I feel so much better being done! I did average, but I thought I would share a little bit anyway since everyone here has been so helpful. (And maybe you might find something helpful? I don't know - stranger things have happened! 🙂)
Also, apparently you now have to bring either your passport or permanent residency card to the test? I was not aware of this (the first two times I had taken it, I didn't have to do this), and so I had to drive back home (~20-30min drive) and then back to the testing center... They almost didn't let me take the test, but thankfully they finally did! Whew.
My DAT scores:
PAT: 24
QR: 21
RC: 24
BIO: 20
GC: 18
OC: 19
TS: 19
AA: 20
My previous test scores (first test taken 08/13/09, second one 01/25/10), along with Achiever scores:
T1 / T2 // Achiever 1/2/3
PAT: 21 / 20 // NA/18/NA
QR : 16 / 19 // NA/15/NA
RC : 20 / 25 // NA/18/NA
BIO: 17 / 18 // 17/15/14
GC : 17 / 18 // 17/13/14
OC : 17 / 16 // 17/16/18
TS : 17 / 18 // -----------
AA : 17 / 19 // -----------
Resources this time around:
Kaplan BB
AP Cliff's Bio
DAT Destroyer
Achiever (Tests 1-3)
Crack DAT PAT
Crack DAT MATH
...also used Campbell's bio and my old ochem notes to supplement.
I started studying on-and-off in early June - not much, just a few chapters of Cliff's or Kaplan BB. I took forever to get through it, just because I was slacking. (I was also taking eco, and once eco ended, I started another class). Some days I would get 5-7 hours, other days I would only get 1, if even. Towards the last week I started freaking out (I'm more motivated under pressure), and I think I got more out of it.
Achiever: I mainly used this for the sciences to scare myself into studying more. It kind of worked. Let me tell you: Seeing two 14s (GC&OC) two days before you take the DATs is NOT encouraging!
Breakdown-
BIO: I was honestly surprised by my score. I thought I had done terribly. The bio section was so random - I felt as though I was relying on knowledge I had learned throughout my undergrad career so far more than anything I had specifically looked at during my studying for the DATs. Though I will say this: Cliff's bio, in my opinion, is a lot more informative and in-detail than KBB. DON'T waste your time with KBB's bio section - for this test, I only looked at Cliff's. Also, I would do the practice tests at the end. It seemed like a lot of the questions were similar. Did some Destroyer bio as well - the questions were a lot more in detail than the actual test.
GC: I really liked KBB for this.
OC: Again, KBB. I didn't go through all of it; I just focused on the concepts I needed brushing up on.
PAT: I averaged around 18s on CDP. The real DAT was MUCH easier. The hole punches on the real thing were a LOT easier. Doing those after doing the ones on CDP was like a walk in the park. TFE was easier too, though I thought some of them were tricky (there was one I couldn't find the difference between two options). Cube counting was fairly straightforward; I don't think I got any numbers above 9/10. Some of the cube-folding (is that what it's called?) was a little tricky, but other than that it was fine. One thing I did find more difficult on the real DAT was the angles. I couldn't for the life of me figure out which was smaller between two options! They all came so close. In the end I usually just guessed and moved on, because I didn't want to waste time when I could get more points for something I could actually tell the difference between later.
Also, if this is your very first time studying for the DAT, I highly recommend THIS THREAD for the PAT section. When I first looked at it a year ago, it taught me everything I needed to know on how to do well on the PAT.
QR: I think I lucked out with this one, and was very surprised with my score. The very first time I took the DATs, I got some REALLY HARD questions. I don't think I've gotten questions that difficult the subsequent times I've taken this. Anyway, it was fairly straightforward. There was a problem on interest that I didn't really know, and there was one that I completely had no idea how to do. The calculator was helpful, especially in checking I got the decimal places right, etc. (Though I've found that converting it to scientific notation works just as well for not messing up your decimal places). In comparison to Crack DAT MATH, the real test was a lot easier. I even had ~5min left over at the end of the section to go over my marked questions.
I did 3 tests on CDM (which is why I love that it never expires - I had done 4 tests previously): I started with a 15 (I think?) on CDM, but that slowly rose to an 18. Part of the problem was that I could NEVER FINISH ON TIME. The timer would always run out when I had 8-9 questions left.
I think the math section in the DAT Destroyer is either at the same level or a little easier than the real DAT (the very first DAT I took, all I used was the math section on the DAT destroyer)... so I wouldn't recommend only doing that.
RC: I don't really have any tips for this. I just... do it? I guess I just sort of skim it the first time, then go immediately to the questions - usually by the end I'll have read most of the entire passage.
Er, sorry - I didn't mean for the post to be this long.
Also, apparently you now have to bring either your passport or permanent residency card to the test? I was not aware of this (the first two times I had taken it, I didn't have to do this), and so I had to drive back home (~20-30min drive) and then back to the testing center... They almost didn't let me take the test, but thankfully they finally did! Whew.
My DAT scores:
PAT: 24
QR: 21
RC: 24
BIO: 20
GC: 18
OC: 19
TS: 19
AA: 20
My previous test scores (first test taken 08/13/09, second one 01/25/10), along with Achiever scores:
T1 / T2 // Achiever 1/2/3
PAT: 21 / 20 // NA/18/NA
QR : 16 / 19 // NA/15/NA
RC : 20 / 25 // NA/18/NA
BIO: 17 / 18 // 17/15/14
GC : 17 / 18 // 17/13/14
OC : 17 / 16 // 17/16/18
TS : 17 / 18 // -----------
AA : 17 / 19 // -----------
Resources this time around:
Kaplan BB
AP Cliff's Bio
DAT Destroyer
Achiever (Tests 1-3)
Crack DAT PAT
Crack DAT MATH
...also used Campbell's bio and my old ochem notes to supplement.
I started studying on-and-off in early June - not much, just a few chapters of Cliff's or Kaplan BB. I took forever to get through it, just because I was slacking. (I was also taking eco, and once eco ended, I started another class). Some days I would get 5-7 hours, other days I would only get 1, if even. Towards the last week I started freaking out (I'm more motivated under pressure), and I think I got more out of it.
Achiever: I mainly used this for the sciences to scare myself into studying more. It kind of worked. Let me tell you: Seeing two 14s (GC&OC) two days before you take the DATs is NOT encouraging!
Breakdown-
BIO: I was honestly surprised by my score. I thought I had done terribly. The bio section was so random - I felt as though I was relying on knowledge I had learned throughout my undergrad career so far more than anything I had specifically looked at during my studying for the DATs. Though I will say this: Cliff's bio, in my opinion, is a lot more informative and in-detail than KBB. DON'T waste your time with KBB's bio section - for this test, I only looked at Cliff's. Also, I would do the practice tests at the end. It seemed like a lot of the questions were similar. Did some Destroyer bio as well - the questions were a lot more in detail than the actual test.
GC: I really liked KBB for this.
OC: Again, KBB. I didn't go through all of it; I just focused on the concepts I needed brushing up on.
PAT: I averaged around 18s on CDP. The real DAT was MUCH easier. The hole punches on the real thing were a LOT easier. Doing those after doing the ones on CDP was like a walk in the park. TFE was easier too, though I thought some of them were tricky (there was one I couldn't find the difference between two options). Cube counting was fairly straightforward; I don't think I got any numbers above 9/10. Some of the cube-folding (is that what it's called?) was a little tricky, but other than that it was fine. One thing I did find more difficult on the real DAT was the angles. I couldn't for the life of me figure out which was smaller between two options! They all came so close. In the end I usually just guessed and moved on, because I didn't want to waste time when I could get more points for something I could actually tell the difference between later.
Also, if this is your very first time studying for the DAT, I highly recommend THIS THREAD for the PAT section. When I first looked at it a year ago, it taught me everything I needed to know on how to do well on the PAT.
QR: I think I lucked out with this one, and was very surprised with my score. The very first time I took the DATs, I got some REALLY HARD questions. I don't think I've gotten questions that difficult the subsequent times I've taken this. Anyway, it was fairly straightforward. There was a problem on interest that I didn't really know, and there was one that I completely had no idea how to do. The calculator was helpful, especially in checking I got the decimal places right, etc. (Though I've found that converting it to scientific notation works just as well for not messing up your decimal places). In comparison to Crack DAT MATH, the real test was a lot easier. I even had ~5min left over at the end of the section to go over my marked questions.
I did 3 tests on CDM (which is why I love that it never expires - I had done 4 tests previously): I started with a 15 (I think?) on CDM, but that slowly rose to an 18. Part of the problem was that I could NEVER FINISH ON TIME. The timer would always run out when I had 8-9 questions left.
I think the math section in the DAT Destroyer is either at the same level or a little easier than the real DAT (the very first DAT I took, all I used was the math section on the DAT destroyer)... so I wouldn't recommend only doing that.
RC: I don't really have any tips for this. I just... do it? I guess I just sort of skim it the first time, then go immediately to the questions - usually by the end I'll have read most of the entire passage.
Er, sorry - I didn't mean for the post to be this long.
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