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Okay, I just got done with my DAT and want to give a breakdown of it and what I used. Here are the materials I utilized:
-Kaplan Blue Book
-Kaplan course
-Barron AP biology and chemistry
-My old Ochem and biology textbooks
-Crack the DAT PAT
The Kaplan course is pointless, you're better off studying on your own then going over the very basics for three hours a week. The online material that comes with the class is awesome though. It puts all the sections of the DAT into one resource and it is all in the format of the test with explanations after. It came with a ton of section tests, subject tests, quizzes, workshops, practice tests etc. Some of it is pointless but the section subject and practice tests are very good in letting you know how you're doing.
I used Crack the DAT PAT 10 test thing for the PAT section, this is a must. The kaplan is much easier than the real DAT.
I went through Kaplan BB and then took detailed notes on the Barron's Chemistry and Biology. I also went through my old bio book before Barron's to read the sections not covered well in KBB such as plants, krebs, glycolysis, kidneys, etc. I didn't use my old chem book because it was too scattered.
For Ochem i just read Kaplan and went through my old text book chapters and looked for any reactions that were missed and to brush up on some mechanisms and where some groups attack because Kaplan doesn't explain this very well sometimes. Overall I studied much less for Ochem than chem and bio.
Before I took my test I of course researched Kaplan compared to real DAT, crack the DAT compared to the real DAT, etc. What I mostly found were people saying Kaplan doesn't prepare you, you need destroyer, you need achiever, you need topscore, the real DAT is harder than Crack the DAT. I'm sure you've all seen it. So I began to worry about the test and that I was under prepared.
So today I go to take it and found that Kaplan (the online course practice tests) was almost spot on in every section except the PAT. I believe most people saying Kaplan doesn't prepare them are the people who are wanting to pick up a DAT review book and it have every little detail they are going to see on it, Kaplan just shows you the general idea of the stuff but you can't fit 6 subjects into one tiny book. This is where the AP books and your old text books come in. Also the kaplan practice tests have a bunch of questions never mentioned in their book hinting that I needed to study more. Anyways kaplan reading, QR, biology, chem, ochem were all good representations of what i saw.
Also, a lot of people say that crack the DAT PAT is easier than the real thing, but i found it to be the opposite, I found every section to be easier than the crack the DAT except for angle rankings and folding which were about the same( Im pretty sure angles is where i missed most of my points). I felt TFE wasn't as crowded or as hectic as it is on Crack the DAT. Hole punching and cubes also easier to me, maybe it was adrenaline idk, but Crack the Dat prepared me well.
Didn't touch Destroyer, topscore, achiever, or all those other things you see people saying are a must.
Anyways scores:
Pat: 24
RC: 20
QR: 20
Ochem: 24
Bio: 22
Chem:21
Awesome feeling to be done, you'll be there soon.
-Kaplan Blue Book
-Kaplan course
-Barron AP biology and chemistry
-My old Ochem and biology textbooks
-Crack the DAT PAT
The Kaplan course is pointless, you're better off studying on your own then going over the very basics for three hours a week. The online material that comes with the class is awesome though. It puts all the sections of the DAT into one resource and it is all in the format of the test with explanations after. It came with a ton of section tests, subject tests, quizzes, workshops, practice tests etc. Some of it is pointless but the section subject and practice tests are very good in letting you know how you're doing.
I used Crack the DAT PAT 10 test thing for the PAT section, this is a must. The kaplan is much easier than the real DAT.
I went through Kaplan BB and then took detailed notes on the Barron's Chemistry and Biology. I also went through my old bio book before Barron's to read the sections not covered well in KBB such as plants, krebs, glycolysis, kidneys, etc. I didn't use my old chem book because it was too scattered.
For Ochem i just read Kaplan and went through my old text book chapters and looked for any reactions that were missed and to brush up on some mechanisms and where some groups attack because Kaplan doesn't explain this very well sometimes. Overall I studied much less for Ochem than chem and bio.
Before I took my test I of course researched Kaplan compared to real DAT, crack the DAT compared to the real DAT, etc. What I mostly found were people saying Kaplan doesn't prepare you, you need destroyer, you need achiever, you need topscore, the real DAT is harder than Crack the DAT. I'm sure you've all seen it. So I began to worry about the test and that I was under prepared.
So today I go to take it and found that Kaplan (the online course practice tests) was almost spot on in every section except the PAT. I believe most people saying Kaplan doesn't prepare them are the people who are wanting to pick up a DAT review book and it have every little detail they are going to see on it, Kaplan just shows you the general idea of the stuff but you can't fit 6 subjects into one tiny book. This is where the AP books and your old text books come in. Also the kaplan practice tests have a bunch of questions never mentioned in their book hinting that I needed to study more. Anyways kaplan reading, QR, biology, chem, ochem were all good representations of what i saw.
Also, a lot of people say that crack the DAT PAT is easier than the real thing, but i found it to be the opposite, I found every section to be easier than the crack the DAT except for angle rankings and folding which were about the same( Im pretty sure angles is where i missed most of my points). I felt TFE wasn't as crowded or as hectic as it is on Crack the DAT. Hole punching and cubes also easier to me, maybe it was adrenaline idk, but Crack the Dat prepared me well.
Didn't touch Destroyer, topscore, achiever, or all those other things you see people saying are a must.
Anyways scores:
Pat: 24
RC: 20
QR: 20
Ochem: 24
Bio: 22
Chem:21
Awesome feeling to be done, you'll be there soon.
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