- Joined
- Dec 20, 2013
- Messages
- 431
- Reaction score
- 81
DAT Breakdown
Just to let you know I am Canadian Citizen.
My GPA will be around 3.6-3.7.
My EC includes shadowing, researches, review journal publish (once), various clubs, hospital music volunteering.
I am planning to apply next cycle (June 2015).
This is what I got:
PAT: 19
QR:20
RC: 19
BIO: 19
G.Chem: 20
O.Chem: 20
TS=20
AA=20
I know this isn’t super fascinating or fantastic score but couple people asked a breakdown so I will begin
(Also when I was preparing, all sorts of wonderful breakdown in this forum helped me regardless of their score..)
BIO
Material used: Cliff's AP Biology, Feralis Bio note, DAT Bootcamp
Study TIPs: I am biology major student so the concept itself was much easy to understand for me. I basically read through Cliff's once and made condense notes. Afterwards, I read through Feralis note (amazing!). Then I went right into solving DAT Bootcamp problems. After each test, I went through every single question (even the ones that I got wrong) and marked them in my notes. Afterwards, I made additional notes regarding to the topics that I marked before. Finally, I memorized the notes that I have highlighted. I wanted to go over the questions again but due to the lack of time, I decided to read my notes over and over.
Suggestion: I highly suggest you to do the entire DAT Destroyer problem as well since it will over prepare you which are good thing. Personally, I had limited time to study for biology so I did not get a chance to solve all of the problems. If I were to take DAT again, I would definitely look over Destroyer problem as well.
Actual Test: The actual test was straight forward and it was more of fact-based. The format of the questions was really similar to Bootcamp problems that I have been doing. I felt like there were many problems asking about animal physiology and human physiology. Also, there were no question regarding to plant physiology and system for my bio. Finally, do NOT memorize cell respiration in detail since they just ask simple questions only..(They don't ask for detailed mechanism).
GC
Material used: Chad's video, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp, YouTube videos
Study TIPs: For this section, I watched Chad's video (made notes for it) and jumped right into the DAT destroyer. After I have done all of the problems, i did exact same thing as I did for bio. (I highlighted the concepts that I got wrong). Following, I reminded myself of all the stuffs that I highlighted in my notes. Then, I did Bootcamp problems.
Suggestion: If you are person who tends to clear out your brain right after exam (like me), Chad's video is a great tool for you to remind some basic high school and first year general chemistry. Also, Destroyer problem is a must (it helped me a lot!).
Actual Test: The actual test were easier than both destroyer and Bootcamp. However, I was rushed in the end since I wasted some time in my Bio section. There were couple question regarding balancing the oxidation reaction for my test so be aware of this concept! Also, be quick at drawing or figuring out Lewis structure. Many of my problem required using that knowledge.
OC
Material used: Chad's video, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
Study TIPs: I did what I did for GC but for this section, I heavily focused in memorizing the reactions.
Suggestion: If you already took organic chem class and if you still remember every concept, Chad's video is not necessary in my opinion..(But it is a good refresher)
Actual Test: It was about the same difficulty as DAT Bootcamp. Beside the reaction, my exam was focused on basic knowledge. So do not just memorize reactions
PAT
Material used: DAT Bootcamp and every DAT practice test that I could get from my community library.
Study TIPs: This has been one of my weak section lol.. (My highest score that I obtained was 18 prior to actual exam.) For this section, I just did Bunch of practice tests available to me. I heard CDP is good but I could not afford it (plus lacking time to do it) so I settled with Bootcamp. Overall Bootcamp question was harder than the actual test.
Suggestion: The sections that I was confident was hole punching section so I started with Hole-punching--> cube counting--> angle ranking--> rest of the section --> TPE. This sort of worked for me since I was always short on time. (in this way, I could get at least decent amount of points from the section that I am good at)
Actual Test: The hole punching, cube counting was really easy compare to the practice test. The angle ranking was confusing so it took me a lot of time. Accordingly, I had to rush in order to finish all the rest of it. Do not waste your time in angle ranking since you will get more confused as you look over and over.
Optional Break!!!!
I highly recommend taking the optional break. It helped me a lot to relax and rest before RC section. Also, this is your chance to go to wash room lol..
RC
Material used: DAT Bootcamp, Barron's, McGraw-Hill, Kaplan, Cliff's...etc. (basically like PAT, I grabbed every material that I could barrow from my community library lol..)
Study TIPs: I am not a native speaker so I was extremely worried about this section. Also, it was my worst section. I often got 14-15 in my practice tests. For this section I just did various practice tests.
Suggestion: I personally think you should do the actual test problems whether than reading scientific journals. Also I did not use search and destroy method since it took a lot of time for me to use it. I just read the article and made notes like I am reading textbook.
Actual Test: The passage was a bit shorter than the practice tests that I have been using for. So it was nice. In general, RC wasn’t bad as I thought would be. I thought I would get like 15 lol.. Anyways, if you are native speaker and have been reading textbooks in courses, you will do fine
QR
Material used: Chad's video, Math Destroyer
Study TIPs: I watched Chad’s video to make sure I am covering every material on DAT. Also I did Math Destroyer 2 times. Each time, I made a correction note. Afterwards, I did all of the Bootcamp Test.
Suggestion: I suggest you do all of the problems and make sure to memorize some conversions.
Actual Test:
It was way easier than Math Destroyer and similar to Bootcamp. I was pretty disappointed with my score at first because I consistently scored higher than 22. (But whatever.. it is done lol..) I had to rush a bit because I ran out of space in my board and I had to erase it with my spit (yeah.. the thing in your mouth). Also, the calculator in my assigned computer really sucked so after using it on my first question I just did not use it. (Whenever I punch the number, it did not go throughL ) Anyways, if you did fine in high school math, you will have no problem!
Overall, I recommend you to have a good night sleep and do not feel pressure!
(I was actually a bit nervous as I went in to the testing centre.)
Also, don’t go to the centre too early since you will have to wait outside standing.
(I was there at 7:45 am since I had to commute and I don’t want to be late.)
I hope you enjoyed my break down and wish you all a GOOD LUCK for your DAT~
Just to let you know I am Canadian Citizen.
My GPA will be around 3.6-3.7.
My EC includes shadowing, researches, review journal publish (once), various clubs, hospital music volunteering.
I am planning to apply next cycle (June 2015).
This is what I got:
PAT: 19
QR:20
RC: 19
BIO: 19
G.Chem: 20
O.Chem: 20
TS=20
AA=20
I know this isn’t super fascinating or fantastic score but couple people asked a breakdown so I will begin
(Also when I was preparing, all sorts of wonderful breakdown in this forum helped me regardless of their score..)
BIO
Material used: Cliff's AP Biology, Feralis Bio note, DAT Bootcamp
Study TIPs: I am biology major student so the concept itself was much easy to understand for me. I basically read through Cliff's once and made condense notes. Afterwards, I read through Feralis note (amazing!). Then I went right into solving DAT Bootcamp problems. After each test, I went through every single question (even the ones that I got wrong) and marked them in my notes. Afterwards, I made additional notes regarding to the topics that I marked before. Finally, I memorized the notes that I have highlighted. I wanted to go over the questions again but due to the lack of time, I decided to read my notes over and over.
Suggestion: I highly suggest you to do the entire DAT Destroyer problem as well since it will over prepare you which are good thing. Personally, I had limited time to study for biology so I did not get a chance to solve all of the problems. If I were to take DAT again, I would definitely look over Destroyer problem as well.
Actual Test: The actual test was straight forward and it was more of fact-based. The format of the questions was really similar to Bootcamp problems that I have been doing. I felt like there were many problems asking about animal physiology and human physiology. Also, there were no question regarding to plant physiology and system for my bio. Finally, do NOT memorize cell respiration in detail since they just ask simple questions only..(They don't ask for detailed mechanism).
GC
Material used: Chad's video, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp, YouTube videos
Study TIPs: For this section, I watched Chad's video (made notes for it) and jumped right into the DAT destroyer. After I have done all of the problems, i did exact same thing as I did for bio. (I highlighted the concepts that I got wrong). Following, I reminded myself of all the stuffs that I highlighted in my notes. Then, I did Bootcamp problems.
Suggestion: If you are person who tends to clear out your brain right after exam (like me), Chad's video is a great tool for you to remind some basic high school and first year general chemistry. Also, Destroyer problem is a must (it helped me a lot!).
Actual Test: The actual test were easier than both destroyer and Bootcamp. However, I was rushed in the end since I wasted some time in my Bio section. There were couple question regarding balancing the oxidation reaction for my test so be aware of this concept! Also, be quick at drawing or figuring out Lewis structure. Many of my problem required using that knowledge.
OC
Material used: Chad's video, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
Study TIPs: I did what I did for GC but for this section, I heavily focused in memorizing the reactions.
Suggestion: If you already took organic chem class and if you still remember every concept, Chad's video is not necessary in my opinion..(But it is a good refresher
)Actual Test: It was about the same difficulty as DAT Bootcamp. Beside the reaction, my exam was focused on basic knowledge. So do not just memorize reactions
PAT
Material used: DAT Bootcamp and every DAT practice test that I could get from my community library.
Study TIPs: This has been one of my weak section lol.. (My highest score that I obtained was 18 prior to actual exam.) For this section, I just did Bunch of practice tests available to me. I heard CDP is good but I could not afford it (plus lacking time to do it) so I settled with Bootcamp. Overall Bootcamp question was harder than the actual test.
Suggestion: The sections that I was confident was hole punching section so I started with Hole-punching--> cube counting--> angle ranking--> rest of the section --> TPE. This sort of worked for me since I was always short on time. (in this way, I could get at least decent amount of points from the section that I am good at)
Actual Test: The hole punching, cube counting was really easy compare to the practice test. The angle ranking was confusing so it took me a lot of time. Accordingly, I had to rush in order to finish all the rest of it. Do not waste your time in angle ranking since you will get more confused as you look over and over.
Optional Break!!!!
I highly recommend taking the optional break. It helped me a lot to relax and rest before RC section. Also, this is your chance to go to wash room lol..
RC
Material used: DAT Bootcamp, Barron's, McGraw-Hill, Kaplan, Cliff's...etc. (basically like PAT, I grabbed every material that I could barrow from my community library lol..)
Study TIPs: I am not a native speaker so I was extremely worried about this section. Also, it was my worst section. I often got 14-15 in my practice tests. For this section I just did various practice tests.
Suggestion: I personally think you should do the actual test problems whether than reading scientific journals. Also I did not use search and destroy method since it took a lot of time for me to use it. I just read the article and made notes like I am reading textbook.
Actual Test: The passage was a bit shorter than the practice tests that I have been using for. So it was nice. In general, RC wasn’t bad as I thought would be. I thought I would get like 15 lol.. Anyways, if you are native speaker and have been reading textbooks in courses, you will do fine
QR
Material used: Chad's video, Math Destroyer
Study TIPs: I watched Chad’s video to make sure I am covering every material on DAT. Also I did Math Destroyer 2 times. Each time, I made a correction note. Afterwards, I did all of the Bootcamp Test.
Suggestion: I suggest you do all of the problems and make sure to memorize some conversions.
Actual Test:
It was way easier than Math Destroyer and similar to Bootcamp. I was pretty disappointed with my score at first because I consistently scored higher than 22. (But whatever.. it is done lol..) I had to rush a bit because I ran out of space in my board and I had to erase it with my spit (yeah.. the thing in your mouth). Also, the calculator in my assigned computer really sucked so after using it on my first question I just did not use it. (Whenever I punch the number, it did not go throughL ) Anyways, if you did fine in high school math, you will have no problem!
Overall, I recommend you to have a good night sleep and do not feel pressure!
(I was actually a bit nervous as I went in to the testing centre.)
Also, don’t go to the centre too early since you will have to wait outside standing.
(I was there at 7:45 am since I had to commute and I don’t want to be late.)
I hope you enjoyed my break down and wish you all a GOOD LUCK for your DAT~
