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Hi All,
I am very honored to share my DAT experience here. I studied for 2 month. I didn't study like crazy but everyday I studied or reviewed from 10am to 9pm. The test was more difficult in the science section. Below, I will discuss how I studied for each section and how the real DAT is like for that section.
When I got my score, I was surprised to see 19 26 21 for science. I believe in buddhism and feel I am blessed to have such score. I studied but the test was so hard on sciences. Also, I must thank SDN and everyone who created a thread. I learned how to study and got inspired every time I read other's break down. I must also thank my study buddy--my girlfriend who is preparing for her MCAT. She quizs me bio questions. ^__^
My practice exam scores can be found here if anyone is interested:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=936103
I am in no position to teach anyone. I am just a normal average student. I just hope my explanation below may be helpful in helping someone in some way.
BIO Score 19 76.6%
Bio is never my thing. I hated memorization. I read through Cliff AP once and did the quiz. It was a good review. The later 4-5 chapters are concise and provide lots of good info. for abstract bio topics such as evolution. I studied destroyer once. I am very bad at bio so I just read the answers. It broadened my bio knowledge a bit.
Going into the center I fear bio the most. Bio today on my DAT is very hard for me. The first time I go through it, I marked about 10-12 questions. Later, I had 10 min left so I checked them again. Somehow I was able to reason and convinced myself other answers either don't feel right or never heard of them. Can't help anyone much here because it is my weakest section. I will say stay confident and alert! Skip and come back. DON'T stare at one question and lose confidence! You can do it! I got 3 Cs in college for bio and I got a 19! (which isn't great but ...)
Oh, I had microarray question too...even though I know it is for gene mapping, the answer choices are so close...
GC Score 26 98.8%
Chad is very helpful. Make sure you download his outline and take brief and concise notes! Use that and do his quiz, then do destroyer! Some questions in destroyer are quite hard because it takes 2-3 steps to get the answer. The most important thing is to understand what the question is asking! I went through destroyer first time doing questions and mark those I am not familiar with. I didn't use it to quiz myself. When I got stuck, I look at the answer. Then, not long before my DAT, I read those I marked again.
GC is not very hard on the real DAT. You need to be fast. BUT the more important thing is to stay clam and allow your mind to go smoothly. I know many hate maths here but the math on the real DAT is not very hard. Just make sure you stay alert and think smoothly. Don't look at the timer...it only make you nervous and slow your thinking down. Also, write down the math. I am good at math but at that moment, if I do math in my head, I will surely make mistakes.
There are 2-3 questions I marked for GC. One is significant figure...make sure you read some examples just in case.
OC Score 21 85.7%
I honestly studied 1 month just for OC. First, I did Chad video then destroyer threw me off. However, when I finished destroyer, I realized only 1/3 of the questions are too hard. I only did it once. However, I reviewed chad's outline with my detailed notes at least 5 times. Before the exam, I quickly reviewed IR NMR and some reactions such as HBR/ ROOR radical Antimarkovnikov product, stuff like that.
The real OC was super hard. I marked 1/3 of the questions which are very strange...never seen them before. Never Never give up! Do the easy ones first. I didn't review my marked OC question because I am not confident in changing any of them...
PAT Score 23 96.4%
I studied Kaplan first. Then CDP. I found it hard at first. After 1 month, it was easy. I am scoring above 21 on CDP. Then I did achiever, I found it hard at first. Achiever told me to pay attention to proportion and small details in Keyhole.
KEYHOLE: hardest for me. I will say do achiever and see what kind of question you got wrong. You will see where you need to be careful afterwards.
T/F/E: CDP should be enough. Dash/solid lines are very helpful. Counting doesn't always help but dash/solid difference almost always rule out the wrong ones. HINT: look at the question then compare the answer choices first to know their difference. It is the difference that matters.
Angle: I didn't use much technique. There is one. Remember what a 45 degree angle is like. I always image a 45 degree angle when comparing two angles close to 45 degree. For angles between 45 and 180 degree, imaging the baseline elongate and compare the other side. For hard ones, trust your instinct and don't double check...it won't help...
Cube counting: CDP.
Hole Punching: it is helpful to actually try it on a paper for once. Much easier to visualize how it unfold afterwards for me.
Pattern folding: this is my 2nd fear after Keyhole. Move quickly through them and do those easier ones first! Compare differences!
Overall my DAT PAT wasn't very hard. There are about 6 questions that I marked all in KEYHOLE and Patternfolding...also, make sure you relax too and fill in the one you want, especially for Cube counting.
RC 22 84.4%
I am not good at english....the first one is...hard...marked 5...used 21 minute and guessed on marked ones...the second and the third ones are easier.
I read first 3 paragraph then do each questions one by one. Skip and do easier ones first and come back when you have time. You will find answers to previous questions when you do other easy ones! Relax and Good luck.
QR 22 97.9%
I thought I got 30...every question was easy...I only did the first 2 destroyer and got 33+ for each. Chad helped me on permutation and probability. Other than that...my 4 years study in engineeing kinda paid off here...
Lastly some HINT:
1. everyone knows PV=nRT but only some knows P (Molecular Weight) = Density x RT. Know it!! I saw it so many times and it helped me.
2. start bio early and do qvault. Finish 10 test and do the subject ones. They are very good. Although they didn't quite resemble DAT questions in my opinion, they are helpful in building your bio background, especially if you hate to read bio like me.
3. click on C first when you use calculator to make sure you erased previous answer.
Good luck Everyone. When I came out, I feel blessed by God and feel it is not due to me or my 2 month study. My scores, if great, is only due to the bless I received from God and the help I received from SDN. Please ask any question if you need to.
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