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- Aug 19, 2007
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Hey guys, I just finished my DAT.
I must say I am very relieved.
I started studying for DAT around March 1, and during school I kinda studied but not too hardcore. But starting the summer break (in mid-May), I started studying for about 10 hours / day for about a month.
Studying materials used were: Kaplan Blue Book (started with this, very good overall), Barron's DAT (worthless POS), DAT Destroyer (very good but little too hard for the actual exam, but remember all the vocabs and etc.), KAPLAN Practice Exam (they were good practices and little difficult in my opinion), DAT Achiever (very good also but little too hard for the exam), and Cliffs AP Bio (too much detail but try to remember most of them and take notes from it). *BTW, I was already done with Kaplan Blue Book by the time I started studying in May.
I have read here from one of the SDNers about taking the time log, and I think that was a great idea. Starting March 1, I put the time I started and time I finished on the word file (I always studied with my laptop) and it was a good motivational factor for me. I was able to see how much I have studied or how much I have been slacking off at the same time so if you want, you should try to do this too.
I have 3.34 overall GPA (with bunch of pointless A's such as APs and credit by exam A's) and 3.07 Science GPA and 3.0 BCP GPA (which was my motivation to study hard for DAT). I go to #1 party school in US, and I really did not have a good GPA trend so DAT was my only way of showing the adcom my capability.
Starting with test,
Remember, you have to be there 30 mins prior to your exam time. My test was at 12:30 and I got there around 11:30 AM. They actually let me start on my test whenever I wanted to, so I started my exam around 12:10 ish. At my testing location, there were 2 rooms, and each room was filled with random people taking many different tests. I thought it was going to be group of people taking DAT only but it wasn't. People could come in and out anytime they wanted to but there was a noise-blocker (headphone looking thing) which I guess worked for me. You are allow to take a break anytime you want but your clock will be counting so do not take random breaks I guess, but they were not strict about it at all. During the 15 mins break (after Science and PAT), you are allow to only go to the restroom and your locker, and they told me that I was not allowed to use my cellphone, look at my study material, or take a cigarette break. So if you were planning on doing any of those, I guess there is high chance you probably will not be allowed to do it either.
Bio: I got the highest score in bio out of all sections. I sucked at Bio. I made C's and B's in both Bio1 and Bio2 but I donno how. It was easier than I expected it to be. Most of questions were able to be answered in about 20 secs if you already knew it (mostly like definition or something similar, but I had one silica gel question).
I finished bio pretty quick but there was one question which I was not sure and it bothered me the whole time. During my Reading, one of the passaged had the definition for it and I knew I missed so I was getting so frustrated during my reading and it was a horrible idea. Do not worry about the earlier section when you are taking DAT!!! Most questions were definition based, and I think Kaplan + Cliffs AP + DAT Achiever were good combinations to prepare me for this section.
G. Chem: General Chemistry was one of my strongest section during the practice (because I was good at calculation and etc.). But I did not do as well as I was doing in the practice. Like everyone said, most questions were conceptual and there was barely any calculating questions. I think my mistake was to put too much focus on solving problems and not pay much attention to concepts. I will say I had about 5-6 solving questions (most of them had answer in the forms of equation - so practice writing in that format) and rest were all conceptual. Learn the difference b/w metal, metalloid, and etc also.
O. Chem: I was not good at O Chem so I think I got the score I deserved. It was much easier than I thought. Everything was based on most of basic concepts and reactions were very simple either one-step or two-step reactions with familar compounds (there was no surprise tricky compounds I believe). Just go over Kaplan and DAT Destroyer and do some practices (Kaplan Subject Practice Exams were good).
PAT: I think PAT in general was easier than my expectation but angles were definately harder. Key-hole was too simple that I was getting confused whether I was not getting something. TFE was easier than most of problems you will be doing with DAT Achiever. Angle was lot harder than the practice. There were some free ones (where you can tell instantly) but about 70 percent of them were really close ones. I spent more time in angle than I thought I was going to. I also had the bubble screen but I do not think it mattered too much. Cubes were pretty straight-forward with couple tricky ones but I did not have those crazy cubes like some people. Tally method worked fine for my cube section. Paper-folding was easier than DAT Achiever but harder than Kaplan.
So overall, I would say it's between Kaplan Bluebook and DAT Achiever (harder than Kaplan but easier than Achiever).
15 Min Break: I did not really do much during my break. I went to the restroom and came back and pretty much started since I was not allow to do any of the things I was planning on doing during my break. You can resume anytime you want from the break.
Reading: Reading passage was not too bad. All of them were science based but lot of them were overlapping with bio subjects I was studying (like nerves and fungi) so it was not too bad. BUT I always practiced reading section by using the "key word" method but that thing did not work for me! First of all, with the marker you are given, you cannot really put down too many words on it and it just takes TOO long. I used full keyword method for the first passage, and only took down the concept of the second passage and did not use it at all during my third passage. I had 10 mins left by the time I started my 3rd passage, so I just went straight to the answers (since that method took too much of my time). I think using simple words for each paragraph is good enough, since for the answer you will probably have to go to that paragraph anyways, there is no point of taking down terms and etc. (except for initials, names, and numbers, etc.). Length of passages were about 13 paragraphs in average and I thought I did horrible but I did okay. Like I said earlier, do not let the question from earlier section bother you during the reading! There is simply nothing you can do about it so just do not worry about it.
QR: my strongest section that disappointed me the most today. Problems were not difficult but you need speed and better markers. I was getting most of problems on practices (probably miss 3-4 at most) but I did not do so well today. I think it's because I was so used to using my pencil, it was actually hard to do with the marker. Paper they give you is letter size but on the top they had worthless writings (like testing center, number, etc.) so I pretty much had about 3/4 of the page to use with the marker and I seriously think that affected me the most. Questions were not too hard, none of them asked me crazy trig questions or anything but basic geometry concept needs to be memorized (such as finiding angle and side and etc.) and I had one conversion question but units were given so it was not too bad. I am still bit pissed about this section but yeah, just do it fast! I thought I was fast at math but for some reason, I finished the question right on the dot and had no time to go over any questions.
*BTW - put the cap back on your marker when you are not using them. You get 2 markers so it did not really matter too much but it can get you pissed off and ruin your testing mood (if you are like me)
After the exam: once exam was done, there was about 15 seconds of processing break and they gave me 15 question surveys. After the survey, it showed up your score. I was too shocked when I was looking at the score so I kinda looked at it but by the time I went outside I forgot what I had on each section. And I had to wait about 10 mins until this lady was done flirting with another test-taker so during that 10 mins, I was getting very nervous. So maybe it is good idea to write down your scores so you can look at them while the worker is flirting during their hours.
My scores were better than I expected but I had lower scores in the sections which I believe were my strongest sections and highest on the sections which was my weakest =\
Here are the scores:
Bio: 24
Gen Chem: 19
Ochem: 19
PAT: 21
Reading: 22
QR: 19
Total Science: 20
AA: 21
Practice Test scores:
Kaplan Blue Book CD ROM test: (taken on June 06)
Bio 16
Chem 20
Ochem 15
PAT 22
RC N/A (I hate reading so I quit but I believe the score was about 11)
QR 22
DAT Achiever Test 1 (Taken on June 08)
Bio 18
Chem 19
Ochem 15
PAT 19
RC 22
QR 22
DAT Achiever Test 2 (I got too pissed off during the test so I just quit and wasted Test 2. Although I took it again but it is not the same once you know the questions on so I will not post it on here)
DAT Achiever Test 3 (Taken June 13)
Bio 17
Chem 17
Ochem 20
PAT 18
RC 23
QR 21
Overall, I must say I am pretty satisfied with it although there is that feeling where I feel like I could have done little better but oh well I am glad that I am done.
BTW I am applying to: UT-Houston, Baylor, UT-San Antonio, NYU, Temple, Howard, and UoP. (If you know any information about these schools, please let me know)
I will be more than glad to answer any of the questions.
Good luck everyone and don't forget to relax before the exam!
(I had to watch Lakers beat Celctics before I went to the sleep, but maybe you should try to sleep earlier than midnight)
I must say I am very relieved.
I started studying for DAT around March 1, and during school I kinda studied but not too hardcore. But starting the summer break (in mid-May), I started studying for about 10 hours / day for about a month.
Studying materials used were: Kaplan Blue Book (started with this, very good overall), Barron's DAT (worthless POS), DAT Destroyer (very good but little too hard for the actual exam, but remember all the vocabs and etc.), KAPLAN Practice Exam (they were good practices and little difficult in my opinion), DAT Achiever (very good also but little too hard for the exam), and Cliffs AP Bio (too much detail but try to remember most of them and take notes from it). *BTW, I was already done with Kaplan Blue Book by the time I started studying in May.
I have read here from one of the SDNers about taking the time log, and I think that was a great idea. Starting March 1, I put the time I started and time I finished on the word file (I always studied with my laptop) and it was a good motivational factor for me. I was able to see how much I have studied or how much I have been slacking off at the same time so if you want, you should try to do this too.
I have 3.34 overall GPA (with bunch of pointless A's such as APs and credit by exam A's) and 3.07 Science GPA and 3.0 BCP GPA (which was my motivation to study hard for DAT). I go to #1 party school in US, and I really did not have a good GPA trend so DAT was my only way of showing the adcom my capability.
Starting with test,
Remember, you have to be there 30 mins prior to your exam time. My test was at 12:30 and I got there around 11:30 AM. They actually let me start on my test whenever I wanted to, so I started my exam around 12:10 ish. At my testing location, there were 2 rooms, and each room was filled with random people taking many different tests. I thought it was going to be group of people taking DAT only but it wasn't. People could come in and out anytime they wanted to but there was a noise-blocker (headphone looking thing) which I guess worked for me. You are allow to take a break anytime you want but your clock will be counting so do not take random breaks I guess, but they were not strict about it at all. During the 15 mins break (after Science and PAT), you are allow to only go to the restroom and your locker, and they told me that I was not allowed to use my cellphone, look at my study material, or take a cigarette break. So if you were planning on doing any of those, I guess there is high chance you probably will not be allowed to do it either.
Bio: I got the highest score in bio out of all sections. I sucked at Bio. I made C's and B's in both Bio1 and Bio2 but I donno how. It was easier than I expected it to be. Most of questions were able to be answered in about 20 secs if you already knew it (mostly like definition or something similar, but I had one silica gel question).
I finished bio pretty quick but there was one question which I was not sure and it bothered me the whole time. During my Reading, one of the passaged had the definition for it and I knew I missed so I was getting so frustrated during my reading and it was a horrible idea. Do not worry about the earlier section when you are taking DAT!!! Most questions were definition based, and I think Kaplan + Cliffs AP + DAT Achiever were good combinations to prepare me for this section.
G. Chem: General Chemistry was one of my strongest section during the practice (because I was good at calculation and etc.). But I did not do as well as I was doing in the practice. Like everyone said, most questions were conceptual and there was barely any calculating questions. I think my mistake was to put too much focus on solving problems and not pay much attention to concepts. I will say I had about 5-6 solving questions (most of them had answer in the forms of equation - so practice writing in that format) and rest were all conceptual. Learn the difference b/w metal, metalloid, and etc also.
O. Chem: I was not good at O Chem so I think I got the score I deserved. It was much easier than I thought. Everything was based on most of basic concepts and reactions were very simple either one-step or two-step reactions with familar compounds (there was no surprise tricky compounds I believe). Just go over Kaplan and DAT Destroyer and do some practices (Kaplan Subject Practice Exams were good).
PAT: I think PAT in general was easier than my expectation but angles were definately harder. Key-hole was too simple that I was getting confused whether I was not getting something. TFE was easier than most of problems you will be doing with DAT Achiever. Angle was lot harder than the practice. There were some free ones (where you can tell instantly) but about 70 percent of them were really close ones. I spent more time in angle than I thought I was going to. I also had the bubble screen but I do not think it mattered too much. Cubes were pretty straight-forward with couple tricky ones but I did not have those crazy cubes like some people. Tally method worked fine for my cube section. Paper-folding was easier than DAT Achiever but harder than Kaplan.
So overall, I would say it's between Kaplan Bluebook and DAT Achiever (harder than Kaplan but easier than Achiever).
15 Min Break: I did not really do much during my break. I went to the restroom and came back and pretty much started since I was not allow to do any of the things I was planning on doing during my break. You can resume anytime you want from the break.
Reading: Reading passage was not too bad. All of them were science based but lot of them were overlapping with bio subjects I was studying (like nerves and fungi) so it was not too bad. BUT I always practiced reading section by using the "key word" method but that thing did not work for me! First of all, with the marker you are given, you cannot really put down too many words on it and it just takes TOO long. I used full keyword method for the first passage, and only took down the concept of the second passage and did not use it at all during my third passage. I had 10 mins left by the time I started my 3rd passage, so I just went straight to the answers (since that method took too much of my time). I think using simple words for each paragraph is good enough, since for the answer you will probably have to go to that paragraph anyways, there is no point of taking down terms and etc. (except for initials, names, and numbers, etc.). Length of passages were about 13 paragraphs in average and I thought I did horrible but I did okay. Like I said earlier, do not let the question from earlier section bother you during the reading! There is simply nothing you can do about it so just do not worry about it.
QR: my strongest section that disappointed me the most today. Problems were not difficult but you need speed and better markers. I was getting most of problems on practices (probably miss 3-4 at most) but I did not do so well today. I think it's because I was so used to using my pencil, it was actually hard to do with the marker. Paper they give you is letter size but on the top they had worthless writings (like testing center, number, etc.) so I pretty much had about 3/4 of the page to use with the marker and I seriously think that affected me the most. Questions were not too hard, none of them asked me crazy trig questions or anything but basic geometry concept needs to be memorized (such as finiding angle and side and etc.) and I had one conversion question but units were given so it was not too bad. I am still bit pissed about this section but yeah, just do it fast! I thought I was fast at math but for some reason, I finished the question right on the dot and had no time to go over any questions.
*BTW - put the cap back on your marker when you are not using them. You get 2 markers so it did not really matter too much but it can get you pissed off and ruin your testing mood (if you are like me)
After the exam: once exam was done, there was about 15 seconds of processing break and they gave me 15 question surveys. After the survey, it showed up your score. I was too shocked when I was looking at the score so I kinda looked at it but by the time I went outside I forgot what I had on each section. And I had to wait about 10 mins until this lady was done flirting with another test-taker so during that 10 mins, I was getting very nervous. So maybe it is good idea to write down your scores so you can look at them while the worker is flirting during their hours.
My scores were better than I expected but I had lower scores in the sections which I believe were my strongest sections and highest on the sections which was my weakest =\
Here are the scores:
Bio: 24
Gen Chem: 19
Ochem: 19
PAT: 21
Reading: 22
QR: 19
Total Science: 20
AA: 21
Practice Test scores:
Kaplan Blue Book CD ROM test: (taken on June 06)
Bio 16
Chem 20
Ochem 15
PAT 22
RC N/A (I hate reading so I quit but I believe the score was about 11)
QR 22
DAT Achiever Test 1 (Taken on June 08)
Bio 18
Chem 19
Ochem 15
PAT 19
RC 22
QR 22
DAT Achiever Test 2 (I got too pissed off during the test so I just quit and wasted Test 2. Although I took it again but it is not the same once you know the questions on so I will not post it on here)
DAT Achiever Test 3 (Taken June 13)
Bio 17
Chem 17
Ochem 20
PAT 18
RC 23
QR 21
Overall, I must say I am pretty satisfied with it although there is that feeling where I feel like I could have done little better but oh well I am glad that I am done.
BTW I am applying to: UT-Houston, Baylor, UT-San Antonio, NYU, Temple, Howard, and UoP. (If you know any information about these schools, please let me know)
I will be more than glad to answer any of the questions.
Good luck everyone and don't forget to relax before the exam!
(I had to watch Lakers beat Celctics before I went to the sleep, but maybe you should try to sleep earlier than midnight)
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