DAT Done 6/30. Breakdown

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asugar19

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I figured I should post one of these since I got a lot of help and advice from these forums. Thanks everyone! Here are my scores.

PAT: 21 (83.1)
QR: 23 (97.0)
RC: 28 (99.7)
BIO: 23 (97.4)
GC: 24 (96.1)
OC 23 (93.4)

TS: 23 (97.5)
AA: 24 (99.4)

Here's my breakdown.

Materials:
Kaplan Course, Cliffs AP bio, math destroyer, CDP, destroyer, Chad's videos.

Chad, CDP and math destroyer are a must have. I thought cliff's and the kaplan review notes book (not in stores) was more than enough. Destroyer will prepare you the best, as long as you use it as a study guide (not individual tests), but don't expect to get 80% correct the first time through. I did about 75 questions on GC and OC, and all the bio questions.



PAT - CDP is the best. I did the 10 test version. I started with scores around 18 and 19 and finished the last 5 tests with mid 20's. IMO, if you don't get 15/15 on cube counting you need more practice. I also did the Kaplan course. Kaplan is garbage for angles, and CDP is the same as the real test. Both CDP and kaplan were good for keyholes. I thought CDP was easier because the lines of the shapes were t0o clear and defined, whereas I actually had some trouble on the real test. I think you can get 11 or 12 TFE by using the line counting method on CDP, but questions on kaplan and the real test could not always be done with that method. Kaplan hole punch is much, much easier than CDP. I thought kaplan was on par with 2007/2009 practice DAT's, but my DAT was harder like CDP. Pattern folding was about the same as CDP and kaplan and the practice DAT's. Just get a lot of practice.

QR - Use math destroyer. I did the first 5 tests in around 1:20 - 1:35, always getting at least 15 wrong. After that, I was finishing in about an hour, and getting 5 or 6 wrong. The 2007/2009 DAT were the same difficulty as mine. I never tried to do math destroyer in 45 minutes, but you will learn it really quickly. I did read kaplan's 1000 pg review book that came with the course (can't buy in stores). It was useful for general studying.

RC - I read a lot of articles, many science, on my phone. I wasn't concerned with this section as I am a pretty fast reader. I just did the kaplan reading tests and then any sections included in a full test. I would just concentrate on reading a lot of science articles at first, and then take practice sections as it gets closer to familiarize yourself with the format of this section.

Bio - I read Cliff's and read the kaplan review notes book. Both were really good, but cliff's doesn't have many pictures. I did all the destroyer questions, not so much for practice, but for studying. The types of questions in destroyer won't show up on the DAT due to their format, but I found it a good way to gauge how much I know. I didn't spend much time on bio. It was pretty basic, not much ecology or plants other than general/basic info. There was some more complicated questions regarding physiology and biochemistry.

GC: Just use Chad's videos to study. Take notes. I've heard he misses a few small topics or details, but I didn't have any questions that I didn't understand. Not much calculation on the real DAT. Calculation questions on the DAT are usually set up, not actually solving for a specific number. Destroyer will definitely prepare you for this, thought Destroyer is much more difficult.

OC: Not close to as hard as destroyer. Use Chad to study. He does skip some topics and details, but generally it seems like you will only get 1 or 2 of those problems on the test. I didn't have any like that. OC was not a strong subject for me when I took the courses (except for lab). The first semester of OC is more tested on than the second. The second semester questions are that complicated and answers can be narrowed down fairly easily if you learn how to push electrons correctly and electrophiles and nucleophiles.

BTW, these are just my opinions on the materials used.

Good luck everyone!
 
Superb score dude. What were the RC passages about? Any crazy topics or extra long passages?

Thanks! I've read on SDN that people get short and longs passages.... but I didn't think any of mine were short or extra long. I finished with extra time though. All basic science passages, nothing too complicated.
 
Congrats on your score. I am sure you are pumped. I would be.
I have been using some of the same materials..i.e. Chad's Videos, Kaplan DAT Ondemand (which comes with the big blue book), and DAT Destroyer. I have read on these threads that the Bio on Kaplan is much easier in comparison to the actual test. I noticed that it is definitely easier than the bio in the Destroyer books. Any thoughts? I am taking my exam next week...

Thanks!
 
Congrats on your score. I am sure you are pumped. I would be.
I have been using some of the same materials..i.e. Chad's Videos, Kaplan DAT Ondemand (which comes with the big blue book), and DAT Destroyer. I have read on these threads that the Bio on Kaplan is much easier in comparison to the actual test. I noticed that it is definitely easier than the bio in the Destroyer books. Any thoughts? I am taking my exam next week...

Thanks!

Kaplan bio is easier than destroyer because the format of the bio questions on kaplan are similar to the real DAT. Destroyer has a ton of questions that are or similar to: which of the falling is false - but the answers are unrelated and all over the place, and sometimes extremely detailed (an include 2 of the above, all of the above, a and c, a and b). The real DAT won't give random sets of possible answers... unless you're unlucky. Kaplan should be fine for practice problems, but like a lot of people on here will say, the questions are random and sometimes you get stuck with a test with more ecology/plant questions than on average. I would spend more time reading. Cliff's is good, and the store bought kaplan is decent I've heard. The kaplan course book is as detailed as cliffs. I don't know about barron. I feel a text book for gen bio is unnecessary, but if you have the time and can handle reading gen bio for hours at a time, everyday, it will cover pretty much everything....except when you get a biochemistry question that I only knew since I've taken it.
 
Hi Again.
What kind of practice exams did you use? I have been using the one's that came with my Kaplan stuff and I tried the one from the ADA website. I was thinking of either getting the Achiever ones or the TopScore ones. I also have CDP for PAT stuff only.
Any suggestions?
 
Hi Again.
What kind of practice exams did you use? I have been using the one's that came with my Kaplan stuff and I tried the one from the ADA website. I was thinking of either getting the Achiever ones or the TopScore ones. I also have CDP for PAT stuff only.
Any suggestions?

I used the kaplan exams first, then the 2007 and 2009 DATS. I was about to use TopScore about a week before my exam, but I found two more kaplan exams to do. I've heard that TopScore is an accurate gauge of what your actual scores may look like and that Achiever is way harder than the real DAT. The 2007 and 2009 DAT was way easier than the one I took, but that can be different for other people.
 
what did you get on the kaplan tests you took?

great job by the way!!!!
 
I noticed that your prep materials for Bio were the same as those used by a lot of people who couldn't score quite as well in this section.

Are you a bio major or had some type of bio background?
 
I noticed that your prep materials for Bio were the same as those used by a lot of people who couldn't score quite as well in this section.

Are you a bio major or had some type of bio background?

I am a biology major and I've taken genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, physiology, and immunology.

IMO, the courses are helpful because they generally review parts of gen bio. But not necessary at all. I think reading the bio material is more helpful than answering questions. There is so much possible material they could test you on. That's why I thought destroyer bio was a really good way to study, even if you don't get many correct and the question format is uncommon in the real DAT.
 
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