Dat Done 2-22-08

[jntruong2003]

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Finished my test....want to thank everyone in the forum for letting me leach here and there and learning the best tactics to wrestle with this tough test.

let me know what you think. got myself a 3.3 gpa =(

Results and pointers for everyone who wants to hear:

Percept. - 19
Quant. R. - 17
RC - 19
Bio - 20
G Chem - 19
Orgo - 20
TS 20
AA 19

My background: I took the DAT last November with a pretty low score... I was pretty broken at that point. I knew that I didn't study that much and pretty much winged it after taking a $1300 kaplan course and some half- *** studying. i kept postponing my test but finally decided to place my test date on 2/22/08. Let me just say for those who slack off the way i do, CHOOSE A TEST DATE, IT WILL MAKE YOU STUDY! i will honestly say that i only TRULY studied from january- up to my test date 2/22. When i say study, i mean 4-6 hours of heavy straight studying at the local coffee bean with no distractions.

my study materials: kaplan tests, kaplan blue book, cliff's biology, AP bio book (used only sparingly), wikipedia (its free!), topscore, and achiever

the test: i will honestly say THIS YEAR'S TEST is MUCH HARDER than last years for several reasons illustrated below...

Biology- this section wasn't the same as i took it last year. they were practically all application questions and not very many just memorization questions, i actually had to think about each answer. there was a diagram, there was a biome question, a couple lab questions, and questions i never came across in my studies. definitely use cliff's bio, it helped out alot. kaplan blue book DOES NOT HELP MUCH, but provides a good starting foundation. i will honestly say the bio section is tough to deal with b/c at least 1/2 the questions i wasn't even sure about my answer. i honestly recommend studying bio everyday and using campbell...

G chem- this section didn't have many calculations at all! like literally only 10 or so. the questions weren't too bad b/c i only used kaplan blue book for this part. i DON'T recommend just using that resource, but i was limited on time. KNOW CONCEPTS LIKE NO OTHER. this whole section basically tested your ability to understand why things work rather than giving you calculations.

O chem- i was honestly say that this is the only part in the science sections that did not change much from last year in my opinion. it was very clear cut as in you know it or do know it answers. the kaplan blue book was enough to answer all the questions for me on this test. again, i only used the blue book b/c i was short on time for studying... i didn't have much reactions but the concepts in ochem were relatively easy to understand and did not require in depth thinking. this section was defintely the easiest of the sections, though my scores don't truly show that.

****i really thought i crapped out on the sciences and came into the PAT with a bad mentality. that truly made my PAT suffer more than i believe it should have.

PAT- i only used kaplan tests, topscore, and achiever for this part. i recommend some good studying in the area. the PAT requires a lot of mental thinking and it comes right after the sciences. i literally guessed on so many questions b/c i kept on thinking about the science questions i did. not much to say about this part other than the angles are BY FAR the hardest part of the PAT. i used the dominant eye approach and fingers for this part. the TFE was tough b/c the line counting didn't work too well and it required me to actually visualize the structure. practice this section over and over b/c i definitely did not have time to finish. guessed on probably 20.

******Take the 15 minute break. it helped me just forget about my mental thoughts about the PAT and sciences. it clears your mind.

RC- my passages were fun. i got a bridge passage, spinal cord, and disease passage. i didn't have any special tactic b/c i didn't do well on practice tests when i set up an outline. i PURELY just searched for answers after reading the passage once. time was a HUGE problem here, but it was b/c of method of searching answers. note to fellow test takers- i think this section changed. when going on to the next question, the READING PASSAGE RESETS...which i don't believe happened last year when i took it.

QR- yes. like how everyone else says...THERE IS NO TIME TO FINISH. this section was actually VERY TOUGH. i started off answering questions really fast, but the further i got into the section, more word questions popped up and the slower i got. i will honestly say that i probably could have gotten like 32 of the questions right if i had time, but a good 8 i would have had to guess no matter what. you DO need to know variance & standard deviation. know the equation for the circle and know your trig in and out. i used kaplan tests just for this part with topscore and achiever. you just need to take enough and know how to do the questions FAST.

well, the biggest issue of this test was mentality. whenever i took practice tests, i would zoom through answers and feel like i got it ALL right. i was caught off guard by how important it is to always keep your cool and just to believe that you DID DO WELL. the discouraging feelings DO AFFECT your performance ALL throughout the test. i emphasize that so much because i came in with a lot of determination and strength, but ended up breaking down.

PM me if you have questions =)

 

[joey2007]

congrats!!!! the scores are consistent... 😀😀😀

now i'm dreaming mine will be the same!!! just wishing for 17 on RC!!! 🙄

 

[113zami]

CONGRATSSS ,🙂
were there ellipses on qr?, was the probability really crazy or do you think topscore, acheiver, and kaplan are enough for probability?
thanks

 

[CookieDough]

So you think it's gotten crazy hard now? Hmm, that's GREAT NEWS for us who are still studying. Great scores though overall!

 

[sajjy]

So you think it's gotten crazy hard now? Hmm, that's GREAT NEWS for us who are still studying. Great scores though overall!

AHAHAHA.....i agree with OP....BIO is totally now application based questions and QR has gone wickedly crazy.....

I think the best thing is to study as much as you can and then during the test never think of the previous sections....keep moving on and dont think back....

 

[jntruong2003]

113zami, i actually had a question that required me to know the circle graph equation. i think that's enough for probability from achiever/topscore/kaplan. literally, there is no time to finish. i thought i was going rather fast. i went fast and had 20 minutes left of about 23 questions, but the questions kept on being problem solving questions. you WILL get tested on rates, age questions, compound/interest rates, probability, mph/distance questions, arcsin/trig questions, find the area of messed up triangles...EVERYTHING! i would recommend those taking this section to just SEARCH for the non word questions and do them first. be good enough at this so that you don't need to relook at your work. YOU have NO time for this. then tackle the harder ones.

and for cookiedough...i think that's what i got for slacking and postponing my test since i took it last september. i think the test changed just this 08 year. it got "wicked" tough as sajjy says =)

 

[sajjy]

113zami, i actually had a question that required me to know the circle graph equation. i think that's enough for probability from achiever/topscore/kaplan. literally, there is no time to finish. i thought i was going rather fast. i went fast and had 20 minutes left of about 23 questions, but the questions kept on being problem solving questions. you WILL get tested on rates, age questions, compound/interest rates, probability, mph/distance questions, arcsin/trig questions, find the area of messed up triangles...EVERYTHING! i would recommend those taking this section to just SEARCH for the non word questions and do them first. be good enough at this so that you don't need to relook at your work. YOU have NO time for this. then tackle the harder ones.

and for cookiedough...i think that's what i got for slacking and postponing my test since i took it last september. i think the test changed just this 08 year. it got "wicked" tough as sajjy says =)

Yeah, i think i had only a few questions in Bio for which i was definitely sure for the answer as i had read it somewhere....but others were you literally had to wait and think over it.....i had one figure question but was easy from Bio lab......i had one application based question on Vegetation types also....
and as it has been posted so many times on SDN-do study for FRAP.

 

[scuzfly]

So the DAT tests your ability to use this knowledge for something besides memorization? I've had tests like that for the past few years. I tried memorization in undergrad classes but that never worked. I also found I was able to retain the knowledge and extrapolate more when I understood the concepts and the "Why" of chemistry, biology and organic chemistry.

 

[rose786]

Somehow I missed this thread. Nice scores!

I think we both got the same version, although I got the tougher RC passages. Oh well, it's over. 👍

 

[113zami]

hey jntruong, I have one more question,*i know iam annoying* but i am soo

did they give you complicated numbers for qr, like did you have to multiply 3digit number by3 digit number alot, or divide non reducable fractions such as 652/71 alot?
thanks alot for the help and good luck

 

[EuroPhysician]

I took the MCAT and the DAT, I took the MCAT in Sept. 07 and I recently finished the DAT. I thought the DAT was an easier test than the MCAT, it was just my opinion. The amount of studying I did for the MCAT was considerably more than for the DAT. Getting a 20+ on the DAT is more reachable for most than scoring over a 30P on the MCAT.

 

[jntruong2003]

i agree. its definitely seems more possibly...

 

[sajjy]

I took the MCAT and the DAT, I took the MCAT in Sept. 07 and I recently finished the DAT. I thought the DAT was an easier test than the MCAT, it was just my opinion. The amount of studying I did for the MCAT was considerably more than for the DAT. Getting a 20+ on the DAT is more reachable for most than scoring over a 30P on the MCAT.

But if you prepare for MCAT then you automatically are preparing for DAT for most of the sections.

 

[jswizdent]

It all depends on how you test if you are really well read the mcat might be easier. If you cannot memorize alot of info then the dat could be more difficult, so it just depends. Anyways if you are planning on applying to both many people will question your career goals, besides applying to medical school will give you a better shot seen as their are 150 medical schools vs 56 dental schools. Not trying to get on your case.

 

[jswizdent]

Hey nice scores to the OP!

 

[dtran95]

they were practically all application questions and not very many just memorization questions, i actually had to think about each answer. there was a diagram, there was a biome question, a couple lab questions, and questions i never came across in my studies.

First, Congrats!!! I just wonder what do you mean about application questions in bio section. Can you be a little bit more specific? Are the questions straight forward? what type of questions? do a lot of questions require thinking or just some of it? Also, the kaplan blue book has a whole chapter about the lab technique. I just wonder whether they have many questions on the real DAT because so far I'm doing practice on Destroyer and Achiever, they don't have that many questions about the lab. One last thing, for the PAt, how is the real PAT compared to topscore and achiever? is it harder or about the same?
I would really appreciate if you can reply me back. Thanks

 

[jntruong2003]

sorry for being gone for so long...the working force has called m back. application questions basically means not straightforward. many of the bio questions required a lot of thought before narrowing down answer choices. these include experiments and then applying things learned from bio, giviving examples of scenarios and then judging what the bes represents the description, etc. i honestly would say just studied as much as you can in bio because it is all luck of draw of what questions they will ask. achiever and topscore are basically how the real pat is, more so w/ achiever.

 

[small]

Solid DAT scores, nice work! The GPA will be your main obstacle to overcome. Write a killer essay and prepare well for interviews...

 

[Corky Cacas]

Finished my test....want to thank everyone in the forum for letting me leach here and there and learning the best tactics to wrestle with this tough test.

let me know what you think. got myself a 3.3 gpa =(

Results and pointers for everyone who wants to hear:

Percept. - 19
Quant. R. - 17
RC - 19
Bio - 20
G Chem - 19
Orgo - 20
TS 20
AA 19

My background: I took the DAT last November with a pretty low score... I was pretty broken at that point. I knew that I didn't study that much and pretty much winged it after taking a $1300 kaplan course and some half- *** studying. i kept postponing my test but finally decided to place my test date on 2/22/08. Let me just say for those who slack off the way i do, CHOOSE A TEST DATE, IT WILL MAKE YOU STUDY! i will honestly say that i only TRULY studied from january- up to my test date 2/22. When i say study, i mean 4-6 hours of heavy straight studying at the local coffee bean with no distractions.

my study materials: kaplan tests, kaplan blue book, cliff's biology, AP bio book (used only sparingly), wikipedia (its free!), topscore, and achiever

the test: i will honestly say THIS YEAR'S TEST is MUCH HARDER than last years for several reasons illustrated below...

Biology- this section wasn't the same as i took it last year. they were practically all application questions and not very many just memorization questions, i actually had to think about each answer. there was a diagram, there was a biome question, a couple lab questions, and questions i never came across in my studies. definitely use cliff's bio, it helped out alot. kaplan blue book DOES NOT HELP MUCH, but provides a good starting foundation. i will honestly say the bio section is tough to deal with b/c at least 1/2 the questions i wasn't even sure about my answer. i honestly recommend studying bio everyday and using campbell...

G chem- this section didn't have many calculations at all! like literally only 10 or so. the questions weren't too bad b/c i only used kaplan blue book for this part. i DON'T recommend just using that resource, but i was limited on time. KNOW CONCEPTS LIKE NO OTHER. this whole section basically tested your ability to understand why things work rather than giving you calculations.

O chem- i was honestly say that this is the only part in the science sections that did not change much from last year in my opinion. it was very clear cut as in you know it or do know it answers. the kaplan blue book was enough to answer all the questions for me on this test. again, i only used the blue book b/c i was short on time for studying... i didn't have much reactions but the concepts in ochem were relatively easy to understand and did not require in depth thinking. this section was defintely the easiest of the sections, though my scores don't truly show that.

****i really thought i crapped out on the sciences and came into the PAT with a bad mentality. that truly made my PAT suffer more than i believe it should have.

PAT- i only used kaplan tests, topscore, and achiever for this part. i recommend some good studying in the area. the PAT requires a lot of mental thinking and it comes right after the sciences. i literally guessed on so many questions b/c i kept on thinking about the science questions i did. not much to say about this part other than the angles are BY FAR the hardest part of the PAT. i used the dominant eye approach and fingers for this part. the TFE was tough b/c the line counting didn't work too well and it required me to actually visualize the structure. practice this section over and over b/c i definitely did not have time to finish. guessed on probably 20.

******Take the 15 minute break. it helped me just forget about my mental thoughts about the PAT and sciences. it clears your mind.

RC- my passages were fun. i got a bridge passage, spinal cord, and disease passage. i didn't have any special tactic b/c i didn't do well on practice tests when i set up an outline. i PURELY just searched for answers after reading the passage once. time was a HUGE problem here, but it was b/c of method of searching answers. note to fellow test takers- i think this section changed. when going on to the next question, the READING PASSAGE RESETS...which i don't believe happened last year when i took it.

QR- yes. like how everyone else says...THERE IS NO TIME TO FINISH. this section was actually VERY TOUGH. i started off answering questions really fast, but the further i got into the section, more word questions popped up and the slower i got. i will honestly say that i probably could have gotten like 32 of the questions right if i had time, but a good 8 i would have had to guess no matter what. you DO need to know variance & standard deviation. know the equation for the circle and know your trig in and out. i used kaplan tests just for this part with topscore and achiever. you just need to take enough and know how to do the questions FAST.

well, the biggest issue of this test was mentality. whenever i took practice tests, i would zoom through answers and feel like i got it ALL right. i was caught off guard by how important it is to always keep your cool and just to believe that you DID DO WELL. the discouraging feelings DO AFFECT your performance ALL throughout the test. i emphasize that so much because i came in with a lot of determination and strength, but ended up breaking down.

PM me if you have questions =)

nice score;
i would like to know how did you prepare of RC. this is by far one of the hardest part for me to ge a decent score. i took the DAT in Oct. and did not do well in this particular section along with math and i wanted to know if you can give me some tips or suggestions?
thanks.