DAT done 1/22/09

[yankees27th]

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Bio: 23
GC: 27
OC: 23
PA: 20
RC: 24
QR: 21
TS: 24
AA: 24

Breakdown:
Bio: The tough questions were all at the beginning which kind of freaked me out. Maybe I just needed time to settle in though. Nothing was really detailed.

GC: I thought I did pretty well, but I wasn't expecting a 27 here haha. It was a good mix of conceptual and math questions.

OC: Harder than I was expecting, but I'm still happy obviously.

PAT: A lot of the keyhole pictures were unclear in my opinion making it harder than CDP. TFE questions were a complete joke. So easy (and that was always one of my weak sections). Some angle questions were really hard, other extremely obvious. Like one angle was clearly the biggest and that got you the answer right away. Hole punching was the easiest thing ever. Cube counting was simple. Pattern folding was the hardest section (along with keyhole) but it still wasn't too bad.

I brought some food with me for the break. I thought only 5 or 10 minutes had gone by. I got back to my computer and saw the timer going down with only 3 seconds left. Phew.

RC: Way easier than I thought it would be. I had time to read each passage fully and answer all questions (barely). I HIGHLY recommend Kaplan's mapping strategy. It helped a ton.

QR: Simple. I'm surprised I only got a 21...

That's pretty much it. If you have any questions in general about the test or about how I studied let me know. I'm obviously not going to say what was on the test though.

Good luck to those who still have to take the test and thanks to everyone who helped!

 

[eilrahcmi]

awesome scores man!!!!!! i knew you would do well!

👍

 

[eldirty]

WOW ... another domination story ... congrats and I would say good luck but you probably dont need it with scores like those.

 

[yankees27th]

Thanks guys. I know, it's crazy how doc got a 24 and I was thinking that there was no way I could do it too, but I did. Two 24s in 4 days on this site. Pretty awesome!

 

[supraman]

Fantastic job dude! If you apply on the first day I think you have shots everywhere (assuming you are well rounded besides the numbers). I think the record on here is a 27 AA.

 

[CALgoob]

wow our scores are almost exactly the same...i just got back so ill write a breakdown later...

 

[wahoo08]

Congrats! AMAZING scores!

Would you mind posting the materials you used to study for each section and which ones you thought helped you the most?

And when you did the natural sciences, do you recommend skipping to the gen chem section and then going to orgo and then do bio last?

And lastly, did RC have a lot of tone/inference questions, or were they mostly questions you could easily find the answers to in the passage?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

 

[MaskItOrCasket]

knew u'd kill it yank!! u might want to pencil in a date with your mailbox on 12/1 right now.

And when you did the natural sciences, do you recommend skipping to the gen chem section and then going to orgo and then do bio last?

this was discussed on doc's thread. i strongly suggest skipping bio. it took me 12min to do which allowed me to focus my time and energy on the easy g/ochem q's

And lastly, did RC have a lot of tone/inference questions, or were they mostly questions you could easily find the answers to in the passage?

this varies on the passage. of course they arent gonna ask you the tone on a passage about an informative science topic. but if its about a new science breakthrough like cancer could be cured with videogames, then ur likely to see those types of questions.

if u practice bio section by reading campbells text u will be pretty darn good at extracting suff out of a text by the end.

 

[Albuterol]

BEAST scores. Nice job dude!

 

[khakwanit1]

Good Job man

 

[doc3232]

Congrats man.
I think we got the same test because a lot of what you said, I would agree with. 😀

 

[joonkimdds]

totally amazing. I am glad I have been studying with u and doc on SDN🙂

 

[yankees27th]

Congrats! AMAZING scores!

Would you mind posting the materials you used to study for each section and which ones you thought helped you the most?

And when you did the natural sciences, do you recommend skipping to the gen chem section and then going to orgo and then do bio last?

And lastly, did RC have a lot of tone/inference questions, or were they mostly questions you could easily find the answers to in the passage?

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

I used Kaplan and Destroyer. I actually got a tutor from Kaplan which was great. In a class you go at the pace of the rest of the class (usually the slowest person, at least that was the case for my sat class back in the day). With a tutor you can focus on your own weaknesses and go at your own pace. The tutoring came with all the online content and I was actually allowed to go to whatever classes I wanted also (the class near me was cancelled so they tacked on 4 extra hours of tutoring 😀). I also used CDP for PAT.

Now, I'm sorry panther, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on a few things. I wouldn't recommend skipping bio. First of all, the SNS time limit probably shouldn't be a big factor for too many people. I was able to go back and check 60 of my answers, and I took a bathroom break in the middle too. Now, there's a good chance you're going to be nervous and make mistakes when you first start. I had 4 of my first 6 questions marked, or something like that, but when you go over questions when you're done, I just think it would be a lot easier to spot your early mistakes in bio than in gchem. In a gchem calculation you can forget a step and get a different choice and think you got it right. With bio you know if you need to mark a question and go back to it. Just my opinion though.

I'm also disagreeing with you Panther on the reading section. I had three very scientific passages and they were full of inference questions. They weren't bad though if you read the passage.

I've got to go now, but I'll tell you guys more about everything if you want later.

 

[Chisomu]

Good job!!!

Did you use just Kaplan BB to study Biology?

 

[Svart Aske]

How did you do on your practice tests? And were there any taxonomy and/or disease questions?

Insane scores, btw, congratulations.

 

[drillbit]

Way to go! Amazing scores!

 

[drillbit]

Not bad 4 a yankee! (Red Sox Fan here....)

 

[yankees27th]

Chisomu, I used Kaplan and Destroyer for bio. I learned a lot from destroyer, but I'm not so sure any of it was on the test...
I also bought AP Cliffs but didn't look at it until two nights ago. I have such a strong bio background it took me about an hour to get through the entire book and I was done with it. I'd definitely recommend it though if you need some bio refreshing.

Svarte, it depends on which practice tests. I got anywhere between 20 and 24 on the kaplan tests from the online content (some of those tests are seriously just confidence boosters). Topscore I don't remember offhand but I think about 20-21. Achiever I did not so well on, around 17 or 18 (I personnaly don't recommend Achiever at all, it wasn't representative of the actual exam).
Also, no crazy taxonomy questions. As for disease questions, I know what you mean so no, nothing like that, but of course punnett squares and the immune system are fair game.

And drillbit, let's just wait until April hehe.

 

[johnnyjlee]

Congrads on those sweet scores wow !

 

[suhshi]

congrats man
bet it feels good

 

[199868]

Good score. Do you mind sharing RC strategy?

 

[beastmode]

Domination...

Looks like you didn't get complacent after those sick diagnostic scores. It is rare to see scores that high in every category. Nearly as perfect as you can get with the DAT, congrats man.

 

[gentile1225]

damnnn im not going to lie but i am a little jealous. congratulations! you owned it.

 

[heartsclovers]

congrats congrats 🙂 so did you really just use kaplan's bb and destroyer (as well as achiever and top score) as study materials? what study material(s) did you use specifically for each section? and for how long did you study for? thanks and kudossss

 

[peterngu]

Awesome scores buddy. Definitely equivalent to a bball triple-double. LeBron would be proud.

 

[OnlyDrilling]

Hey Yankee was destroyer gen chem and orgo enough for the test? Was it representative and do u think it really helpeed? Ive been using destroyer and im taking my test this coming week. Thanks!

 

[yankees27th]

Secondstriker, I used the Kaplan strategy for RC. Write keywords as you get to them for each paragraph and when you read the questions you can find the parts of the passage with the answer faster.

Heartsclovers, I did use kaplan bb and destroyer, but I also had the kaplan online materials and a kaplan tutor (which I highly recommend getting if you can part with the cash). Topscore was good. Honestly, I thought it was slightly harder than the real thing, but I know most people say the opposite so who knows. Achiever is much harder, not representative of the test, and a waste of time in my opinion (although I only used it for the science sections).
And of course I used CDP for PAT.

Onlydrilling, Destroyer is good for oc and gc, but it does have a lot of overkill. The problem with Destroyer is that it focuses a lot on calculations for gchem while the DAT has a lot of conceptual questions (which Kaplan is good with). For ochem, just know that you're probably not going to have to know those crazy reactions. The simple ones will most likely suffice. Definitely know your Sn1/Sn2/E1/E2 though.

 

[illbirz]

Hey yankee, congrats on the great great great scores. Wish you all the best with the application process in the upcoming months. Just wanted to know as far as QR goes, what would u recommend focusing on. Trig, or geometry?

 

[peerless218]

You're now a DAT god in my book....totally owned my 20...TOTALLY

 

[ZenoVT]

WOW, awesome scores! GO YOU! 😀

 

[Svart Aske]

Hey Yankee27th, do you mind answering my question here in case it doesn't get addressed?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=596502

 

[urDDS]

in past two DAT's Genchem is my problem, do you recomend doing achiver or destoyer again before the exam. I dont have achiever but I was thinking to get just for PAT and GEN CHEM.

 

[Sublimation]

Congrats!!!! amazing scores

 

[yankees27th]

in past two DAT's Genchem is my problem, do you recomend doing achiver or destoyer again before the exam. I dont have achiever but I was thinking to get just for PAT and GEN CHEM.

I really don't recommend achiever. I only used it for the sciences and it was so much harder than anything you have to know. On the two Achiever tests I took, I got 17/18/19 and 17/17/17 for bio, gc, and oc, respectively. As for using achiever for pat, I would say use CDP instead. I never had any reason to use topscore or achiever for pat because I knew I had CDP which is more like the actual exam.
Destroyer is also harder than the actual test, although I found it a great learning tool. However, if you're looking for something to study the day of the exam, I'd say Kaplan. The DAT tests the basics way more than it does the difficult details. The Kaplan BB is the best for that. Good luck!

 

[doc3232]

I really don't recommend achiever. I only used it for the sciences and it was so much harder than anything you have to know. On the two Achiever tests I took, I got 17/18/19 and 17/17/17 for bio, gc, and oc, respectively. As for using achiever for pat, I would say use CDP instead. I never had any reason to use topscore or achiever for pat because I knew I had CDP which is more like the actual exam.
Destroyer is also harder than the actual test, although I found it a great learning tool. However, if you're looking for something to study the day of the exam, I'd say Kaplan. The DAT tests the basics way more than it does the difficult details. The Kaplan BB is the best for that. Good luck!

It is true, a LOT of Achiever questions are much tougher, but about 80% are right on the dot IMO. They had the "think a bit" questions.
I respectfully disagree and would recommend it. My Achiever science scores were about 21/21/20, but I did know random info that came up on Achiever.

 

[yankees27th]

Haha I don't see how it could have been so spot on when I got 18 and 17 as my TS scores and ended up with a 24, but to each his own I guess 🙂

 

[blueaznsbo]

Wow! Just awesome scores! Good job and just relax and prepare early for the apps.

 

[elowdds]

Great Scores!! I had a question about the Kaplan tutor. How many hours do you think are needed to be helpful? I plan to study a lot on my own, but I really want to do everything possible to score well.

Thanks, and congrats on your numbers!🙂

 

[yankees27th]

I paid for 15 hours but Kaplan kind of messed something up at first and ended up giving me 4 extra for free so I ended up with 19 which I thought was perfect. 15 should be fine for anyone. I wouldn't do more than that unless you really need help. You can always add more hours on when you use yours up (I forgot what the rate for adding hours on was).