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- Mar 24, 2014
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Hi SDN,
I want to share with you what I did and did not do in order to prepare for the DAT examination.
Official Scores:
PAT: 24
QR: 20
RC:20
BIO:22
GC:20
OC:22
TS:21
AA:21
What I bought: Gold Standard, Kaplan Blue book, Barron's AP BIO, DAT DESTROYER, CRACK the DAT, and Achiever.
Gold Prep: This was an absolute crap shoot. I thought this would be a good introductory course to get me started for the exam but I was wrong. I found some problems in Gold Prep to be wrong. It was completely frustrating to go back and forth with the computer to search for the correct answers. There comes a line when the answers can be absurd. I dont think this preparatory work is very representative for the examination. It almost seems like this organization gather students and teachers and quickly threw problems into a book without reviewing their work. Complete waste of $150+
Kaplan Blue Book: This is a very good introductory course to get yourself started. This book covers the major concepts that the DAT will cover. I highly advise you not to delve into the PAT section. It can be confusing and isnt the strongest material to strength your PAT skills. However, from chem to bio to ochem, it is fantastic. The questions from gen chem and Bio can be representative of the questions on the real DAT. However, you must understand concepts in order to answer two way questions (Yes, two way questions in DAT!)
Barron's AP BIO: As you may all see within the forum, many members suggest getting this book. I found this book much like a crash course for the BIO section. This book should only be for reviewing and skimming. Questions in the book are too concrete and should be taken light heartly. Just read the answers.
DAT DESTROYER: This is where the real money is at. Great preparatory material that makes you understand major concepts. The solutions manual is where you need to take it slow. You can rush through all the problems all you want, but you need to slow down and carefully read the answers. The answers in this book (most of the time) provides more concepts that you wouldn't have thought of. The road maps provided in the OC manual section will help solidify your understanding with most, if not, all reactions that need to be known for the test. I praise this book over all other material that I have bought. Well worth the investment. There were some questions that were taken out of the book and used as an official DAT question- no kidding! This is a no brainer. Must have.
Crack the DAT: I bought the whole basket. I spent $390. Was is worth it? Yes and No. Where it was worth the money is the PAT portion. This section should be gold. It is the best PAT material hands down. No one compares. This section requires a lot of grunt work where you have to soak and puke through the problems. By the next few exams, you will begin to catch on small hints that help you choose the correct answer. The science portion was the worst of all... As many have stated, so many random questions. Questions can be so irrelevant. I can honestly say that through a science exam, only 20 or 30 questions are worth going through and writing down. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would not go through the science exams. Questions can be repetitive. (! There are some answers the conflict with other answers. For example: a solution can contradict another solution in ANOTHER TEST) Math section is a great representative of the actual DAT exam. IF you go thru at least 15 math tests, you are well prepared. Reading section was worth the money. I was crunched for time for the Math section. Some problems required more work than others. On the real exam, there were some two way questions and it can get confusing and it did confuse me! I am a "English as second language" and reading comp was not my best but it helped me a lot! I am a lazy reader and timing was crucial. I was crunching for time on the real exam. With reading, you should be able to read the whole reading section (1 out of 3) in under 7 mins. I was reading it at a pace of 10 mins/passage + 10 to answer 15 or more questions about the passage. NOT GOOD.
Crack scores: (from test 1 to the end)
PAT: 19, 18, 16, 21, 25, 25, 22, 22, 23, 23
SCI:17, 16, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 19, 17, 17, 19, 17, 16, 21, 20, 23, 20
QR: 14, 19, 16, 19, 20, 16, 19, 18, 19, 20, 20, 25, 20, 22, 24, 21, 23, 21, 25, 22, 21, 20, 20, 19, 20
RC: 19, 16, 16, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 18, 19
Achiever: This is a moral crusher. No kidding. It made me feel so ****ty about myself. I bought this after I completed my tests with CRACK. The questions seemed reasonable but I was doing bad on the test. Speaking of bad, RC on achiever is the worst. I can honestly tell you that RC on achiever is no comparison of the actual DAT. Very unrepresentative. I would some times get scores very low (below 50%tile) which made me worry a lot. The PAT section here made me realize that I need to come into the the actual test with a free and open mind. Achiever's PAT section is mind boggling- but achievable. But not representative of the PAT on the actual DAT. This is where CRACK is supposed to me used. Math sections were reasonable. Some questions required more time that usual but regardless, very doable.
Achiever Scores: (only 3 exams because I am poor)
PAT: 17, 19, 18
QR: 18, 17, 18
RC: 13, 16, 13
BIO: 15, 16, 14
GC: 17, 17, 16
OC: 17, 17, 17
Best of luck,
Combust.
I want to share with you what I did and did not do in order to prepare for the DAT examination.
Official Scores:
PAT: 24
QR: 20
RC:20
BIO:22
GC:20
OC:22
TS:21
AA:21
What I bought: Gold Standard, Kaplan Blue book, Barron's AP BIO, DAT DESTROYER, CRACK the DAT, and Achiever.
Gold Prep: This was an absolute crap shoot. I thought this would be a good introductory course to get me started for the exam but I was wrong. I found some problems in Gold Prep to be wrong. It was completely frustrating to go back and forth with the computer to search for the correct answers. There comes a line when the answers can be absurd. I dont think this preparatory work is very representative for the examination. It almost seems like this organization gather students and teachers and quickly threw problems into a book without reviewing their work. Complete waste of $150+
Kaplan Blue Book: This is a very good introductory course to get yourself started. This book covers the major concepts that the DAT will cover. I highly advise you not to delve into the PAT section. It can be confusing and isnt the strongest material to strength your PAT skills. However, from chem to bio to ochem, it is fantastic. The questions from gen chem and Bio can be representative of the questions on the real DAT. However, you must understand concepts in order to answer two way questions (Yes, two way questions in DAT!)
Barron's AP BIO: As you may all see within the forum, many members suggest getting this book. I found this book much like a crash course for the BIO section. This book should only be for reviewing and skimming. Questions in the book are too concrete and should be taken light heartly. Just read the answers.
DAT DESTROYER: This is where the real money is at. Great preparatory material that makes you understand major concepts. The solutions manual is where you need to take it slow. You can rush through all the problems all you want, but you need to slow down and carefully read the answers. The answers in this book (most of the time) provides more concepts that you wouldn't have thought of. The road maps provided in the OC manual section will help solidify your understanding with most, if not, all reactions that need to be known for the test. I praise this book over all other material that I have bought. Well worth the investment. There were some questions that were taken out of the book and used as an official DAT question- no kidding! This is a no brainer. Must have.
Crack the DAT: I bought the whole basket. I spent $390. Was is worth it? Yes and No. Where it was worth the money is the PAT portion. This section should be gold. It is the best PAT material hands down. No one compares. This section requires a lot of grunt work where you have to soak and puke through the problems. By the next few exams, you will begin to catch on small hints that help you choose the correct answer. The science portion was the worst of all... As many have stated, so many random questions. Questions can be so irrelevant. I can honestly say that through a science exam, only 20 or 30 questions are worth going through and writing down. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would not go through the science exams. Questions can be repetitive. (! There are some answers the conflict with other answers. For example: a solution can contradict another solution in ANOTHER TEST) Math section is a great representative of the actual DAT exam. IF you go thru at least 15 math tests, you are well prepared. Reading section was worth the money. I was crunched for time for the Math section. Some problems required more work than others. On the real exam, there were some two way questions and it can get confusing and it did confuse me! I am a "English as second language" and reading comp was not my best but it helped me a lot! I am a lazy reader and timing was crucial. I was crunching for time on the real exam. With reading, you should be able to read the whole reading section (1 out of 3) in under 7 mins. I was reading it at a pace of 10 mins/passage + 10 to answer 15 or more questions about the passage. NOT GOOD.
Crack scores: (from test 1 to the end)
PAT: 19, 18, 16, 21, 25, 25, 22, 22, 23, 23
SCI:17, 16, 15, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 16, 19, 17, 17, 19, 17, 16, 21, 20, 23, 20
QR: 14, 19, 16, 19, 20, 16, 19, 18, 19, 20, 20, 25, 20, 22, 24, 21, 23, 21, 25, 22, 21, 20, 20, 19, 20
RC: 19, 16, 16, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 18, 19
Achiever: This is a moral crusher. No kidding. It made me feel so ****ty about myself. I bought this after I completed my tests with CRACK. The questions seemed reasonable but I was doing bad on the test. Speaking of bad, RC on achiever is the worst. I can honestly tell you that RC on achiever is no comparison of the actual DAT. Very unrepresentative. I would some times get scores very low (below 50%tile) which made me worry a lot. The PAT section here made me realize that I need to come into the the actual test with a free and open mind. Achiever's PAT section is mind boggling- but achievable. But not representative of the PAT on the actual DAT. This is where CRACK is supposed to me used. Math sections were reasonable. Some questions required more time that usual but regardless, very doable.
Achiever Scores: (only 3 exams because I am poor)
PAT: 17, 19, 18
QR: 18, 17, 18
RC: 13, 16, 13
BIO: 15, 16, 14
GC: 17, 17, 16
OC: 17, 17, 17
Best of luck,
Combust.
