- Joined
- Feb 13, 2014
- Messages
- 507
- Reaction score
- 322
Before I get to the breakdown, I owe a giant THANK YOU to some of you. So many of you took time out of your busy lives to encourage and motivate me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. A few people in particular who went above and beyond, in no particular order: orgoman22, AintNobodyGotTimeForDAT, LuckBloodandSweat, WheatLom okiedokeartichoke, klownzo, Axiomatician, fit2, DrLTD, pateeth, Hard Work Pays Off.
I thank you all for being such kind, amazing, super badass folk
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BREAKDOWN
Some of you may remember me from posts such as "If I were to get a very low DAT (say like a 16AA or something) would a retake even matter?" and "So disappointed: 2009 Practice Test". I was convinced that I was literally too stupid to pull off a decent score. Fortunately, that was not the case
.
I am a non-trad and haven't taken a science class in several years. When I started studying, I realized that not only did I not remember almost anything from chemistry, but I actually had never fully understood the concepts back when I did take the classes. I was great at memorizing enough to ace the tests, but I didn't truly learn a lot. Realizing this was very scary, as I had only a few months to completely teach myself things and then try to get fast at doing them. I quit my job to study, and only had a few months of saving, so I was on a time crunch!
I studied for about 2.5-3 months in total, but didn't buckle down hard until the last month. The last month I studied on average 9 hours a day. I would definitely recommend that anyone starting to study creates a study plan and sticks with it. I procrastinated so much in the beginning because I kept thinking I had enough time. Don't make that mistake. You do NOT want to take this thing again if you can help it. That being said - don't be afraid of a retake either! I worked myself up into tears because I was so concerned that I would get a low score and never try again because that would mean I was stupid. I can promise you that if you don't do well, it does not necessarily mean you are not intelligent. A LOT of this test is based on luck. You may just get unlucky and get tested on something you didn't study as hard. If you have to retake, it's okay! Don't be like me and feel like your life will be over! I truly feel like half of what you're being tested on is just your ability to handle the pressure, so go in with confidence and you will succeed! If not the first time, then the second or even third time. You have what it takes!
My scores:
AA 21
TS 21
BIO 20
GC 21
OC 22
RC 22
QR 18
PAT 17
BIO: This section was very random, but none of it was actually difficult per se. My advice would be to review a little of every topic you can. Nothing was too in depth. There was just a lot of random stuff that you could probably answer correctly if you had glanced at it in the past month or two. I mainly used Destroyer and Bootcamp for this section. I also used the AintNobodyGotTimeForDAT Anki Deck the last week before my test and wished I had more time to review them. I didn't bother with Cliff's at all.
GEN CHEM & ORGO: These were both very straightforward. Watch Chad's and go through Destroyer- those are truly all you need to pull off a 20+ in these sections. There were some conceptual questions, but those two sources covered them all.
READING: Not much to say here. I did 2 practice tests on Bootcamp and scored well, so I didn't study any more. I've never struggled with reading so I apologize if I don't have any real advice for you guys.
QR: I freaked out because I had only studied this the last week before my test and was doing TERRIBLY. I may have gotten lucky, but the real test was SO much easier than Bootcamp and Destroyer! Don't ignore this section, though, because I've heard others say their version has been harder or on par with Bootcamp's QR. If you can master those two resources, you will be golden on the real thing.
PAT: I won't sugarcoat it - I did not bother to study for this much. I hated practicing it and I was so concerned with my science scores, I did a grand total of 3 practice tests and that was it. I absolutely do not recommend this to anyone. Study this daily to do well. You really should not ignore this section. This score will probably hurt me, so don't make my mistake.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I received this tidbit of very good advice from Nancy Steen: don't worry about your practice test scores. I focused on these too much and lost too much time being upset over them. For those of you worried, I didn't break a 20 on either the 2007 or 2009 exams. I buckled down the last week because I was so panicked over these, and I did fine. STUDY HARD AND KNOW THE MATERIAL! There is no way to accurately predict your score, so quit trying and use your time to review and practice.
If anyone needs some motivation or has any question about the exam (obviously aside from asking me what questions were on it - I'm not about to get my scores invalidated to help you cheat) I would be more than happy to help you. Send me a PM and I'll do what I can. Now, get your butt off SDN and go study, slacker.
I thank you all for being such kind, amazing, super badass folk
.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BREAKDOWN
Some of you may remember me from posts such as "If I were to get a very low DAT (say like a 16AA or something) would a retake even matter?" and "So disappointed: 2009 Practice Test". I was convinced that I was literally too stupid to pull off a decent score. Fortunately, that was not the case
.I am a non-trad and haven't taken a science class in several years. When I started studying, I realized that not only did I not remember almost anything from chemistry, but I actually had never fully understood the concepts back when I did take the classes. I was great at memorizing enough to ace the tests, but I didn't truly learn a lot. Realizing this was very scary, as I had only a few months to completely teach myself things and then try to get fast at doing them. I quit my job to study, and only had a few months of saving, so I was on a time crunch!
I studied for about 2.5-3 months in total, but didn't buckle down hard until the last month. The last month I studied on average 9 hours a day. I would definitely recommend that anyone starting to study creates a study plan and sticks with it. I procrastinated so much in the beginning because I kept thinking I had enough time. Don't make that mistake. You do NOT want to take this thing again if you can help it. That being said - don't be afraid of a retake either! I worked myself up into tears because I was so concerned that I would get a low score and never try again because that would mean I was stupid. I can promise you that if you don't do well, it does not necessarily mean you are not intelligent. A LOT of this test is based on luck. You may just get unlucky and get tested on something you didn't study as hard. If you have to retake, it's okay! Don't be like me and feel like your life will be over! I truly feel like half of what you're being tested on is just your ability to handle the pressure, so go in with confidence and you will succeed! If not the first time, then the second or even third time. You have what it takes!
My scores:
AA 21
TS 21
BIO 20
GC 21
OC 22
RC 22
QR 18
PAT 17
BIO: This section was very random, but none of it was actually difficult per se. My advice would be to review a little of every topic you can. Nothing was too in depth. There was just a lot of random stuff that you could probably answer correctly if you had glanced at it in the past month or two. I mainly used Destroyer and Bootcamp for this section. I also used the AintNobodyGotTimeForDAT Anki Deck the last week before my test and wished I had more time to review them. I didn't bother with Cliff's at all.
GEN CHEM & ORGO: These were both very straightforward. Watch Chad's and go through Destroyer- those are truly all you need to pull off a 20+ in these sections. There were some conceptual questions, but those two sources covered them all.
READING: Not much to say here. I did 2 practice tests on Bootcamp and scored well, so I didn't study any more. I've never struggled with reading so I apologize if I don't have any real advice for you guys.
QR: I freaked out because I had only studied this the last week before my test and was doing TERRIBLY. I may have gotten lucky, but the real test was SO much easier than Bootcamp and Destroyer! Don't ignore this section, though, because I've heard others say their version has been harder or on par with Bootcamp's QR. If you can master those two resources, you will be golden on the real thing.
PAT: I won't sugarcoat it - I did not bother to study for this much. I hated practicing it and I was so concerned with my science scores, I did a grand total of 3 practice tests and that was it. I absolutely do not recommend this to anyone. Study this daily to do well. You really should not ignore this section. This score will probably hurt me, so don't make my mistake.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I received this tidbit of very good advice from Nancy Steen: don't worry about your practice test scores. I focused on these too much and lost too much time being upset over them. For those of you worried, I didn't break a 20 on either the 2007 or 2009 exams. I buckled down the last week because I was so panicked over these, and I did fine. STUDY HARD AND KNOW THE MATERIAL! There is no way to accurately predict your score, so quit trying and use your time to review and practice.
If anyone needs some motivation or has any question about the exam (obviously aside from asking me what questions were on it - I'm not about to get my scores invalidated to help you cheat) I would be more than happy to help you. Send me a PM and I'll do what I can. Now, get your butt off SDN and go study, slacker
. 
