- Joined
- Jan 15, 2009
- Messages
- 517
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 4,571
- Pre-Dental
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PA: 19 (75.2%) 🙁
QR: 20 (87.2%)
RC: 21 (80.2%)
Bio: 23 (97.6%) 😎
GC: 23 (94.5%)
OC: 23 (92.9%)
TS: 23 (97.7%) 😀
AA: 22 (95.4%) 🙂
Here's the breakdown:
Bio: There were quite a few random questions. I think I guessed fairly well on this section, but at the same time, I knew my stuff as well. I studied hardest and longest for Bio. I read thru Cliffs AP Bio about 3 times, cover to cover with detailed highlighting and notes. Cliffs is perhaps the best resource. I also went thru Kaplan BB a few times. Used Destroyer and Kaplan Subject Tests for practice questions. Went thru all of destroyer bio questions 2 times.
GC: This section was pretty satraighforward. Only about 5 calculations out of 30, and the calculations were pretty easy. Got stumped on about 2 questions but overall, not a bad section. Looked thru Kaplan BB for overview of GC, and did practice problems from Destroyer and Kaplan Practice Tests.
OC: Has to be my FAVORITE section of the entire test. I literally breezed thru OC and was surprised at how no brainer some of the questions were. I think this particular version of the DAT had very easy OC, hence a 23 OC is a lower percentile than a 23 GC. As far as my knowledege, same score and OC and GC usually yields to a higher percentile in GC but this seems to be reversed for some reason. Went thru Kaplan BB for an overview (and rmmrd a lot from university OC class). Kaplan Subject Tests and Destroyer for practice problems. Destroyer is perhaps the BEST source for nailing ochem.
PA: Blahh...This crap has never been my strong point. I got stumped on a lot of Keyholes, TFE, and Pattern folding. Contrary to what everyone else says, all but maybe 1 Angle question were clear and intuitive. The best part was that the sides of all the angles were streched out, so it was easy to tell the difference between the sizes. Holepunches and Cubes were no brainers. I knew I did average on this section the minute I walked out for the 15 minute break but I tried to not think about it so much and moved on. I did 10 CDP Tests, and 1 of each Kaplan and TopScore. My recommendation for PAT is to do as much CDP as you can, but also do Kaplan (everything except holepunches and angles) and TopScore. I am not super ecstatic about my 19, but its a long ways from a 16 which is what I got the last time I took it.
RC: Luckily, no Piano. I know I wasn't gonna ethics cuz I got that last time. Did not study for this at all...there is really no way to. People say read a lot and try to increase your reading speed, but in all honestly, thats a bunch of bull. It doesn't matter how fast you can read, its all about whether you can pick up on the most important things in the passage quickly. Needless to say, a reading pace of a 4th grader will definitely hurt you, but you don't need to have the best reading skills to do decent on RC. Pesonally, English is not my first language but I managed to do alrite because, for once, I'm using Kaplan's stratagy for this section. Skim real fast, and jot down keywords from each paragraph. Then go to the question, see what the main purpose of the question is, and try to determine which paragraph that information would be found in based on your keywords. Out of 50, there were about 10-12 questions that were not directly stated in the passages (tone, relation etc.) and for those, if you are using search-and-destroy, you will get stumped. Honestly, scanning the entire passage with notes will cost you about 7 minutes in the beginning of each passage, but its a LOT easier to do it this way. One thing you need to realize, is that you are not reading these passages for fun or for knowledge - your bottom line is to answer the questions correctly, so don't focus on reading too heavily either. Its all about finding the right balance (and hoping you don't get ethics or piano
).
QR: WOW...these questions were HARD! Okay, maybe not hard, but the level of complexity makes it nearly impossible to finish within 45 mins! Although I did finish, I marked about 12-15 questions the first time I went thru it. I'm guessin a lot of other people share my views for this particular version of the test, otherwise a standard score of 20 being in the 87 percentile is hard to get! I like to think I'm good at math, and before today's test, QR used to be my favorite section (i love math) but I'm not so sure. I do feel that if I had about 20 more minutes, I would have been able to get the correct answer for every single question, but I think thats the case with a lot of people. The level of difficulty alone is not an issue for QR, but the level of complexity of problems coupled with a MAD time crunch (and the desprate desire to see your score already!) makes this section sorta hard. I only went thru destroyer once for QR hoping it would be enough. My suggestion to those who are still studying would be to 1. Learn to do all different types of problems and 2. Learn to do them FAST. And by fast I mean you look at a problem, and you should already know at least how you are going to solve it, if not know the answer right away! Either way, from what I hear QR is the least important section, so I'm not complaining too much.
All in all, I am REALLY pleased with my scores! I NEVER EVER thought I could do this well, honestly, I didn't. But I DID! This should be an inspiration for everyone thats still studying to NEVER give up. Put in the hard work, and I promise, it WILL pay off!
On a different note, you do guys think that 19 PA might hinder my application at all? I will be applying with a 3.56 overall, and a 3.45 science GPA. I am planning to apply around June 20th to about 15 schools.
ALSO, feel free to message me if you have any other questions about the test itself. My greatest sources throughout this misery has been SDN and don't think I could have gotten anywhere as close to what I did without SDN and everyone here. THANK YOU!
👍
QR: 20 (87.2%)
RC: 21 (80.2%)
Bio: 23 (97.6%) 😎
GC: 23 (94.5%)
OC: 23 (92.9%)
TS: 23 (97.7%) 😀
AA: 22 (95.4%) 🙂
Here's the breakdown:
Bio: There were quite a few random questions. I think I guessed fairly well on this section, but at the same time, I knew my stuff as well. I studied hardest and longest for Bio. I read thru Cliffs AP Bio about 3 times, cover to cover with detailed highlighting and notes. Cliffs is perhaps the best resource. I also went thru Kaplan BB a few times. Used Destroyer and Kaplan Subject Tests for practice questions. Went thru all of destroyer bio questions 2 times.
GC: This section was pretty satraighforward. Only about 5 calculations out of 30, and the calculations were pretty easy. Got stumped on about 2 questions but overall, not a bad section. Looked thru Kaplan BB for overview of GC, and did practice problems from Destroyer and Kaplan Practice Tests.
OC: Has to be my FAVORITE section of the entire test. I literally breezed thru OC and was surprised at how no brainer some of the questions were. I think this particular version of the DAT had very easy OC, hence a 23 OC is a lower percentile than a 23 GC. As far as my knowledege, same score and OC and GC usually yields to a higher percentile in GC but this seems to be reversed for some reason. Went thru Kaplan BB for an overview (and rmmrd a lot from university OC class). Kaplan Subject Tests and Destroyer for practice problems. Destroyer is perhaps the BEST source for nailing ochem.
PA: Blahh...This crap has never been my strong point. I got stumped on a lot of Keyholes, TFE, and Pattern folding. Contrary to what everyone else says, all but maybe 1 Angle question were clear and intuitive. The best part was that the sides of all the angles were streched out, so it was easy to tell the difference between the sizes. Holepunches and Cubes were no brainers. I knew I did average on this section the minute I walked out for the 15 minute break but I tried to not think about it so much and moved on. I did 10 CDP Tests, and 1 of each Kaplan and TopScore. My recommendation for PAT is to do as much CDP as you can, but also do Kaplan (everything except holepunches and angles) and TopScore. I am not super ecstatic about my 19, but its a long ways from a 16 which is what I got the last time I took it.
RC: Luckily, no Piano. I know I wasn't gonna ethics cuz I got that last time. Did not study for this at all...there is really no way to. People say read a lot and try to increase your reading speed, but in all honestly, thats a bunch of bull. It doesn't matter how fast you can read, its all about whether you can pick up on the most important things in the passage quickly. Needless to say, a reading pace of a 4th grader will definitely hurt you, but you don't need to have the best reading skills to do decent on RC. Pesonally, English is not my first language but I managed to do alrite because, for once, I'm using Kaplan's stratagy for this section. Skim real fast, and jot down keywords from each paragraph. Then go to the question, see what the main purpose of the question is, and try to determine which paragraph that information would be found in based on your keywords. Out of 50, there were about 10-12 questions that were not directly stated in the passages (tone, relation etc.) and for those, if you are using search-and-destroy, you will get stumped. Honestly, scanning the entire passage with notes will cost you about 7 minutes in the beginning of each passage, but its a LOT easier to do it this way. One thing you need to realize, is that you are not reading these passages for fun or for knowledge - your bottom line is to answer the questions correctly, so don't focus on reading too heavily either. Its all about finding the right balance (and hoping you don't get ethics or piano
). QR: WOW...these questions were HARD! Okay, maybe not hard, but the level of complexity makes it nearly impossible to finish within 45 mins! Although I did finish, I marked about 12-15 questions the first time I went thru it. I'm guessin a lot of other people share my views for this particular version of the test, otherwise a standard score of 20 being in the 87 percentile is hard to get! I like to think I'm good at math, and before today's test, QR used to be my favorite section (i love math) but I'm not so sure. I do feel that if I had about 20 more minutes, I would have been able to get the correct answer for every single question, but I think thats the case with a lot of people. The level of difficulty alone is not an issue for QR, but the level of complexity of problems coupled with a MAD time crunch (and the desprate desire to see your score already!) makes this section sorta hard. I only went thru destroyer once for QR hoping it would be enough. My suggestion to those who are still studying would be to 1. Learn to do all different types of problems and 2. Learn to do them FAST. And by fast I mean you look at a problem, and you should already know at least how you are going to solve it, if not know the answer right away! Either way, from what I hear QR is the least important section, so I'm not complaining too much.
All in all, I am REALLY pleased with my scores! I NEVER EVER thought I could do this well, honestly, I didn't. But I DID! This should be an inspiration for everyone thats still studying to NEVER give up. Put in the hard work, and I promise, it WILL pay off!
On a different note, you do guys think that 19 PA might hinder my application at all? I will be applying with a 3.56 overall, and a 3.45 science GPA. I am planning to apply around June 20th to about 15 schools.
ALSO, feel free to message me if you have any other questions about the test itself. My greatest sources throughout this misery has been SDN and don't think I could have gotten anywhere as close to what I did without SDN and everyone here. THANK YOU!
👍
