DAT Done! 7/07/13 (Retake)

[vks217]

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The first time I took the DAT's ( last September) I didn't do so well on RC and was advised to take it again. After about 3 weeks of studying, I took it again and did better on RC. Can you guys let me know if schools will avg my RC scores? or look at the scores separately? Also if anyone wants advice for any section just ask, and i'll be happy answer.

First time:
PAT: 19
RC: 16
QR: 18
Bio: 21
Chem: 22
Orgo: 22
TS: 22
AA: 20

Second time:
PAT: 19
RC: 19
QR: 22
Bio: 21
Chem: 22
Orgo: 22
TS: 22
AA: 21

Thanks to everyone who posts with questions, advice and breakdowns!

 

[Jordwin]

Your scores were exactly the same for everything other than reading? Weird. Anyway, nice work!

 

[Jordwin]

Oh sorry QR too

 

[vash429]

Nice job, you should be good with those scores. I am also retaking my exam because of the reading and was wondering what you did to increase your score. Also what did you do for math 🙂.

 

[Illfavor]

Schools will not average your scores.

 

[vks217]

.

 

[vks217]

Nice job, you should be good with those scores. I am also retaking my exam because of the reading and was wondering what you did to increase your score. Also what did you do for math 🙂.

Thank you!
I am a terrible reader (never really read too much as a kid), and I was just hoping that I would get higher than a 17. I used Crack DAT Reading to study for this section. In total I did 7 tests (the more the better). My main problem was that I would run out of time for each section, so my primary goal was to increase my reading speed while maintaining a decent level of comprehension. I allow myself 20 minutes for each passage. I spend a total of 8 minutes reading per passage, and 12 minutes answering the questions per passage ( if I went over by a minute or two I didn't worry too much). The way I increased my reading speed was to totally focus on what I was reading. I quickly read a paragraph, and after I was done reading a paragraph, I would jot down 3/4 words that summarized each paragraph or wrote down any keywords. I kept doing this until I finished the passage. The first time I took the dats, I would read each paragraph and while I was in the middle of reading, I would jot down what i thought were keywords. This ruined the flow of my reading (decreased comprehension), and would waste time because half my keywords would be stupid. The main thing for me was read a full paragraph and quickly jot down 3/4 words after. Answering the questions became easier because my comprehension increased a bit. Answering questions just takes practice. I still have a lot of work to do on my reading, and am continuing to try to increase my reading speed and comprehension.

The first time I took the DATs, I only took 3 topscore tests for QR and studied from that. This time around, I took 7 Math Destroyer tests and took notes. I also used the Barrons NY State Math B regents book to take notes. It is really simple and easy to read. I only took notes on what I though was relevant to the DATs. For test taking strategies, I would answer all the easy and fast questions first and leave others blank. Then I would go over all the ones I left blank (word problems), and do the ones I knew how to do while leaving the ones I didn't know how to do blank. Then I would go back if I had time and try to figure out the ones I didn't know how to do. If I didn't have time (which happened this time I took the test, I made educated guesses.

Hope this helps!

 

[miathescientist]

Thank you for the helpful post! For RC, did you try S&D at all? Or did you just stick with the mapping strategy all the day? And what were some of your strategies to pick only the keywords?

 

[vash429]

Thanks for the tips, and good luck this cycle.

 

[Dotoday]

Awesome job. Great improvement. Congrats.

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[biomolecmed]

That is awesome. You showed marked improvement. Nice job.

 

[Toadesque]

Good job on the improved reading, gotta say I would be pretty pissed to have to retake because of one section but RC is important. It's so risky though bc your other scores could go down

 

[Dotoday]

Do not worry about schools averaging anything. The most important thing is that you showes improvement.

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