- Joined
- Jun 18, 2006
- Messages
- 364
- Reaction score
- 595
Hey guys, just wanted to share some advice on here as I have been reading the forums for a while. Took the DAT a few days ago, and finally had time to sit down here share my experience.
Scores were:
AA: 23
TS: 22
BIO: 22
GC: 24
OC: 22
PA: 22
RC: 24
QR: 23
I did about 6 weeks of studying, with the first 4 weeks reading everything, and the last 2 weeks doing destroyer/achiever/topscore. I spread the PAT and QR practice within the first 4 weeks, and redid all the tests the last 2 weeks. I came from a biology/chemistry background, so most of the concepts were familiar to me. I still had to reinforce those concepts because you can never be too careful!
The morning of my DAT, I ate only cereal and milk. It was a routine of mine. My test was at 12:00pm so I would wake up every day at 10AM, eat breakfast, read the news, check fantasy baseball team and then start on a full length practice DAT (Topscore or Achiever).
When I got the to test center, I signed in and then the proctor let me use to the washroom before I started the test. It was at 12:00, but I started around 11:30.
Bio: Questions weren't that bad except for a few random ones. I used Cliff's Bio (memorized as much as I can from front to back) and Kaplan BB.
Chems: I was a chem major + I tutored university level chemistry + I TA'ed chem + I did 2 years of Organic chem research.. so this was second nature to me. Used Dat destroyer and Kaplan BB to reinforce concepts.
I finished the Sciences section with like 30 minutes to spare because of all the adrenaline running through my body. Dat destroyer really helped with the quick calculations, so I got to check over my exam if I made any calculation errors.
PAT: Used Crack the DAT PAT (10 tests), Achiever and Topscore. I would say Achiever is the most representative, as Crack the DAT was really easy once you get the hang of it. Finished the test just on time! Different from the Crack DAT Pat, as I've always gotten at least 5-6 minutes left at the end of the test to check my answers.
Break: I drank some gatorade (apparent it has the same osmolarity as your body, so you won't have to go to the washroom in the middle of your test), and ate a chocolate chip muffin I bought earlier at a donut shop. I wasn't hungry as adrenaline was still rushing through me, but I knew I needed the carb intake and just swallowed it whole without chewing...
RC: I bought Crack the DAT reading, but my friend who scored a 22AA told me not to use it, as it was a waste of time. I didn't listen to him and I'm happy I didn't because it helped me with the 'tone' questions. Scored a lot better than I thought I would! I just focussed really well and I didn't get many questions that I got stuck on. Didn't map, just read the entire passage and answered the questions. Search and destroy when I got stuck, but I knew where the answers were in the passage. Didn't get Pianoed.
QR: I did crack the dat math (10 tests) and I got better and better as time went by. I went through all of 10 tests twice, and second time, I was scoring 38 or 39/40.
Finished the survey and.. couldn't believe my score!
I was pretty much hyperventilating.
The studying took a big chunk out of my life, but in the end, it was all worth it. Now I can relax and focus on the application hehe..
Review on practice Material:
Crack DAT Sciences.
I went through the first test and got 16TS, 16BIO, 16GC and 12(!!!) OC
I knew this wouldn't be representative of the real DAT, as I tutor people second year organic chemistry, and there was no way these types of weird questions were gonna be asked on the DAT. So i just dumped it and focussed on Dat destroyer.
Crack Dat reading.
This was a good change from the Search and destroy method that topscore and most of the questions were the 'tone' variety and not 'search and destroy'.
18, 19 , 21, 22, 22
Crack DAT PAT.
18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 22, 25, 20, 23, 26
As you can see, there was a steady progression and I was extremely confident with it coming in.
Crack DAT MATH:
19, 20, 18, 18, 21, 20, 21, 18, 17, 22
Second time scores were 25-30.
A friend recommended it to me over Math destroyer as you actually get to practice on a computer! Best advice ever. I scored higher the more practice I got, and actually had time to do all the tests twice! I would do 2-3 in a row when I was bored because they were so fun lol.
Topscore: Most representative of the science scores you are going to get, although software seems outdated. Went through them once.
Practice Scores (taken 2 weeks to a week before DAT
1. 20AA, 20TS, 19BIO, 19GC, 21OC, 21RC, 20PA, 22QR
2. 22AA, 22TS, 21BIO, 21GC, 28OC, 18RC, 23PA, 22QR
3. 21AA, 20TS, 17BIO, 20GC, 25OC, 19RC, 23PA, 24QR
Dat Achiever: This software is harder than normal, bought the 3-tests one cuz I ran out of time. PAT representative of real DAT. Went through Sciences and PAT twice. Everything else once.
Practice Scores (taken about a week to a few days before DAT)
1. 20AA, 20TS, 20BIO, 21GC, 19OC, 16RC, 18PA, 22QR
2. 18AA, 18TS, 17BIO, 17GC, 19OC, 17RC, 18PA, 21QR
3. 19AA, 18TS, 14BIO, 18GC, 28OC, 15RC, 18PA, 21QR
In the end, I bought a lot of study material. Almost 700 dollars worth. The Dat costed me 1000$ and almost my sanity hehe. But IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. SPARE NO EXPENSE, this test can determine your life!
And what's a score without a picture 😉
Scores were:
AA: 23
TS: 22
BIO: 22
GC: 24
OC: 22
PA: 22
RC: 24
QR: 23
I did about 6 weeks of studying, with the first 4 weeks reading everything, and the last 2 weeks doing destroyer/achiever/topscore. I spread the PAT and QR practice within the first 4 weeks, and redid all the tests the last 2 weeks. I came from a biology/chemistry background, so most of the concepts were familiar to me. I still had to reinforce those concepts because you can never be too careful!
The morning of my DAT, I ate only cereal and milk. It was a routine of mine. My test was at 12:00pm so I would wake up every day at 10AM, eat breakfast, read the news, check fantasy baseball team and then start on a full length practice DAT (Topscore or Achiever).
When I got the to test center, I signed in and then the proctor let me use to the washroom before I started the test. It was at 12:00, but I started around 11:30.
Bio: Questions weren't that bad except for a few random ones. I used Cliff's Bio (memorized as much as I can from front to back) and Kaplan BB.
Chems: I was a chem major + I tutored university level chemistry + I TA'ed chem + I did 2 years of Organic chem research.. so this was second nature to me. Used Dat destroyer and Kaplan BB to reinforce concepts.
I finished the Sciences section with like 30 minutes to spare because of all the adrenaline running through my body. Dat destroyer really helped with the quick calculations, so I got to check over my exam if I made any calculation errors.
PAT: Used Crack the DAT PAT (10 tests), Achiever and Topscore. I would say Achiever is the most representative, as Crack the DAT was really easy once you get the hang of it. Finished the test just on time! Different from the Crack DAT Pat, as I've always gotten at least 5-6 minutes left at the end of the test to check my answers.
Break: I drank some gatorade (apparent it has the same osmolarity as your body, so you won't have to go to the washroom in the middle of your test), and ate a chocolate chip muffin I bought earlier at a donut shop. I wasn't hungry as adrenaline was still rushing through me, but I knew I needed the carb intake and just swallowed it whole without chewing...
RC: I bought Crack the DAT reading, but my friend who scored a 22AA told me not to use it, as it was a waste of time. I didn't listen to him and I'm happy I didn't because it helped me with the 'tone' questions. Scored a lot better than I thought I would! I just focussed really well and I didn't get many questions that I got stuck on. Didn't map, just read the entire passage and answered the questions. Search and destroy when I got stuck, but I knew where the answers were in the passage. Didn't get Pianoed.
QR: I did crack the dat math (10 tests) and I got better and better as time went by. I went through all of 10 tests twice, and second time, I was scoring 38 or 39/40.
Finished the survey and.. couldn't believe my score!
I was pretty much hyperventilating.
The studying took a big chunk out of my life, but in the end, it was all worth it. Now I can relax and focus on the application hehe..
Review on practice Material:
Crack DAT Sciences.
I went through the first test and got 16TS, 16BIO, 16GC and 12(!!!) OC
I knew this wouldn't be representative of the real DAT, as I tutor people second year organic chemistry, and there was no way these types of weird questions were gonna be asked on the DAT. So i just dumped it and focussed on Dat destroyer.
Crack Dat reading.
This was a good change from the Search and destroy method that topscore and most of the questions were the 'tone' variety and not 'search and destroy'.
18, 19 , 21, 22, 22
Crack DAT PAT.
18, 18, 19, 21, 22, 22, 25, 20, 23, 26
As you can see, there was a steady progression and I was extremely confident with it coming in.
Crack DAT MATH:
19, 20, 18, 18, 21, 20, 21, 18, 17, 22
Second time scores were 25-30.
A friend recommended it to me over Math destroyer as you actually get to practice on a computer! Best advice ever. I scored higher the more practice I got, and actually had time to do all the tests twice! I would do 2-3 in a row when I was bored because they were so fun lol.
Topscore: Most representative of the science scores you are going to get, although software seems outdated. Went through them once.
Practice Scores (taken 2 weeks to a week before DAT
1. 20AA, 20TS, 19BIO, 19GC, 21OC, 21RC, 20PA, 22QR
2. 22AA, 22TS, 21BIO, 21GC, 28OC, 18RC, 23PA, 22QR
3. 21AA, 20TS, 17BIO, 20GC, 25OC, 19RC, 23PA, 24QR
Dat Achiever: This software is harder than normal, bought the 3-tests one cuz I ran out of time. PAT representative of real DAT. Went through Sciences and PAT twice. Everything else once.
Practice Scores (taken about a week to a few days before DAT)
1. 20AA, 20TS, 20BIO, 21GC, 19OC, 16RC, 18PA, 22QR
2. 18AA, 18TS, 17BIO, 17GC, 19OC, 17RC, 18PA, 21QR
3. 19AA, 18TS, 14BIO, 18GC, 28OC, 15RC, 18PA, 21QR
In the end, I bought a lot of study material. Almost 700 dollars worth. The Dat costed me 1000$ and almost my sanity hehe. But IT WAS ALL WORTH IT. SPARE NO EXPENSE, this test can determine your life!
And what's a score without a picture 😉
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