- Joined
- May 16, 2013
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
- 36
***First of all, I want to thank all the people who have shared their awesome breakdowns, and also people who have contributed to this forum, especially Feralis, Glimmer and Ari! Their materials have really helped me to prepare for this test.
Scores:
Bio: 30
GC: 27
OC: 23🙁
RC: 28
QR: 27
PAT: 30
TS: 26
AA: 27
A little background (nonessential, skip it if you want):
I'm a bio major just finished my sophomore year, with 3.93 GPA/ 3.90 sGPA. English is my second language (so please bare with any of my grammar/sentence structure mistakes). I have a pretty strong science background, but only took Orgo I (you can tell from my OC score).
I spent about three months (May 20-Aug 14) preparing for this test, with a part time job in the first two months. I got worried/distracted a lot during the studying (social network/world cup/news/games,etc), so I would say my average efficiency varies about 4-8 hours per day, and the last week of >12 hours per day. (Definitely one of the lessons I learned is to focus more on doing things in the future...). And toward the last three days, I got really worried/anxious, so I mainly watched TV shows and played games(One of my regrets).
***The key point to do well is 1) have the right study material. 2) use the right strategy/approach
Materials used:
Summary: You MUST get 2007 & 2009 ADA tests, Chads, DAT and Math destroyers, DAT bootcamp, and Feralis's notes.
Helpful but nonessential materials are: Kaplan book, CDP, Qvault.
Bio (30)-: Feralis's notes , Cliff notes AP BIO, DAT destroyer, DAT bootcamp->all 10/10 Barron's AP BIO(5/10), Kaplan review notes BIO (7/10). wikipedia/google/youtube.
Regrets:
I hope this breakdown will help you all! Feel free to ask me any questions.😉
Scores:
Bio: 30
GC: 27
OC: 23🙁
RC: 28
QR: 27
PAT: 30
TS: 26
AA: 27
A little background (nonessential, skip it if you want):
I'm a bio major just finished my sophomore year, with 3.93 GPA/ 3.90 sGPA. English is my second language (so please bare with any of my grammar/sentence structure mistakes). I have a pretty strong science background, but only took Orgo I (you can tell from my OC score).
I spent about three months (May 20-Aug 14) preparing for this test, with a part time job in the first two months. I got worried/distracted a lot during the studying (social network/world cup/news/games,etc), so I would say my average efficiency varies about 4-8 hours per day, and the last week of >12 hours per day. (Definitely one of the lessons I learned is to focus more on doing things in the future...). And toward the last three days, I got really worried/anxious, so I mainly watched TV shows and played games(One of my regrets).
***The key point to do well is 1) have the right study material. 2) use the right strategy/approach
Materials used:
Summary: You MUST get 2007 & 2009 ADA tests, Chads, DAT and Math destroyers, DAT bootcamp, and Feralis's notes.
Helpful but nonessential materials are: Kaplan book, CDP, Qvault.
Bio (30)-: Feralis's notes , Cliff notes AP BIO, DAT destroyer, DAT bootcamp->all 10/10 Barron's AP BIO(5/10), Kaplan review notes BIO (7/10). wikipedia/google/youtube.
- Failed approach/materials: Anki DAT deck made by another predents (I got bored going through these repetitively). Partially failed: KBB/Barron (Okay for casual read, but lack certain info. Advantage for Barron: easy read. Advantage for KBB: certain anatomy/physio stuff and some diagrams)
- Feralis and Cliff Notes: went through them numerous times. Great for comprehensive reviews. However, cliff is kinda short at anatomy/physio.
- Destroyer/ BC: great for familiarize with test format. Their questions are super similar to real test questions.
- Google/youtube/wikipedia anything you don't understand. Write down those and also questions you got wrong in your note book. (this apply to all science sections and QR)
- Some people say that you don't have to remember all the details about anatomy/DAT destroyer/Other things... Well, if you are aiming for higher scores you have to push yourself to remember all of them! For example, I had a question about class Agnatha, which only showed up once on destroyer. It's 99% of effort and 1% of luck. Just make the process fun by google them, drawing (taxonomy/development/anatomy), mnemonics, etc.
- Learn by using Chads, and work your butt off by using destroyer (road map and problems) and BC (practice tests and question of the day)
- I did encounter some weird questions (lab/reaction) in GC/OC which I've never seen before... So get as much practices as you can.
- Nonessential:If you already went through 2x of destroyer and BC, you can get DAT Qvault for more practices if you have $25o extra bucks to spent...(I would've buy it if it's not that expensive.)
- Start early and youtube about strategies before you start. Then practice, ideally everyday.
- BC: practice tests and generators. BC PATs are hard.. Do not get frustrated/freak out by any means, because I was consistently getting 20's on all of them. (the keyholes are wayyyyyyy too hard). The real dat keyhole/TFE/patterns are much easier. Angles are slightly easier/about the same. BC PAT practices are great, and they are the closest you can get.
- Only thing I wish BC can improve is to make angle generators harder/more similar to real dat.
- Non-essential/ extra practices: CDP. TFE and keyholes are too easy. Good for extra practices.
- I was shocked when I saw my RC score, considering English is my second language, and I usually spent several hours to brainstorm a paragraph on an essay.
- Real RC vs Bootcamp: passage length and question format were about the same, but questions themselves were much easier. My BC scores range from <15-22, because some of the comprehensive questions were really hard. On the real RC, there are a lot of Re-call/search destroy question, and any comprehension questions showed up were quite easy to understand.
- RC strategy: Modified mapping method. Questions are usually in order, so I answered the questions while reading the passage and mapping paragraphs.
- QR: BC is way too hard. I only did 2 practice tests and scored 24,25. Math destroyer will be sufficient for practices.
- QR preparations: I was getting 7-8 problems wrong for the first 3 tests, then consistently getting 1-2 problems wrong after that. (Only did 6 tests in total). Try to read the solutions thoroughly, and master the approach to problems. The key to finish on time is to quickly come up with an approach. To do this, you have to do a lot of practices and see what areas you are weak at. Categorize problem you missed, and take detailed notes. For example, I missed nearly every single permutation/combination in the beginning. What I did are 1)learn by using any possible resources (khan academy, chads, google, friends, etc). 2) write down problem # I missed. e.g Test #1. Q#27. 3) Find the approach I like the best and come back to practice those problems.
Regrets:
- I wish I could have more self control. Be more organized and spend less time on random stuff, and also compress the whole preparation period to less than 1.5 months. Also wish I could worry/freak out less, suck it up more, and have more confidence in myself.
- Biggest regret: I could spent more time and do more practices on areas I'm not good at (OC). =( too late now..
- Take deep breath and chew gum for relaxation.
- No "review" button on questions unless you have finished all of them for a first time. (Different than Bootcamp).
- Noise cancelling headphones provided at the test center are really useful. (there were other people typing essays in my test center)
- Draw grids during tutorial or science section.
- You have two non-erasable laminated sheets, and you have to raise your hand to change them. Plan them wisely and you will be fine.
I hope this breakdown will help you all! Feel free to ask me any questions.😉
