I just want to thank all those who posted over the past month. I have been reading this site a lot in the past month and I got some great advice here. I just want to give a little back to SDN and share my experience. So I will start out with my scores and then talk a little about each section.
PAT: 25 (99.0)🙂
QR: 18 (84.7)
RC: 20 (64.3)
Bio: 17 (49.2)😡
GC: 29 (99.7)😎
OC: 23 (94.4)
TS: 21 (91.6)
AA: 21 (93.4)
Materials:
Kaplan online material/ and in-class Great online material and most of the class sessions were helpful, but don't expect the class time to get you a better score. You have to put a lot of work in outside the class.
Topscore 👍 Great resource. A little harder then the actual test but they are worth every penny.
CDP👍 This is a must for the DAT. It really gets you ready for what you will see on test day.
Chad's Videos👍👍 I can't say enough about how great his video's are. I am a Chem major, but it was great to go over all of the material again and he does a great job with that.
Cliffs AP Bio Good book. I read it once and went through what I thought was important the second time.
PAT 25
Materials: Kaplan Online Class and CDP
This section was not too bad, and I didn't see anything that surprised me. As for studying, CDP is your best bet. I studied with Kaplan most of the summer and began to hear how bad it was for PAT so I bought CDP. I am glad I did. CDP is harder than the actual but it will get you ready! I averaged 23 on CDP and 23 on Kaplan.
QR 18
Materials: Kaplan
The hardest part about this section is being able to do the problems within the time limit. The question were not hard, but you need to move quick. And the calculator sucks so try not to use it.
RC 20
Material: Kaplan
I was the most worried about this section, mainly because I didn't score consistently higher than an 18 on practice sections. I used the "read the whole thing" method because "search and destroy" didn't work for me on practice test. Two point of advice: (just like QR) use you time wisely! and Find a strategy that works for you and stick with it!
Bio 17
Materials: Cliffs AP Bio, KBB, Kaplan White book and online material.
This was the toughest section by far for me. I am a rising Junior Chemistry major with only an introductory Bio class under my belt so there were a lot of topics that I had to learn this summer and many that I didn't get to learn. So this score is kind of the eye sore on my breakdown, but hopefully its not too low. 😕 I studied for this section the most because I knew that I was lacking here...
GC 29
Materials: Kaplan Class, Chad's Videos
Chad's videos were the best $30 that spent this whole summer. He is all I used besides practice test to study for this section.
OC 23
Material: Kaplan Class, Chad's Videos
Again, Chad's videos are a great resource. I also just finished OChem (and had an awesome professor) last semester so everything was fresh.
I began studying at the beginning of June(whick is when my Kaplan class started) but I really didn't start putting in the long hours until late July. I took at least 9 practice test (topscore, Kaplan, ADA 2009 and parts of 2007) to get used to the length of the test and track my progress. I have came a long way! My first practice test was 16AA and 18PAT. This is a very manageable test if you put in the hours of studying! You must prepare and go in confident!
Day before the test: At this point, your studying is over. I sat around most of the day. Went to see my grandparents and went to the gym. No studying for the DAT. I wanted to be rested and ready for test day.
Day of the test: I had a rough time sleeping. Up at 5:45, got to the testing center at 7 and waited until 8 to start. I brought a snack and some Gatorade.
Overall, I am very pleased with my scores. I wished to score a little higher on Biology. I just hope it doesn't keep me out of schools. I have a 4.0 sGPA and 3.9 oGPA. I will be applying in the 2012 cycle so I have a little bit of time to get overything together.
Good luck to you all! Now it's time to relax for the last few days of summer.
PAT: 25 (99.0)🙂
QR: 18 (84.7)
RC: 20 (64.3)
Bio: 17 (49.2)😡
GC: 29 (99.7)😎
OC: 23 (94.4)
TS: 21 (91.6)
AA: 21 (93.4)
Materials:
Kaplan online material/ and in-class Great online material and most of the class sessions were helpful, but don't expect the class time to get you a better score. You have to put a lot of work in outside the class.
Topscore 👍 Great resource. A little harder then the actual test but they are worth every penny.
CDP👍 This is a must for the DAT. It really gets you ready for what you will see on test day.
Chad's Videos👍👍 I can't say enough about how great his video's are. I am a Chem major, but it was great to go over all of the material again and he does a great job with that.
Cliffs AP Bio Good book. I read it once and went through what I thought was important the second time.
PAT 25
Materials: Kaplan Online Class and CDP
This section was not too bad, and I didn't see anything that surprised me. As for studying, CDP is your best bet. I studied with Kaplan most of the summer and began to hear how bad it was for PAT so I bought CDP. I am glad I did. CDP is harder than the actual but it will get you ready! I averaged 23 on CDP and 23 on Kaplan.
QR 18
Materials: Kaplan
The hardest part about this section is being able to do the problems within the time limit. The question were not hard, but you need to move quick. And the calculator sucks so try not to use it.
RC 20
Material: Kaplan
I was the most worried about this section, mainly because I didn't score consistently higher than an 18 on practice sections. I used the "read the whole thing" method because "search and destroy" didn't work for me on practice test. Two point of advice: (just like QR) use you time wisely! and Find a strategy that works for you and stick with it!
Bio 17
Materials: Cliffs AP Bio, KBB, Kaplan White book and online material.
This was the toughest section by far for me. I am a rising Junior Chemistry major with only an introductory Bio class under my belt so there were a lot of topics that I had to learn this summer and many that I didn't get to learn. So this score is kind of the eye sore on my breakdown, but hopefully its not too low. 😕 I studied for this section the most because I knew that I was lacking here...
GC 29
Materials: Kaplan Class, Chad's Videos
Chad's videos were the best $30 that spent this whole summer. He is all I used besides practice test to study for this section.
OC 23
Material: Kaplan Class, Chad's Videos
Again, Chad's videos are a great resource. I also just finished OChem (and had an awesome professor) last semester so everything was fresh.
I began studying at the beginning of June(whick is when my Kaplan class started) but I really didn't start putting in the long hours until late July. I took at least 9 practice test (topscore, Kaplan, ADA 2009 and parts of 2007) to get used to the length of the test and track my progress. I have came a long way! My first practice test was 16AA and 18PAT. This is a very manageable test if you put in the hours of studying! You must prepare and go in confident!
Day before the test: At this point, your studying is over. I sat around most of the day. Went to see my grandparents and went to the gym. No studying for the DAT. I wanted to be rested and ready for test day.
Day of the test: I had a rough time sleeping. Up at 5:45, got to the testing center at 7 and waited until 8 to start. I brought a snack and some Gatorade.
Overall, I am very pleased with my scores. I wished to score a little higher on Biology. I just hope it doesn't keep me out of schools. I have a 4.0 sGPA and 3.9 oGPA. I will be applying in the 2012 cycle so I have a little bit of time to get overything together.
Good luck to you all! Now it's time to relax for the last few days of summer.
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