- Joined
- Jan 17, 2012
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 0
I looked at SDN a lot while I was studying for my DAT, and it helped me to know what to expect on test day and which materials to study with. Taking advice from others on here on how to study was a very valuable resource to me. Although I would have like to score a point or two higher on a few sections of my test, I am not completely disappointed with my scores.
PAT- 18
QR- 17
RC- 21
Bio- 20
GC- 20
OC- 17
TS- 19
AA- 19
Overall GPA: 3.54
Science GPA: 3.46
This was my first time taking the test and will be my first time applying. The resources that I used to study were Chad's videos, Crack DAT PAT, Cliff's AP Biology, and KaplanBB(a little). I studied for about 5 weeks, focusing on the science topics first and then on practice tests and explanations.
PAT- As far as this section goes, topscore is far from realistic. The real DAT is much harder for the PAT section, and I ended up running out of time with 3 cube counting questions left and didnt even get to look at the pattern folding section. I was scoring approx. 21's on topscore's PAT's and finishing on time. The problems on the real test were more complex and took me longer to figure out. Crack DAT PAT was a good resource, and is much more representative of the actual test, but I would still say the real exam was slightly harder.
QR- I was really surprised by how low this score was. On my topscore tests I was scoring around 20. I was really tired by this section of the test and that may have had some effect on me. You definitely need to know your trig for this section. Chad's videos do a good job for QR overall, but may be a little lacking in trig.
RC- This section was my best on every practice test that I took (22 every time), so I was not surprised by my score. As far as a method, I read each section very quickly while writing down key words to remind me what each paragraph was about (like a passage map). I then went back and found each answer in the paragraphs or answered them based off of what I remembered from the reading. Overall, topscore was a good representation of the real test. I did not study much for this section, just my 3 topscore tests.
Bio- This section was a good surprise for me, as I was scoring 15's-17's on my practice tests. Topscore was harder than the real thing, and had too many weird/complex questions. I used Cliff's to study for this section. I simply read the book and took notes.
GC- This was another good surprise. Once again, topscore was harder than the real thing, but only slightly. I was getting 17's on my practice tests. Chad's Videos are VERY good for gen chem, and were the only resource that I used.
OC- I used Chad's Videos for this section also. They were the best DAT resource that I found by far. Topscore was fairly accurate here, as my practice test scores matched my real score. Watch Chad's Videos, take notes, take the quizzes, rewatch the videos that you struggle with.
The most valuable study materials that I used were (in order): Chads Videos, Topscore, Crack DAT PAT, Cliff's
Essentially everything that you need to know to score well on the quantitative, oc, and gc sections of the DAT are in Chad's Videos.
Cliff's Bio is super boring, but covers everything that I saw on my DAT. It is just a lot to memorize. Being a biology major helped me on this section.
Topscore is good for getting you used to the timing and setup of the test. It also gives you a fairly accurate academic average gauge. However, my section-by-section scores differed a lot from topscore to the real DAT.
The KBB is good, but it is really boring and I definitely preferred Chad's Videos.
Also, the markers and laminated graph paper that they give you at the testing center actually work pretty well, which surprised me.
My practice test academic averages, total sciences, and pat's were as follows:
Topscore 1 (3 weeks before DAT)= AA 16, TS 15, PAT 17
Kaplan Online Test(2 weeks before)= AA 18, TS 7, PAT 17
Topscore 2 (1 week before)= AA 18, TS 16, PAT 19
Topscore 3 (2 days before)= AA 19, TS 17, PAT 20
I will probably not retake the DAT, even though I would have liked to get a 20-21AA. Hopefully my scores will be competitive.
I hope this helps. Good Luck
PAT- 18
QR- 17
RC- 21
Bio- 20
GC- 20
OC- 17
TS- 19
AA- 19
Overall GPA: 3.54
Science GPA: 3.46
This was my first time taking the test and will be my first time applying. The resources that I used to study were Chad's videos, Crack DAT PAT, Cliff's AP Biology, and KaplanBB(a little). I studied for about 5 weeks, focusing on the science topics first and then on practice tests and explanations.
PAT- As far as this section goes, topscore is far from realistic. The real DAT is much harder for the PAT section, and I ended up running out of time with 3 cube counting questions left and didnt even get to look at the pattern folding section. I was scoring approx. 21's on topscore's PAT's and finishing on time. The problems on the real test were more complex and took me longer to figure out. Crack DAT PAT was a good resource, and is much more representative of the actual test, but I would still say the real exam was slightly harder.
QR- I was really surprised by how low this score was. On my topscore tests I was scoring around 20. I was really tired by this section of the test and that may have had some effect on me. You definitely need to know your trig for this section. Chad's videos do a good job for QR overall, but may be a little lacking in trig.
RC- This section was my best on every practice test that I took (22 every time), so I was not surprised by my score. As far as a method, I read each section very quickly while writing down key words to remind me what each paragraph was about (like a passage map). I then went back and found each answer in the paragraphs or answered them based off of what I remembered from the reading. Overall, topscore was a good representation of the real test. I did not study much for this section, just my 3 topscore tests.
Bio- This section was a good surprise for me, as I was scoring 15's-17's on my practice tests. Topscore was harder than the real thing, and had too many weird/complex questions. I used Cliff's to study for this section. I simply read the book and took notes.
GC- This was another good surprise. Once again, topscore was harder than the real thing, but only slightly. I was getting 17's on my practice tests. Chad's Videos are VERY good for gen chem, and were the only resource that I used.
OC- I used Chad's Videos for this section also. They were the best DAT resource that I found by far. Topscore was fairly accurate here, as my practice test scores matched my real score. Watch Chad's Videos, take notes, take the quizzes, rewatch the videos that you struggle with.
The most valuable study materials that I used were (in order): Chads Videos, Topscore, Crack DAT PAT, Cliff's
Essentially everything that you need to know to score well on the quantitative, oc, and gc sections of the DAT are in Chad's Videos.
Cliff's Bio is super boring, but covers everything that I saw on my DAT. It is just a lot to memorize. Being a biology major helped me on this section.
Topscore is good for getting you used to the timing and setup of the test. It also gives you a fairly accurate academic average gauge. However, my section-by-section scores differed a lot from topscore to the real DAT.
The KBB is good, but it is really boring and I definitely preferred Chad's Videos.
Also, the markers and laminated graph paper that they give you at the testing center actually work pretty well, which surprised me.
My practice test academic averages, total sciences, and pat's were as follows:
Topscore 1 (3 weeks before DAT)= AA 16, TS 15, PAT 17
Kaplan Online Test(2 weeks before)= AA 18, TS 7, PAT 17
Topscore 2 (1 week before)= AA 18, TS 16, PAT 19
Topscore 3 (2 days before)= AA 19, TS 17, PAT 20
I will probably not retake the DAT, even though I would have liked to get a 20-21AA. Hopefully my scores will be competitive.
I hope this helps. Good Luck
