- Joined
- Apr 5, 2008
- Messages
- 81
- Reaction score
- 1
Phew.
I just finished the DAT and I am feeling great that my summer can finally start! I didn't get the score I was hoping for but I didn't do terrible either. Thanks to all of you for helping out whenever I had questions. I'll try to return the favor.
First off, it seems most people who post here get in the top 20%, so I guess I'll go ahead and represent the other 80%. 🙂 I was happy with my PA, Bio and RC scores. GC and OC didn't go quite as well as I wanted, but I haven't even taken the second half of OC yet and honestly, chemistry has never been one of my favorite subjects. QR ... ugh! Here are my scores:
PA 22
QR 15 (Ugh)
RC 20
BIO 20
GC 17
OC 17
TS 18
AA 18
I know these aren't model scores for SDN, but I'll answer any questions if you have any.
Here's my quick breakdown:
PA: Never really had a problem with this section even before I started studying so I honestly can't offer much advice. I didn't think it was that bad, but like people have said here the only part that seemed harder than CrackPAT to me was angle ranking. Finished with about 10 minutes extra time.
QR: Not a fan! The questions are not out of control hard, but the time thing really got to me. I ran into some problems toward the beginning that I couldn't figure out how to set up right away, which made me think of the time limit, and then I was pretty much thrown off from there. Give me 20 more minutes and I would have gotten a 20 I think. If you want to prepare for QR, figure out how to set up and solve the problems not only accurately but FAST. Really, you have like 10-15 seconds to set it up and about 45 seconds to solve it. That was my biggest problem.
RC: Not too bad. Pretty self-explanatory. Didn't get the dreaded "FRAP" or whatever they call it. Passages were pretty straightforward and I finished with some extra time.
BIO: I'm happy with how I did here. I used Destroyer and I think it was very helpful. I also made sure I understood most of the concepts behind the questions. 86% percentile there, so nothing to complain too much about.
GC: Used Destroyer and Kaplan. I think those two books have all the material you'll need to know, and it's just a matter of applying it on test day. I wish I had done a little better, but oh well.
OC: Used Destroyer and Kaplan. I haven't taken the second half of OChem, and so I figure if I can get a 17 then most of you won't have any problems getting higher than that. There wasn't anything I thought was all that complex and I'm kind of curious what I actually missed.
Any suggestions or thoughts on my scores or outlook? I'm trying to figure out what to do from here. Should I go ahead with applying? I have about a 3.3 GPA overall and science, which is below average, but I do have a strong upward trend. (Bad grades came freshman year, 3.7 GPA for past three semesters with full loads of mostly all science classes.) I have about 50-100 hours of shadowing, some other extracurriculars, and spent a couple weeks in Honduras setting up a volunteer dental clinic and assisting dentists. I was just awarded a scholarship from my university for fall and winter semester, which I'm not sure how much will matter because my application is already in.
Also, what is the general take on QR? Is it a major factor? Does anyone know if a lot of schools have cutoffs for QR? Just curious.
Well, that about does it. Long post, I know, but it's been a pretty hard journey for me up to this point and it does feel good to get the DAT behind me and be able to enjoy the summer. Good luck to everyone who is still studying for it. If you're anything like everyone else on this board I'm sure you'll do just fine! 🙂
I just finished the DAT and I am feeling great that my summer can finally start! I didn't get the score I was hoping for but I didn't do terrible either. Thanks to all of you for helping out whenever I had questions. I'll try to return the favor.
First off, it seems most people who post here get in the top 20%, so I guess I'll go ahead and represent the other 80%. 🙂 I was happy with my PA, Bio and RC scores. GC and OC didn't go quite as well as I wanted, but I haven't even taken the second half of OC yet and honestly, chemistry has never been one of my favorite subjects. QR ... ugh! Here are my scores:
PA 22
QR 15 (Ugh)
RC 20
BIO 20
GC 17
OC 17
TS 18
AA 18
I know these aren't model scores for SDN, but I'll answer any questions if you have any.
Here's my quick breakdown:
PA: Never really had a problem with this section even before I started studying so I honestly can't offer much advice. I didn't think it was that bad, but like people have said here the only part that seemed harder than CrackPAT to me was angle ranking. Finished with about 10 minutes extra time.
QR: Not a fan! The questions are not out of control hard, but the time thing really got to me. I ran into some problems toward the beginning that I couldn't figure out how to set up right away, which made me think of the time limit, and then I was pretty much thrown off from there. Give me 20 more minutes and I would have gotten a 20 I think. If you want to prepare for QR, figure out how to set up and solve the problems not only accurately but FAST. Really, you have like 10-15 seconds to set it up and about 45 seconds to solve it. That was my biggest problem.
RC: Not too bad. Pretty self-explanatory. Didn't get the dreaded "FRAP" or whatever they call it. Passages were pretty straightforward and I finished with some extra time.
BIO: I'm happy with how I did here. I used Destroyer and I think it was very helpful. I also made sure I understood most of the concepts behind the questions. 86% percentile there, so nothing to complain too much about.
GC: Used Destroyer and Kaplan. I think those two books have all the material you'll need to know, and it's just a matter of applying it on test day. I wish I had done a little better, but oh well.
OC: Used Destroyer and Kaplan. I haven't taken the second half of OChem, and so I figure if I can get a 17 then most of you won't have any problems getting higher than that. There wasn't anything I thought was all that complex and I'm kind of curious what I actually missed.
Any suggestions or thoughts on my scores or outlook? I'm trying to figure out what to do from here. Should I go ahead with applying? I have about a 3.3 GPA overall and science, which is below average, but I do have a strong upward trend. (Bad grades came freshman year, 3.7 GPA for past three semesters with full loads of mostly all science classes.) I have about 50-100 hours of shadowing, some other extracurriculars, and spent a couple weeks in Honduras setting up a volunteer dental clinic and assisting dentists. I was just awarded a scholarship from my university for fall and winter semester, which I'm not sure how much will matter because my application is already in.
Also, what is the general take on QR? Is it a major factor? Does anyone know if a lot of schools have cutoffs for QR? Just curious.
Well, that about does it. Long post, I know, but it's been a pretty hard journey for me up to this point and it does feel good to get the DAT behind me and be able to enjoy the summer. Good luck to everyone who is still studying for it. If you're anything like everyone else on this board I'm sure you'll do just fine! 🙂
