conversion (but on my exam, they provided this in the question!)
- Simple conversions (2.54 cm = 1 inch, 1.6 km = mi, 3 ft = 1 yd)

There were a lot of probability and conversion questions on my test. These two can both be very easily mastered if you practice them.


Good luck!

Alright thank you so much for this in depth answer! Since my test is coming up I have no idea where to allocate time now.

 

[jayyyohwins]

Hi. I'd be happy to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

I think the key to Gchem is to do lots and lots of practice problems. If you do enough problems, you'll start recognizing a trend/pattern. I went through the Destroyer two times for Gchem and it was quite helpful in pointing out where I was weak. I didn't actually strictly memorize any questions; I simply did enough problems in the Destroyer that I could recall the equation to use. That being said, it's important to understand why you got problems wrong, and have a good idea of what's going on, because that'll help you when it comes to unconventionally worded problems.

For the DAT, I would suggest that you really hammer down these concepts in particular:
- Periodic table trends
- Mole conversions
- ALL acids/base equations and problems (including conversion between pH and molar concentrations)
- Solubility problems (common ion effect)
- Ideal gas law (PV=nRT) (P1V1=P2V2)
- Equilibrium (le chatelier's principle)

Also these questions may pop up and they're very easy and plug-and-chug if you know what to do. You don't wanna miss these kinds of problems:
- Nuclear chemistry (AKA decay)
- Freezing pt depression/boiling pt elevation
- Rate laws
- Thermodynamics problems (enthalpies)
- Oxidation-reduction (including balancing redox rxns)

Personally, I don't recall what I could've gotten wrong in GC on my test, but there were some questions about pressure that took me back, and I wish I had spent more time studying that section.

Best of luck.

thank you so much for this detailed breakdown, it really helped!! and again, congrats on your DAT and best of luck applying!!

 

[phillyeagles1]

Very detailed breadown, good luck with your interviews!!

 

[matardug]

Awesome QR score, and other scores all around. Congrats 🙂