Hey guys, I've been lurking the forums for most of the summer and now that I'm done the DAT I thought I'd post a breakdown. My scores aren't anything spectacular, but I'm (mostly) happy:
PAT: 20
QR: 17
RC: 22
BIO: 25
GC: 22
OG: 23
TS: 23
AA: 22
Background: I'm a rising senior at a large public university (biology major, oGPA: 3.75 sGPA: 3.6). I'm not applying until next cycle.
Materials:
Chad's videos/quizzes (10/10)
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
DAT Destroyer (8/10)
DAT Math Destroyer (8/10)
AP Cliff's Bio (8/10)
Crack PAT (5/10)
Bio qvault (8/10)
Feralis notes (8/10)
Craig Savage/Khan Academy/Bozeman (10/10)
Test:
Bio (25)
I read Cliff's in early June and took my own notes. If I had no previous exposure to a topic I'd watch a youtube video to familiarize myself with the concept. I had the most trouble with anatomy/physiology, taxonomy, and plants (I'm convinced no one likes them). The best thing you can do for biology is to take biology electives. I had already taken biology 1&2, genetics, ecology, microbiology, and immunology, which relieved some stress. Bio qvault probably isn't necessary, but I bought it ~2 weeks before my exam in a panic. There were a few weird ones.. I marked ~15 and guessed on 4-5.
GC (22)
Destroyer was overkill. First round through I was getting ~60% correct. On the exam there were few calculations (nothing crazy like Destroyer). Chad was the best here. I went through all of his quizzes a week before my exam to refresh my memory. Two days before the test I went through those notes again. Bootcamp is great here as well.
OC (23)
I did almost the same procedure here as I did for GC. Chad is the way to go. I didn't memorize Destroyer roadmaps. However, I did make flashcards from Chad's rxn list. Don't dedicate too much energy trying to remember crazy reagents/rxns beyond what Chad covers. PSA: freelanceteach is probably the best guy for organic chemistry on youtube. He's the reason I got an A in my orgo II class. Not necessary if you already have a good orgo foundation.
PAT (20)
Buy Bootcamp. CDP is pointless.. The only feature I enjoyed was the adjustable timer, which is helpful when you're starting out.
Keyholes: SO much easier than Bootcamp.
TFE: I rushed through this section at the end. Easier/comparable to Bootcamp.
Angles: I didn't think they were that bad. Definitely not as bad as Bootcamp 6-10.
Hole Punch: Easy with the LOS method.
Cube Counting: I had a few illusions.. stacks of 22/19 cubes. I got tripped up when some of my tallies didn't match. This probably made up for keyhole seeming easy.
Pattern Folding: Easier than Bootcamp. However, I was getting flustered/low on time.
-By this point in the test I thought I'd failed the SNS and PAT-
RC (22)
Much easier than Bootcamp. My passages were not heavily scientific based. All were about 15 paragraphs long. I used S&D.
QR (17)
Annnnnd this is the stain on the scores I'm otherwise very happy with. Math has always been my weakness. Everything was smooth sailing up until question 10 or 11. I marked too many and then ran out of time. I literally had to guess on 7 (?) . Math Destroyer had some comparable questions. Timing is everything for this section. I was able to use the keyboard to work the calculator.
Thoughts:
-Bring foam earplugs if you can't handle listening to 15+ people pounding away on their keyboards. Seriously, I have no idea what those other exams entail, but they were typing like crazy. Even with the noise canceling headphones, I could still hear the kid next to me typing away.
-This test is not as hard as you think it's going to be! Keep pushing through the material. I wish I would have condensed my study time into 2 months max. I scheduled my test mid May and started studying a week later because I thought it was necessary to obtain good scores. It was difficult to keep the material fresh for so long. The last week before my test I was a nervous wreck. I didn't feel like I was doing enough. I wasn't thrilled by my 2007/2009 exam scores, but went ahead with the test anyway. I'm convinced that the scoring for the real DAT is different from the sample rubric they released. Don't let practice scores get to you. Best of luck to everyone still studying!!!!!!!!! You got this
Practice Scores:
(Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR)
Bootcamp
1: 21/17/17/-/19/18
2: 22/20/19/20/19/18
3: 18/24/22/20/19/20
4: 20/21/21/20/21/-
5: 23/19/20/18/21/-
2007
22/18/25/20/-/22
2009
23/19/20/20/19/20
(apologizing for any typos in advance.. I'm sleep deprived)
PAT: 20
QR: 17
RC: 22
BIO: 25
GC: 22
OG: 23
TS: 23
AA: 22
Background: I'm a rising senior at a large public university (biology major, oGPA: 3.75 sGPA: 3.6). I'm not applying until next cycle.
Materials:
Chad's videos/quizzes (10/10)
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
DAT Destroyer (8/10)
DAT Math Destroyer (8/10)
AP Cliff's Bio (8/10)
Crack PAT (5/10)
Bio qvault (8/10)
Feralis notes (8/10)
Craig Savage/Khan Academy/Bozeman (10/10)
Test:
Bio (25)
I read Cliff's in early June and took my own notes. If I had no previous exposure to a topic I'd watch a youtube video to familiarize myself with the concept. I had the most trouble with anatomy/physiology, taxonomy, and plants (I'm convinced no one likes them). The best thing you can do for biology is to take biology electives. I had already taken biology 1&2, genetics, ecology, microbiology, and immunology, which relieved some stress. Bio qvault probably isn't necessary, but I bought it ~2 weeks before my exam in a panic. There were a few weird ones.. I marked ~15 and guessed on 4-5.
GC (22)
Destroyer was overkill. First round through I was getting ~60% correct. On the exam there were few calculations (nothing crazy like Destroyer). Chad was the best here. I went through all of his quizzes a week before my exam to refresh my memory. Two days before the test I went through those notes again. Bootcamp is great here as well.
OC (23)
I did almost the same procedure here as I did for GC. Chad is the way to go. I didn't memorize Destroyer roadmaps. However, I did make flashcards from Chad's rxn list. Don't dedicate too much energy trying to remember crazy reagents/rxns beyond what Chad covers. PSA: freelanceteach is probably the best guy for organic chemistry on youtube. He's the reason I got an A in my orgo II class. Not necessary if you already have a good orgo foundation.
PAT (20)
Buy Bootcamp. CDP is pointless.. The only feature I enjoyed was the adjustable timer, which is helpful when you're starting out.
Keyholes: SO much easier than Bootcamp.
TFE: I rushed through this section at the end. Easier/comparable to Bootcamp.
Angles: I didn't think they were that bad. Definitely not as bad as Bootcamp 6-10.
Hole Punch: Easy with the LOS method.
Cube Counting: I had a few illusions.. stacks of 22/19 cubes. I got tripped up when some of my tallies didn't match. This probably made up for keyhole seeming easy.
Pattern Folding: Easier than Bootcamp. However, I was getting flustered/low on time.
-By this point in the test I thought I'd failed the SNS and PAT-
RC (22)
Much easier than Bootcamp. My passages were not heavily scientific based. All were about 15 paragraphs long. I used S&D.
QR (17)
Annnnnd this is the stain on the scores I'm otherwise very happy with. Math has always been my weakness. Everything was smooth sailing up until question 10 or 11. I marked too many and then ran out of time. I literally had to guess on 7 (?) . Math Destroyer had some comparable questions. Timing is everything for this section. I was able to use the keyboard to work the calculator.
Thoughts:
-Bring foam earplugs if you can't handle listening to 15+ people pounding away on their keyboards. Seriously, I have no idea what those other exams entail, but they were typing like crazy. Even with the noise canceling headphones, I could still hear the kid next to me typing away.
-This test is not as hard as you think it's going to be! Keep pushing through the material. I wish I would have condensed my study time into 2 months max. I scheduled my test mid May and started studying a week later because I thought it was necessary to obtain good scores. It was difficult to keep the material fresh for so long. The last week before my test I was a nervous wreck. I didn't feel like I was doing enough. I wasn't thrilled by my 2007/2009 exam scores, but went ahead with the test anyway. I'm convinced that the scoring for the real DAT is different from the sample rubric they released. Don't let practice scores get to you. Best of luck to everyone still studying!!!!!!!!! You got this
Practice Scores:
(Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR)
Bootcamp
1: 21/17/17/-/19/18
2: 22/20/19/20/19/18
3: 18/24/22/20/19/20
4: 20/21/21/20/21/-
5: 23/19/20/18/21/-
2007
22/18/25/20/-/22
2009
23/19/20/20/19/20
(apologizing for any typos in advance.. I'm sleep deprived)
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