- Joined
- Mar 12, 2007
- Messages
- 202
- Reaction score
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It's finally over!!!! I feel like I am going to fall over so much weight has been lifted off my shoulders. So here's how it went:
PAT - 21 (93.9%)
QR - 19 (81.8%)
RC - 20 (67.0%) 😱
Bio - 23 (97.9%)
Chem - 25 (97.5%)
Org - 25 (98.0%)
TS - 24 (99.3%)😀
AA - 22 (95.9%)
Overall I am very pleased, esp with science. I studied my butt off for that. I was cramming Bio right up until my test time (probably not the best idea). I am certainly not complaining about my scores, but I'm a little disappointed in my non-sci scores. I am usually awesome at PAT, and the RC and QR surprised me. Since RC is supposedly a score a lot of schools put a high value on, I just wish I could have done a little better. However, like I said, overall I am ecstatic and so relieved it's over.
I absolutely could not have done it without SDN. Seriously. You guys are so helpful and prompted me to study so much more material than I was going to. Back in March, when I accidentally stumbled upon SDN, I was just going to take the Kaplan class and thought for sure it would be sufficient for great scores. More on that stuff below, but I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful people that contribute to this forum.🙂
The Details:
Achiever (All taken over Memorial Day Weekend)
1 2 3
AA 21 20 21
Bio 18 20 16
Chem 23 18 20
Org 19 19 21
TS 20 19 19
PAT 18 18 20
QR 22 21 20
RC 26 22 28
Topscore (Taken last week, thru Sat)
1 2 3
AA 22 22 24
Bio 21 24 19
Chem 21 21 25
Org 19 20 30
TS 21 22 23
PAT 23 25 24
QR 22 22 25
RC 29 25 23
Kaplan Diagnostic (from the beginning of March)
AA 19 / Bio 16 / Chem 18 / Org 15 / TS 16 / PAT 19 / QR 22 / RC 18
The Test: (remember this is all only my opinion)
Prometric Center in Brookline, MA: marginal monitor quality, 2 red laminated graph sheets and a few markers. The whole marker/dry erase thing isn't that bad. I had some paper laminated a few months ago at Staples and only used that since. It helped a lot. Get used to it early, and it won't be a big deal on test day.
Practice tests are essential. I took 9 in the last 2 weeks, plus the Kaplan Diag/Mid/Final earlier, and I can't tell you how much easier it made getting through the 4+ hours today. If just for the mechanics, timing, and routine establishing alone, they were worth it.
Bio - I have no point of comparison since this was my first time, but in the end, I didn't think it was that bad. There absolutely were some "out there" questions, but only a few that I noticed. And the thing is, I probably never would have studied those things in a million years anyway (and I like to think I covered a lot). Most of the questions were pretty straightforward, and definitely things I covered over and over with my study materials (below). What makes Bio so difficult and so hit-or-miss is the sheer amount of things they could ask you. I got very lucky today and happened to get mostly things I was more familiar with. Any other set of 40 questions, and the result could have been much different. There's no other way to plan for that other than exposing yourself to as much as possible. I took 5 bio classes this past year, including Cell, A&P, and Biochem, and that definitely helped on a couple questions. It was my most fresh subject. For those that have taken it, I got "the slide" (no need to get all histo crazy over this one), "Dolly", "the mountain", "the bleaching", and "the fluorescent". Trust me, on some of them you just have to guess. 🙂 You have to know your basics cold, and then branch out as much as you can into the more specific stuff. Surprisingly, I can't seem to remember any fungi, protists, detailed taxonomy or animal behavior (some of the most tedious subjects to study IMO). Also, I thought the level of detail on most questions was nowhere near some of the things on the practice tests or some of the threads people have on here. However, you never know what will come up so I guess it can't hurt to study it anyway!
Chem- I was a Chem major, so despite not using this stuff for a long time, it came back fairly easily. I had minimal calculations, and none that required difficult math. More conceptual like some others have mentioned. Level of detail not that high. Again, that is why it is important to have a solid foundation of basics/intermed so you can build from there. Just memorizing a type of problem may not help as much as you'd think. I did not have to calculate one single Ksp or pH either which I really thought I was going to have to do.
Org- My nemesis!!! I did well in it when I took it, but that was 9 years ago. You can see from my Diagnostic it was the subject I needed the most improvement on. Very straightforward, nothing too tricky here. Standard, common reactions. Standard concepts of SN1/2, carbocat rearrangements, rules, very simple naming question. I don't think I had any of the more "unique" reactions ones thrown in. My weakness was the N-containing stuff (I always get them confused), but none today except in group identification. I was studying from the Ohio State flashcards the other day, and got really worried when I realized some of the more obscure reactions that were out there. But thankfully they didn't show up today.
PAT- I know that I still did well, but I was expecting a lot better here. The questions even seemed not that bad as I was taking it, but I guess I got more wrong than I thought. It all seemed easier than Achiever to me, and maybe similar to Topscore (a little more difficult). However, the angles were ridiculous. I swear some of them were less than a degree apart. Oh well. Timing not too bad though. I made it through and had time to review some.
QR- So I must have had a bad day here because I was sure I could do better. Lots of word problems, I let myself get a little frazzled and hung up on a couple for too long which we all know is a big no no. I made it to the end, but I had to skip quite a few in between and blindly guess. Some of the questions were ridiculous and unnecessary IMO. Or more like things I just didn't think we had to know.🙂 I did learn a few good tricks by studying threads here though, and it helped on some. I know I could have solved a lot more if I just had a few more minutes. They were problems I had practiced, and knew pretty well, but just took too long. During the test, I really thought I was tanking this part though (which is probably why I started to panic), so I feel lucky to have gotten out with the score I did.
RC- Like many others have said, the practice tests just don't do this section justice. I am not a very fast reader to begin with, but I'm a pretty good scanner. I thought I did better, but oh well. Definitely more inference, judgement calls than usual. I knew that was coming from reading on here, but I don't know what else you can do besides practice tests. Reading more articles may help a little, but without corresponding questions to hone your skills, it's hard. The passages were ok, not too incredibly long. However, the font is smaller than I remember the practice ones being, so maybe they really were longer.
Study Materials:
I've been studying since March, but I work full time and was taking an evening class this semester as well as shadowing. If I had had more solid full days to study, I think 1-2 months would have been sufficient. I took the Kaplan class, used old class notes and textbooks for clarification, Schaums (a tiny bit), Achiever, Topscore, and Destroyer. I also extensively used Wikipedia (for quick info), and many other websites like Purplemath.com, Drmath.com, the Ohio State flashcards, and random things that popped up on the internet. While I do agree going to your textbooks is by far the best way to learn this stuff, if you're in a time crunch, you'd be surprised at how many websites/college pages have good stuff out there. I made my own spreadsheet of Organic reactions so I could sort by functional group (yes, I am a dork), and I made equation summary sheets for Math and Chem as well.
About this time yesterday I was wishing I had taken more time to review old notes (esp from A&P) and textbooks. I felt good about Chem and Organic, but I really wanted more time for Bio. By last night though, it was too late to reschedule the test, and I knew I had to get it over with anyway!
Kaplan- Did it help me get a good foundation and structure my studying? Yes. Were the materials and online exercises helpful? Yes. Was it worth $1200? NO! If money is a concern, just get the Kaplan Blue Book, supplement with Ach/Top/Dest/maybe some of the Schaums outlines, and save yourself the $800 or so. I found the class itself to be of little value. Some, but not a whole lot. If you can understand and absorb the material properly, Kaplan will get you pretty far. However, IMO, you need the other stuff too, especially for Bio. Remember, with the randomness of the DAT, the more you're exposed to, the better.
Destroyer- No need for an advertisement on SDN. It helps, period. It prompts you to expand your studies and think about things you hadn't considered. I can't say whether it is essential for you to get it, only that I personally liked it and found it very helpful.
Achiever/Topscore- The practice is priceless. I won't get into the little annoyances I had with each (like no PAT or RC review of your test on Topscore, hello??? Or some of the crazy details on Achiever), but I will say that you should take them for what they are. Don't get caught up in whether or not the real DAT is harder or easier or whether you'll see exact questions, etc. Just concentrate on making use of the info.
Whew, that was long! Overall, I feel that as incredibly stressful as this process was, it was managable. I really believe if you put the time in, you can do well. There are no shortcuts though, gotta put the time in. Without SDN I never would have heard of those other study guides or gone over so many helpful threads of info. Be thankful you know about this place! Thanks for reading my stuff. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask!🙂
PAT - 21 (93.9%)
QR - 19 (81.8%)
RC - 20 (67.0%) 😱
Bio - 23 (97.9%)
Chem - 25 (97.5%)
Org - 25 (98.0%)
TS - 24 (99.3%)😀
AA - 22 (95.9%)
Overall I am very pleased, esp with science. I studied my butt off for that. I was cramming Bio right up until my test time (probably not the best idea). I am certainly not complaining about my scores, but I'm a little disappointed in my non-sci scores. I am usually awesome at PAT, and the RC and QR surprised me. Since RC is supposedly a score a lot of schools put a high value on, I just wish I could have done a little better. However, like I said, overall I am ecstatic and so relieved it's over.
I absolutely could not have done it without SDN. Seriously. You guys are so helpful and prompted me to study so much more material than I was going to. Back in March, when I accidentally stumbled upon SDN, I was just going to take the Kaplan class and thought for sure it would be sufficient for great scores. More on that stuff below, but I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful people that contribute to this forum.🙂
The Details:
Achiever (All taken over Memorial Day Weekend)
1 2 3
AA 21 20 21
Bio 18 20 16
Chem 23 18 20
Org 19 19 21
TS 20 19 19
PAT 18 18 20
QR 22 21 20
RC 26 22 28
Topscore (Taken last week, thru Sat)
1 2 3
AA 22 22 24
Bio 21 24 19
Chem 21 21 25
Org 19 20 30
TS 21 22 23
PAT 23 25 24
QR 22 22 25
RC 29 25 23
Kaplan Diagnostic (from the beginning of March)
AA 19 / Bio 16 / Chem 18 / Org 15 / TS 16 / PAT 19 / QR 22 / RC 18
The Test: (remember this is all only my opinion)
Prometric Center in Brookline, MA: marginal monitor quality, 2 red laminated graph sheets and a few markers. The whole marker/dry erase thing isn't that bad. I had some paper laminated a few months ago at Staples and only used that since. It helped a lot. Get used to it early, and it won't be a big deal on test day.
Practice tests are essential. I took 9 in the last 2 weeks, plus the Kaplan Diag/Mid/Final earlier, and I can't tell you how much easier it made getting through the 4+ hours today. If just for the mechanics, timing, and routine establishing alone, they were worth it.
Bio - I have no point of comparison since this was my first time, but in the end, I didn't think it was that bad. There absolutely were some "out there" questions, but only a few that I noticed. And the thing is, I probably never would have studied those things in a million years anyway (and I like to think I covered a lot). Most of the questions were pretty straightforward, and definitely things I covered over and over with my study materials (below). What makes Bio so difficult and so hit-or-miss is the sheer amount of things they could ask you. I got very lucky today and happened to get mostly things I was more familiar with. Any other set of 40 questions, and the result could have been much different. There's no other way to plan for that other than exposing yourself to as much as possible. I took 5 bio classes this past year, including Cell, A&P, and Biochem, and that definitely helped on a couple questions. It was my most fresh subject. For those that have taken it, I got "the slide" (no need to get all histo crazy over this one), "Dolly", "the mountain", "the bleaching", and "the fluorescent". Trust me, on some of them you just have to guess. 🙂 You have to know your basics cold, and then branch out as much as you can into the more specific stuff. Surprisingly, I can't seem to remember any fungi, protists, detailed taxonomy or animal behavior (some of the most tedious subjects to study IMO). Also, I thought the level of detail on most questions was nowhere near some of the things on the practice tests or some of the threads people have on here. However, you never know what will come up so I guess it can't hurt to study it anyway!
Chem- I was a Chem major, so despite not using this stuff for a long time, it came back fairly easily. I had minimal calculations, and none that required difficult math. More conceptual like some others have mentioned. Level of detail not that high. Again, that is why it is important to have a solid foundation of basics/intermed so you can build from there. Just memorizing a type of problem may not help as much as you'd think. I did not have to calculate one single Ksp or pH either which I really thought I was going to have to do.
Org- My nemesis!!! I did well in it when I took it, but that was 9 years ago. You can see from my Diagnostic it was the subject I needed the most improvement on. Very straightforward, nothing too tricky here. Standard, common reactions. Standard concepts of SN1/2, carbocat rearrangements, rules, very simple naming question. I don't think I had any of the more "unique" reactions ones thrown in. My weakness was the N-containing stuff (I always get them confused), but none today except in group identification. I was studying from the Ohio State flashcards the other day, and got really worried when I realized some of the more obscure reactions that were out there. But thankfully they didn't show up today.
PAT- I know that I still did well, but I was expecting a lot better here. The questions even seemed not that bad as I was taking it, but I guess I got more wrong than I thought. It all seemed easier than Achiever to me, and maybe similar to Topscore (a little more difficult). However, the angles were ridiculous. I swear some of them were less than a degree apart. Oh well. Timing not too bad though. I made it through and had time to review some.
QR- So I must have had a bad day here because I was sure I could do better. Lots of word problems, I let myself get a little frazzled and hung up on a couple for too long which we all know is a big no no. I made it to the end, but I had to skip quite a few in between and blindly guess. Some of the questions were ridiculous and unnecessary IMO. Or more like things I just didn't think we had to know.🙂 I did learn a few good tricks by studying threads here though, and it helped on some. I know I could have solved a lot more if I just had a few more minutes. They were problems I had practiced, and knew pretty well, but just took too long. During the test, I really thought I was tanking this part though (which is probably why I started to panic), so I feel lucky to have gotten out with the score I did.
RC- Like many others have said, the practice tests just don't do this section justice. I am not a very fast reader to begin with, but I'm a pretty good scanner. I thought I did better, but oh well. Definitely more inference, judgement calls than usual. I knew that was coming from reading on here, but I don't know what else you can do besides practice tests. Reading more articles may help a little, but without corresponding questions to hone your skills, it's hard. The passages were ok, not too incredibly long. However, the font is smaller than I remember the practice ones being, so maybe they really were longer.
Study Materials:
I've been studying since March, but I work full time and was taking an evening class this semester as well as shadowing. If I had had more solid full days to study, I think 1-2 months would have been sufficient. I took the Kaplan class, used old class notes and textbooks for clarification, Schaums (a tiny bit), Achiever, Topscore, and Destroyer. I also extensively used Wikipedia (for quick info), and many other websites like Purplemath.com, Drmath.com, the Ohio State flashcards, and random things that popped up on the internet. While I do agree going to your textbooks is by far the best way to learn this stuff, if you're in a time crunch, you'd be surprised at how many websites/college pages have good stuff out there. I made my own spreadsheet of Organic reactions so I could sort by functional group (yes, I am a dork), and I made equation summary sheets for Math and Chem as well.
About this time yesterday I was wishing I had taken more time to review old notes (esp from A&P) and textbooks. I felt good about Chem and Organic, but I really wanted more time for Bio. By last night though, it was too late to reschedule the test, and I knew I had to get it over with anyway!
Kaplan- Did it help me get a good foundation and structure my studying? Yes. Were the materials and online exercises helpful? Yes. Was it worth $1200? NO! If money is a concern, just get the Kaplan Blue Book, supplement with Ach/Top/Dest/maybe some of the Schaums outlines, and save yourself the $800 or so. I found the class itself to be of little value. Some, but not a whole lot. If you can understand and absorb the material properly, Kaplan will get you pretty far. However, IMO, you need the other stuff too, especially for Bio. Remember, with the randomness of the DAT, the more you're exposed to, the better.
Destroyer- No need for an advertisement on SDN. It helps, period. It prompts you to expand your studies and think about things you hadn't considered. I can't say whether it is essential for you to get it, only that I personally liked it and found it very helpful.
Achiever/Topscore- The practice is priceless. I won't get into the little annoyances I had with each (like no PAT or RC review of your test on Topscore, hello??? Or some of the crazy details on Achiever), but I will say that you should take them for what they are. Don't get caught up in whether or not the real DAT is harder or easier or whether you'll see exact questions, etc. Just concentrate on making use of the info.
Whew, that was long! Overall, I feel that as incredibly stressful as this process was, it was managable. I really believe if you put the time in, you can do well. There are no shortcuts though, gotta put the time in. Without SDN I never would have heard of those other study guides or gone over so many helpful threads of info. Be thankful you know about this place! Thanks for reading my stuff. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask!🙂
