- Joined
- Jul 19, 2013
- Messages
- 22
- Reaction score
- 2
Background: Junior at a large public university. Majoring in economics. Haven't taken a science course since freshman year. Spent 6 weeks studying for the DAT (2 weeks during winter break and 4 weeks during the school year). Spent about 6-8 hours the first 2 weeks and 2-3 hours the last 4 weeks.
Score Breakdown:
PAT- 20
QR- 24
RC- 18
Bio- 18
GC- 21
OC- 23
TS- 20
AA- 21
Biology (18)
Prep Material: DAT Destroyer 2015, Cliffs AP Bio, KBB
Explanation: I have never been good at memorization and to me, bio was mostly memorization. I only did 332/563 problems in Destroyer. If I had more time, I probably could have done better. For destroyer, I never looked at the answer until I searched everything I didn't know online first. Cliffs was good at refreshing what I forgot during my intro to bio class freshman year. KBB was ok..
General Chemistry & Organic Chemistry (21 & 23)
Prep Material: DAT Destroyer 2015, Chad GC and OC Videos
Explanation: Spent the two weeks of break going through all of Chad's chem videos and doing the associated quizzes. I took detailed notes and if I didn't get anything, I would look it up online. About 3 days before the exam, I would re-watch a couple of the videos pertaining to the concepts I didn't understand. Only did 155/335 and 138/298 of the GC and OC Destroyer problems, respectively. For organic chemistry though, I made sure that I knew the 25 basic reactions by heart. I also looked up every mechanism for all of the practice problems answer choices just because I was interested in how they worked.
Reading Comprehension (18)
Prep Material: None
Explanation: That's why I got such a low score. Ran out of time at the end and had to guess on 7 problems.
Quantitative Reasoning (24)
Prep Material: DAT Destroyer 2015
Explanation: I did the first 5 problems in the QR section of DAT Destroyer just because it was there. Other than that, no other prep. Used the calculator on almost every problem. Ended up with about 15 minutes left to double check.
PAT (20)
Prep Material: Youtube videos
Explanation: Watched Ari's PAT videos and the video on "line of symmetry." No practice problems. Just winged it. I thought the hole punch section was a 5x5 box so I made a bunch of 5x5 squares before the section began and when I saw that it was 4x4 I had to call the proctor over and hand him a piece of scratch paper only with a bunch of 5x5 boxes drawn on it. He just stared at me. Thought that was funny. Wish I actually practiced the TFE section.
I know my breakdown isn't as comprehensive as most of the member's here, but if you guys have any questions/comments, I'll be happy to answer them. I'm gonna go party now since I've basically spent the last month and a half living in the library.
Score Breakdown:
PAT- 20
QR- 24
RC- 18
Bio- 18
GC- 21
OC- 23
TS- 20
AA- 21
Biology (18)
Prep Material: DAT Destroyer 2015, Cliffs AP Bio, KBB
Explanation: I have never been good at memorization and to me, bio was mostly memorization. I only did 332/563 problems in Destroyer. If I had more time, I probably could have done better. For destroyer, I never looked at the answer until I searched everything I didn't know online first. Cliffs was good at refreshing what I forgot during my intro to bio class freshman year. KBB was ok..
General Chemistry & Organic Chemistry (21 & 23)
Prep Material: DAT Destroyer 2015, Chad GC and OC Videos
Explanation: Spent the two weeks of break going through all of Chad's chem videos and doing the associated quizzes. I took detailed notes and if I didn't get anything, I would look it up online. About 3 days before the exam, I would re-watch a couple of the videos pertaining to the concepts I didn't understand. Only did 155/335 and 138/298 of the GC and OC Destroyer problems, respectively. For organic chemistry though, I made sure that I knew the 25 basic reactions by heart. I also looked up every mechanism for all of the practice problems answer choices just because I was interested in how they worked.
Reading Comprehension (18)
Prep Material: None
Explanation: That's why I got such a low score. Ran out of time at the end and had to guess on 7 problems.
Quantitative Reasoning (24)
Prep Material: DAT Destroyer 2015
Explanation: I did the first 5 problems in the QR section of DAT Destroyer just because it was there. Other than that, no other prep. Used the calculator on almost every problem. Ended up with about 15 minutes left to double check.
PAT (20)
Prep Material: Youtube videos
Explanation: Watched Ari's PAT videos and the video on "line of symmetry." No practice problems. Just winged it. I thought the hole punch section was a 5x5 box so I made a bunch of 5x5 squares before the section began and when I saw that it was 4x4 I had to call the proctor over and hand him a piece of scratch paper only with a bunch of 5x5 boxes drawn on it. He just stared at me. Thought that was funny. Wish I actually practiced the TFE section.
I know my breakdown isn't as comprehensive as most of the member's here, but if you guys have any questions/comments, I'll be happy to answer them. I'm gonna go party now since I've basically spent the last month and a half living in the library.
