DAT Done!! 7/20/09

[DentineIce]

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Wow, it feels good to be done! I am happy with my scores, and although there are lots of people getting 22's and 23's on here, i feel like i did what i could! well here it gooess...

PAT: 23
QR:18
RC:22
Bio:19
Chem:18
Ochem:21
AA:20

My GPA is not great (3.2), but i have a lot of shadowing, volunteering, research, and volunteering abroad. I applied to NYU, Boston, Temple, Tufts, and UofP. Do you guys think there are some schools i should add? do i have a shot at these schools? I am from Cali but most california schools are too competitive for my GPA. Either way i am just glad to have it over with!! If anyone has questions about it let me know!

 

[cmills66]

hey, those are some pretty solid scores, just curious, what did you use to study the sciences?

 

[DentineIce]

For Ochem i used Kaplan and Destroyer. I think that the road maps helped me the most, and the general knowledge stuff i learned from kaplan review notes, lesson book and online stuff.

Chem: I was ready for any impossible calculation problem they could throw at me, and i ended getting like 2 calculation problems that were very basic. I lost a few points on easy general questions that i thought would be silly to study more in depth. I used kaplan and destroyer once again.

Bio: Well this section was just all over the place. I think the more books you can get your hands on the better. I used Kaplan which was farily good, and also used Cliffs AP bio which was good too. It helps having different authors describe different processes or things because of the different wording. The test questions were worded differently than my practice tests on kaplan. very random also.

 

[sgs]

congrates. nice scores. i like the roadmaps as well in the destroyer, did you use any specific strategy to memorize them.

 

[SupArora]

Hello great scores... what strategy did u use on QR and PAT and wat materials did u use?

 

[ZzZzSleepyhead]

Good job! Enjoy the summer 🙂.

 

[Dent010]

Hey overall it think you scores are solid. You have a 20 average with a solid PAT, but you GPA is a little below par. If i was in your shoes though, i would definitely apply to at least 5 more schools just to make it almost certain that you get into a school. Your GPA isn't the greatest, but it isn't the worst. This is one of the largest investments of your life and i would recommend more schools to seal the deal. Some possible schools that could probably fit your stats would be NOVA, Louisville, and Pittsburgh.

 

[athlete19]

nice scores.

 

[DentineIce]

Thanks, ill add those schools!

sgs, for memorising the destroyer maps, i put them all onto notecards, and would just go over them every night before bed. After a while there were ones i knew for sure, so i put those all into a new pile, and only reviewed those like once every three days, and all of the harder ones every day still. Eventually my hard pile became much smaller and then i just knew them. also, in kaplan they list all of the main reactions that were very common on the test. Understand the Oxidation/reduction reactions, like "soft" and "hard" reagents.

Suparora, for QR i did not do much, but i went through the 150 some problems of destroyer, and looked through the kaplan subject tests, but for the most part, after taking a full length practce exam, i would go back and see the ones i got wrong for QR and try to understand why i did get it wrong, and then figure out how to do those types of problems. If I still couldnt do them on the next one, i would ask someone for help, or just focus on that type of problem for a while until i got them down.

For PAT i just used the kaplan "tricks", and then really just practiced them on all of the kaplan subject tests, and then practiced pacing myself on full l ength practice exams. Angles were harder than kaplan, so if you can get some other practice. Keyholes were easier on real one, and tfe was about the same. Cube counting and hole punching were pretty easy as well, and pattern folding was a bit harder i think on the real test. for me it was all about getting a method down for doing each section and just sticking to it. I knew how to approach the problems, and how to pace myself, and then of course there is a bit of luck 🙂

 

[Emmie]

Understand the Oxidation/reduction reactions, like "soft" and "hard" reagents.

What do you mean by soft and hard?

 

[mega hog]

hey great job, i think those scores are solid and you seem well roudned with all that EC


What strategy did you use for the RC? I want to use S&D but with all these tones questions i hear about it sounds risky?

 

[Parle G]

What do you mean by soft and hard?

I am guessing he means that some reducing agents reduce only certain things; for example, to reduce carboxylic acids, you must use LAH and not NaBH4 because NaBH4 is too "soft" The DAT might give both of them as answer choices and you have to know which one reduces it.